Readers in the WW (was: JKR and "Think of the Children!")

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 162138

Betsy Hp:
> > All I'm saying is that Harry doesn't touch the books on Dudley's
shelf. He is not a reader.
> 
> Alla:
> 
> How is the second sentence follows from the first though? Yes, Harry
> does not touch books on **Dudleys shelf** He does not read them,
> while he cares enough, he is curious enough about his school books
> to look through them while he is still at Dursleys.
> 
> He reads them, thus in my opinion he is a reader.
> 
> 
Betsy Hp:
> > Harry reads his school books, yes. But no canon has been
> presented to show that Harry reads for the pleasure of reading. And
he certainly doesn't read any fiction (and fiction does not mean just
fantasy, to be clear). Ergo, he is not a reader; he is not a book-
lover. <snip>

Carol responds to both:
Harry doesn't touch the books on Dudley's shelf at least in part
because he doesn't have the opportunity to do so until he moves into
Dudley's second bedroom near the beginning of SS/PS. At that point, he
has no reason and no temptation to read them, whether or not they are
fiction, because he has something that to him is better than fiction,
a whole new world that he belongs to and wants to know about. So he
eagerly samples his schoolbooks (not being Hermione or Snape, he
doesn't read them through and memorize them; instead, he samples
tantalizing tidbits in the time available, one month before school
starts). Later, when he becomes part of the WW, the books become just
schoolbooks and he finds them less fascinating. His recreational
reading apparently consists of books on Quidditch and FBAWTFT (and the
HBP's marginal notes). I would say that Harry reads, not for the
pleasure of reading, but for the pleasure of learning about what
interests him, and then only sporadically. I emphatically agree with
Betsy that he's not a book lover, but that doesn't mean that, under
certain circumstances, he does not feel pleasure from reading. It's
not a love of books and words but a desire for certain kinds of
knowledge that drives him to read, IMO. Not so different from
Hermione, really, except that she's a different type of learner--Harry
learns primarily by doing; Hermione learns primarily by understanding
and processing information.

But we can't really judge by the books on Dudley's shelf. If he had
moved into Dudley's second bedroom under different circumstances (say,
the school board sent someone to check out his living conditions) and
there were no Hogwarts textbooks to read, only Muggle fiction and
fantasy and nonfiction books for boys, would he have read them in
preference to playing with the broken toys or looking out the window
at the rain? Chances are he would at least have sampled them and
possibly found that he liked them. As it is, I doubt we'll ever find
out what those untouched books are or how Harry would have felt about
them if he hadn't discovered that he belonged to another world. Now
they're nothing but relics of the Muggle society that he wants no part
of. A sad loss for him, but not an uncommon one even among Muggle kids
these days, who find their vicarious adventures in TV, movies, and
video games.

In the WW, of course, he has not had time for much reading other than
schoolbooks so far. Maybe when he grows up and settles down, he'll
want to read to his children. The question is, if and when that
happens, what will he read to them?

Carol, who agrees with Betsy that the WW needs some good literature
and thinks they'd benefit from a dose of Shakespeare, Austen, Dickens,
and Melville for starters