cussing in the last two books

[drew]

...Bitch
...Effing
...SLUT!!!??

Words used in the last two books of the series.

The B word used once, the S word used once, and Effing used twice.
They seemed so out of place.

My nine year old is just finishing book 5. I feel a little at odds giving him the next two.

Anyone else have a problem with this?

[Menolly]

Nope.

Rowling always said her intended audience were age mates of her main characters. In the last two books, that means they are 16 and 17 years old, and unfortunately in today's society, that means quite a bit of foul language is common place.

This is where our jobs as parents comes in. We need to decide for our children when they are ready to be exposed to such language and themes in literature. For Beorn, we decided at around age ten that The Chrons were alright, and that The Gap Cycle was alright when he was twelve or thirteen, as long as we left it open that he could come talk to us (basically Hyperception, since I myself have not read The Gap Cycle) about anything that might make him uncomfortable. For our family, this has worked out well; people comment that Beorn is one of the least foul mouthed and less violent 17 year old teens, especially a male teen, they know.

But again, this was the decision for our family. You and your wife will need to decide what is right for yours.

[Cambo]

I noticed this, but it didn't really bother me. The books got more adult in every way as the characters got older. They didn't feel out of place for me, realistically these kids would have been swearing their heads off from book three onwards. "Effing" just makes me laugh, cause it's so damn English. I had forgotten "slut" was in there though. That is pretty heavy for a kids book.

Overall, I'd say the swearing wasn't used gratuitously, and fit in with the darkening tone of the later books. It's of course up to you if you let your nine year old read them, but my sister was exactly that age when she read the last book, and it sure didn't do her any harm. In fact, I'd say most of the more adult content flew right over her head.

[drew]

I found it strange to just put Swear words in there, but only a couple of times.

*Slut* kind of fit the tone under the context, but there was nothing else in that book that could be called cussin', so why bother?

And then in book seven, there is the *effing's* but only used twice.
It kind of made me ask again, Why Bother?Ron says *Bloody* the entire rest of the series.

And Molly calling Belletix a Bitch, was sort of humerus, but really, why not call her a f*cking Bitch? or a Piece of Shit? of a little c*nt? All of which seem just as out of place in the book.

I'm not trying to knock these books which I have throughly enjoyed; i just found that using *swear words* on so few occasions seemed a little odd and out of place...especially given that these books are read by children. Whether book seven according to the author, is only for people who are seventeen and older to read, it should have been obvious to her that tonnes of children much younger would read them.

[Cambo]

"Bitch" is a long, long way from "little c*nt."

And the Molly vs. Bellatrix is a good example as to why there is swearing, but so little. It's in extremis. As I recall, the line was something like: "stay away from my daughter, you bitch." This sadistic psychopath was threatening her child. As an adult character, that's a pretty realistic reaction. Note that the eleven year old kids don't go around effing and blinding. I didn't think any of the swearing was particularly out of character or tone for the later books.

As to the suitability for children, if the kids are mature enough to handle the at times rather graphic torture, mutilation and murder that occurs throughout the series, I'm inclined to think they can handle a couple of naughty words.

[Avatar]

I never even noticed.

You seriously suggesting your 9-yr old has never heard those words Drew?

And yeah, Menolly is right. Of course, her plan for her audiences ages was pretty much shot once all 7 were out...who's gonna wait a year in between every book so they're the right "age?"

--A

[drew]

I'm not worried about my nine year old reading them; that was only part of my post.

I was more wondering if anyone else found it out of place.

[Menolly]

As Av points out, I might have if I had read them all in a row one after the other after they were all published. But the wait in between each one, and the gradual descent in to darker themes caused it to make perfect sense.

For me, the profanity in The Last Chrons was more jarring. But again (IIRC as I have only read the first two once each and that soon after they each first came out), the profanity was set in our world versus The Land, and the characters which spoke it made perfect sense to me.

[drew]

yeah...but...the swearing was all done by Wizards.

[SerScot]

drew,

Let me get this straight. Voldemort is killing people left and right. However, the thing that catches your attention with regard to reading to a young child is the use of swear words?

[SerScot]

double post

[drew]

(I dont read these to my child. He reads them.)
He is a normal nine year old boy. He watches cartoons and movies with violence in them. And I'll admit, he has watched movies with some swearing in them.
He has never though, read a book with the word *slut* in it.

Its not just about my kid though.

Its that the swearing, so minor, seemed so out of place.

The violence wasn't out of place, they talk about Voldemort killing people right from the get-go.
Apparently, no one else in the world found the use of the word *slut* in the middle of a seven hundred page novel that was the sixth book in a series that never used any language harsher than *Bloody Hell* up to that point, out of place.

Oh well...I always liked being unique