# Fictional characters who love to read for pleasure **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 10, 2012, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-characters-who-love-to-read-for-pleasure/624768 "2012-06-10T23:48:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-characters-who-love-to-read-for-pleasure/624768/21 "2012-06-12T02:44:30Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Detective Nero Wolfe would much rather sit down with a good book (especially Jane Austen’s _ **Emma** _) than solve cases, which is one reason Archie Goodwin always has to nag him to get to work. At least once, Archie was annoyed at Wolfe’s practice of having three books going at once, and regularly switching off between them. ---
**Author:** ![bahia\_hombre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@bahia\_hombre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bahia_hombre)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-characters-who-love-to-read-for-pleasure/624768/22 "2012-06-12T04:02:07Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > [Henry Bemis from the Twilight Zone.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAxARJyaTEA) (you tube clip) My thought exactly. (I wouldn’t have known the name though) ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucky_13/32/13209_2.png) [@Lucky\_13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_13)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-characters-who-love-to-read-for-pleasure/624768/23 "2012-06-12T05:07:08Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > [Yomiko Readman](http://ratphlegm.tripod.com/yomiko2.jpg) of the anime [Read or Die](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Read_or_Die). > > To give you an idea, here’s [the scene where she’s first introduced](http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m44v5jkLUO1qitni4.jpg). She’s in the bed. > > Reading isn’t really for _pleasure_ for her—in that “pleasure” implies a diversion, or a hobby. It’s more like enjoying _breathing_. > > Plus, it gives her papyrokinetic superpowers. I was going to mention her, but you beat me to it. I love cosplaying as her when I go to anime conventions, because it gives me an excuse to carry around whatever book I’m reading at the moment. Very few people recognize her, though. I have at least one picture of myself at AX 2010 with another Yomiko cosplayer, each with our own different book in hand. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-characters-who-love-to-read-for-pleasure/624768/24 "2012-06-12T05:17:42Z")
Caulfield from _Frazz_. ---
**Author:** ![Syme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@Syme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syme)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-characters-who-love-to-read-for-pleasure/624768/25 "2012-06-12T05:26:24Z")
Don Quijote embarked in a quest after having read to many silly books of knights embarking in romantic nonsensical quests or so Senor Miguel de Cervantes tells us in the first novel ever written in Spanish or any other language. ---
**Author:** ![Syme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@Syme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syme)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-characters-who-love-to-read-for-pleasure/624768/26 "2012-06-12T07:50:01Z")
The protagonists in Umberto Eco’s “Foucault’s Pendulum” are scholars. The whole book is about three guys reading lots of books, too many to mention. OK, it is not a popular book, so maybe it doesn’t count :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-characters-who-love-to-read-for-pleasure/624768/27 "2012-06-12T08:06:02Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > Belle from _Beauty and the Beast_ (Disney) … Belle from way before Disney made the movie… **Syme** mentioned the one I was going to 🙂 But it’s “don Miguel de Cervantes”, please, or “el señor Miguel de Cervantes”; the first option doesn’t even have any funny letters. And it is not the first novel: it is considered the first modern novel, but Don Alonso’s brain “had been dried from reading too many chivalry novels”. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-characters-who-love-to-read-for-pleasure/624768/28 "2012-06-12T08:38:13Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > Reading isn’t really for _pleasure_ for her—in that “pleasure” implies a diversion, or a hobby. It’s more like enjoying _breathing_. > > Plus, it gives her papyrokinetic superpowers. The sequel series, Read or Dream and ROD the TV both rather strongly suggest that ‘loving reading’ is not the source of the Papermasters’ powers, as Anita King, the youngest of the Paper Sisters loathes it. (Though it’s also explicitly suggested that she has a deep seated strong emotional reaction to books, any love she has for them clearly comes from her love of writers (Hisa and Chihon) and readers (her sisters).) The other Paper Sisters, Michelle Chan and Maggie Mui, are more traditional bibliophilic Papermasters. It always struck me that since the Papermasters often destroyed books in the course of their duties, Anita’s hating reading would make more sense. ---
**Author:** ![Syme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@Syme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syme)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-characters-who-love-to-read-for-pleasure/624768/29 "2012-06-12T09:27:24Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > … Belle from way before Disney made the movie… > > **Syme** mentioned the one I was going to 🙂 But it’s “don Miguel de Cervantes”, please, or “el señor Miguel de Cervantes”; the first option doesn’t even have any funny letters. And it is not the first novel: it is considered the first modern novel, but Don Alonso’s brain “had been dried from reading too many chivalry novels”. Well, I don’t know of any pre-modern novels. It is a novel, and it is modern and if we regard as typical of post-modern works to be self-referential then IMHO it is all of the above. When I came to the part where the characters talk about themsleves I was amazed. I thought this was a relatively recent literary invention, pardon my ignorance. I read it in Spanish, but according to Borges in one of his essays (about translation ) translation is not a form of betrayal but believe it or not can add to the original. [http://www.jahsonic.com/DonQuixote.html](http://www.jahsonic.com/DonQuixote.html) In modern Spanish parlance “Señor” is equivalent to “Mister”. “Don” was used in ancient times for persons of rank, nowadays Don is equivalent to “Señor” and it is used before the first name for example : Don Miguel, or Don Miguel de Cervantes. Maybe you speak Spanish or maybe not. A propos, I don’t see the joke in ‘ñ’ but if you find it funny, have fun. ---
**Author:** ![bldysabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bldysabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bldysabba)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-characters-who-love-to-read-for-pleasure/624768/30 "2012-06-12T09:52:50Z")
Jeeves. Thursday Next from the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-characters-who-love-to-read-for-pleasure/624768/31 "2012-06-12T09:55:32Z")
> [@Tapiotar](#): > > Peter Wimsey, Harriet Vane, most main characters from Golden Age British mysteries. On one occasion Lord Peter even uttered “Elementary, my dear Watson” (I think Sayers was very well aware that Sherlock Holmes never said it). ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-characters-who-love-to-read-for-pleasure/624768/32 "2012-06-12T09:56:06Z")
Sherlock Holmes, I believe. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-characters-who-love-to-read-for-pleasure/624768/33 "2012-06-12T10:08:16Z")
> [@Syme](#): > > In modern Spanish parlance “Señor” is equivalent to “Mister”. “Don” was used in ancient times for persons of rank, nowadays Don is equivalent to “Señor” and it is used before the first name for example : Don Miguel, or Don Miguel de Cervantes. Maybe you speak Spanish or maybe not. > A propos, I don’t see the joke in ‘ñ’ but if you find it funny, have fun. I’m from Spain, and señor is equivalent to Mister, but the correct translation of “Mister Smith” is “el señor Smith”: it needs the article and does not carry a cap. With the cap it would be a nobiliary title, which it’s not under this usage. El Señor de Bembibre is the Lord of Bembibre, not Mister Bembibre. Examples of the kind of novels Don Alonso read include Tirant lo Blanc or Tirante el Blanco (published in 1490), which is specifically mentioned in El Quijote (first part published in 1605) and which at the time was considered the epitome of its genre. Most _novelas de caballería_ produced in Spain and Portugal were published in the 15th and 16th centuries. ---
**Author:** ![Syme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@Syme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syme)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-characters-who-love-to-read-for-pleasure/624768/34 "2012-06-12T12:22:39Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > I’m from Spain, and señor is equivalent to Mister, but the correct translation of “Mister Smith” is “el señor Smith”: it needs the article and does not carry a cap. With the cap it would be a nobiliary title, which it’s not under this usage. El Señor de Bembibre is the Lord of Bembibre, not Mister Bembibre. > > Examples of the kind of novels Don Alonso read include Tirant lo Blanc or Tirante el Blanco (published in 1490), which is specifically mentioned in El Quijote (first part published in 1605) and which at the time was considered the epitome of its genre. Most _novelas de caballería_ produced in Spain and Portugal were published in the 15th and 16th centuries. I said in modern parlance. When you address Mr Smith you don’t say “el señor Smith” you simply say “Señor Smith” when you refer to Mr Smith, you say “el señor Smith”. I wrote Señor because when you write a letter for instance you write Sr. or Sra. followed by the name. Cervantes gives a list of the chivalry romances Don Quijote read. I grant you they are 'novels although I always knew them as romances. and never read a single one of them. it was hard enough to suffer “el siglo de oro” de la literatura Española, at literature classes in school. Catalan? thanks but no thanks. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-characters-who-love-to-read-for-pleasure/624768/35 "2012-06-12T12:26:19Z")
> [@Lucky\_13](#): > > I was going to mention her, but you beat me to it. I love cosplaying as her when I go to anime conventions, because it gives me an excuse to carry around whatever book I’m reading at the moment. Very few people recognize her, though. I have at least one picture of myself at AX 2010 with another Yomiko cosplayer, each with our own different book in hand. 🆒 Heh! I’d love to see that last one, at the very least. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-characters-who-love-to-read-for-pleasure/624768/36 "2012-06-12T12:36:59Z")
> [@Syme](#): > > I said in modern parlance. When you address Mr Smith you don’t say “el señor Smith” you simply say “Señor Smith” when you refer to Mr Smith, you say “el señor Smith”. I wrote Señor because when you write a letter for instance you write Sr. or Sra. followed by the name. But when you talk about Mister Smith, which is what you were doing, you talk about el señor Smith. If you were talking to Cervantes, I’m sorry to inform you that he’s been dead for a while. ---
**Author:** ![Syme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@Syme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syme)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-characters-who-love-to-read-for-pleasure/624768/37 "2012-06-12T12:44:28Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > But when you talk about Mister Smith, which is what you were doing, you talk about el señor Smith. > > If you were talking to Cervantes, I’m sorry to inform you that he’s been dead for a while. authors never die. One says for instance: 'although Cervantes seems to make fun of chivalry tales …" And since we are being pedantic, of course I can talk TO a dead person, whether he or she will answer is of course doubtful to say the least 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MarcusF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/67e7ee/32.png) [@MarcusF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarcusF)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-characters-who-love-to-read-for-pleasure/624768/38 "2012-06-12T13:10:05Z")
Just about any of Heinlein’s characters. It was Oscar Gordon in _Glory Road_ that insisted on something to read before going to sleep his first night on an alien planet in a different universe and \*Number of the Beast \*would hardly work if the crew of \*Gay Deceiver \*had not read many of the same books! ---
**Author:** ![cactus\_waltz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cactus\_waltz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cactus_waltz)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-characters-who-love-to-read-for-pleasure/624768/39 "2012-06-12T16:59:42Z")
I am first to mention Lisa Simpson? ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-characters-who-love-to-read-for-pleasure/624768/40 "2012-06-12T19:46:07Z")
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