While looking for more information about Frances Hodgson Burnett, I came across a previously overlooked short paragraph in her classic children's novel The Little Princess that resonates very strongly:
“Never did she find anything so difficult as to keep herself from losing her temper when she was suddenly disturbed while absorbed in a book. People who are fond of books know the feeling of irritation which sweeps over them at such a moment. The temptation to be unreasonable and snappish is one not easy to manage.”
Frances Hodgson Burnett was writing about her young heroine Sara Crewe here, but she was surely speaking for herself – and for many other avid readers, including me, who hate being interrupted while engrossed in a book. Some people do indeed react with annoyance when abruptly dragged out of a book they were immersed in: being brought back to reality in this way is often very jarring and disorienting.
This extract has inspired some thoughts on the subject of being interrupted while reading. This article includes extracts from another classic children's book and has something to say about the motives of the interrupters.
Some people devalue reading; it is not seen a worthwhile activity. They equate reading books with idling, with doing nothing useful, so they interrupt because they want to see the reader doing something else.
This scene from Noel Streatfeild's Ballet Shoes is a good example of this attitude:
“...Petrova was sitting on the table in the window reading a book...
The bell rang again.
“Ought to be answered.’’ Cook spoke firmly, partly because her word was law in the kitchen, and partly because whoever answered it, it would not be her. She looked round, but everybody seemed busy; then her eye fell on Petrova. Reading was not an occupation. It came in her view under the heading of “Satan finds....”
“Petrova dear,” she said, “we’re all busy; you run up and see who it is.””
This extract from May Sinclair's Three Sisters has been quoted before, but its relevance makes it worth repeating:
“She had her sewing in her lap and her book…propped open before her on the table. She sewed as she read. For the Vicar considered that sewing was an occupation and that reading was not. He was silent as long as his daughter sewed and when she read he talked.“
By coincidence, Ballet Shoes is also about three (adopted and unrelated) sisters; it too mentions simultaneous reading and sewing, and there is a reference to Frances Hodgson Burnett's other great classic The Secret Garden:
“Pauline and Petrova went to the drawing-room, where Sylvia always read to them for a bit before they went to bed. They were reading a book called The Secret Garden which had belonged to Sylvia when she was a child. Neither Pauline nor Petrova could sit quiet while they were being read to, however interesting the book, without something to do. Pauline had sewing, and embroidered very well for somebody not yet ten.”
Some interrupters may just be bored and want to talk. They may assume that anyone who is reading must feel the same.
Some people are just thoughtless, selfish, inconsiderate and intrusive; they don't understand or care about the effect that their interruption has on the reader.
On the other hand, some interrupters are kind and well-meaning; they assume that someone who is reading is not doing it for enjoyment but is using their book as a face-saving prop because they feel left out, so they try to include them in whatever is going on.
Some people would read only as a last resort, when they have run out of other options; they see reading as just filling in time until something better comes along. They assume that others are the same and really want company, so think they are doing the reader a favour by taking them away from their book and giving them some conversation and attention!
Some people interrupt because they feel entitled to attention; they don't like feeling ignored or rejected. They say, “What's the book?” just to force someone to acknowledge their presence! They may even wave their hand in front of the reader's face to break their concentration and bring them back to reality.
Then there is the herd instinct. This compels some people to bring someone back into the fold after they have strayed from the flock by reading.
Some people will consider readers ill-mannered if they make it obvious that they prefer books to people and bury themselves in them rather than pay their social dues. Such invigilators will interrupt readers as a way of reminding them of their duty of politeness.
Non readers, people for whom reading is a low-priority activity and interrupters in general may think that people who get angry when disturbed while reading are making a fuss about nothing.
