Kevin's Watch

I have a son, 10, is is an avid reader. I can't wait to introduce him to TC, but how old should he be? I read it at 18 for the first time.

Particularly, the rape scene with Lena worries me, but also, TC isn't exactly Harry Potter, now is it?

I submit the question and comments: How old should one be to first read TC, generally?

I was 14 or somesuch when I first read it. I know others have read it at a younger age and enoyed it...

And ten? Not sure I know any readers who read it at that age.

I was about 10 or maybe 11....old enough to understand most things but not old enough to understand rape.

dlbpharmd wrote:I was about 10 or maybe 11....old enough to understand most things but not old enough to understand rape.

Yup, agree here... how did you regard that chapter? Or didn't you understand what happened at all?

I was 14. The rape scene shocked me — I'd hate to think anyone that age wouldn't be shocked — but didn't stop me. SRD's rather florid and eccentric vocabulary, however, did make it tough going at times.

It depends on the kid, of course, but I'd say 10 or 11 is a bit on the young side.

i was 12, but mature. the rape was shocking. depends on the maturity of the kid.

I'm 9.

Got it for Christmas when I was 11, started reading it a couple of months later at 12.

I've turned out fine.

*twitch*

EDIT: LM,

I was 12. I appreciated it on some levels, but I certainly got more out of it when I reread it at 16.

I was 13, rereading now almost 5 years later and you understand alot more.

Warmark wrote:I was 13, rereading now almost 5 years later and you understand alot more.

Wow, I thought you were much older!

Loremaster wrote:

Warmark wrote:I was 13, rereading now almost 5 years later and you understand alot more.

Wow, I thought you were much older!

I must be mature beyond my years.

I read LFB for the first time at around 13. Naturally insensitive, I wasn't particularly bothered by the rape scene, but then, things like that in books don't generally affect me much.

It's all down to the kid himself really. I'm not in favour of censoring what people read. My parents never tried it with me, and I turned out ok. *twitch* (:lol: Spring.)

--A

I'm not in favour of censoring what people read, either, but that's a very different issue from recommending books to kids. It takes a certain degree of sophistication (and vocabulary) to be able to appreciate SRD's stuff, and below a certain age it will just whiz over your head. What that age is, of course, varies from person to person. I should guess that very few people could appreciate TCoTC before about 12, and many people will have to wait until they're about 300.

Variol Farseer wrote: and many people will have to wait until they're about 300.

Damn! 268 years to go!

Loremaster wrote:

Variol Farseer wrote: and many people will have to wait until they're about 300.

Damn! 268 years to go!

But I thought you were 9

iquestor wrote:

Loremaster wrote:

Variol Farseer wrote: and many people will have to wait until they're about 300.

Damn! 268 years to go!

But I thought you were 9

Ummm poor maths, then

Warmark wrote:

Loremaster wrote:

Warmark wrote:I was 13, rereading now almost 5 years later and you understand alot more.

Wow, I thought you were much older!

I must be mature beyond my years.

Yeah... that's it...



Well, I read it quite young as well. But I read it a few years later and got a lot more out of it. But then again; every reread of these books give different people new appreciation as they change over the years.

I'd say: Wait till he's a couple of years older, maybe 16. Not so much because of the rape scene, but because the first reading is the one he'll never forget and I'd want him to experience it to the fullest.

I think you are right, Torrent. I have to put aside my desire to have him introduced until he is ready and more able to enjoy it.