By adult I mean books like War and Peace, Crime and Punishment etc. I read a lot of classics when I was younger, and it really bothers me when someone says that because I was only thirteen or younger when I read most of them, I couldn'tpossibly have understood what the book was about. I have always had a high reading level, and was reading at a college level when I was ten, so I did understand them. I read Pride and Prejudice before I got to middle school, and my teacher that year was delighted! I know a lot of kids don't read books like that, and maybe wouldn't understand it if they did, but not every kid is like that. I hate when someone assumes that I am too immature to read these books.
[question posted by Bd200789]
responses and comments:
Always did. I remember reading Gargantua and Pantagruel by Rabelais when i was 8 and thinking "Wow! Now that's a weird book!" lol Not that i understood much of it but i thought it was funny. Read Bulgakov at 10,loved that and still love him. Sneaked a copy of Lolita from the family library at the age of 11,my mother wouldn't have approved but i think it's a beautiful book. Even at that age i thought there was nothing offensive or obscene in Nabokov's works [AnakSuNamun]
Unfortunately,we do not always make the best book choices during tender age. Besides reading all this informative and classic books I managed to leaf thru most of the 15 volumes of Angelique,the infamous french historical romance series;) [AnakSuNamun]
hi Bd same with me.I have read lots of adult books as a teenager. My mom opened her own bookshelf for me that meant being extra careful with her stuff but it was worth it. I didnt go for these classics you mentioned but I read Gone with the Wind quite young, and some others where I dont know the title in English, she gave to me. I read some stuff by Pearl S. Buck I got from my mom and also my first book by Ernest Hemingway. [book1962]
I was reading adult books before I became a teenager. I had to get my mother to help me get an adult library pass. I read a fair few classics as I recall, but not War & Peace or Crime & Punishment (still haven't read them, although I've got copies of both). [egdcltd]
i did read a few adult books whenever i was in my earlier teen years and i don't know what the names of them were right off the tops of my head...but i mean they were just so much more intersteing to me then the rest of them..because i knew that they were n't exactly for my age group and it made me wonder what was in them and i tried a few of them... [jhl930]
Ugh! I can't stand narrowminded ppl like that!! That just drives me nuts.... As for me reading adult books when I was a kid...I really dont remember but knowing me I wouldnt be suprised at all...Both my kids love reading some of my books...My daughter is goin on 13 and she's been reading my books for some time now..ranging in authors from Edgar Allen Poe to Christopher Moore (which she's reading right now) and not too long ago she was reading one of my George Carlin books LOL..she also likes getting into my spirituality books too..My son has read my Books of Blood (clive barker), some of my Poe and some of my Lovecraft, my Satanic Bible, my Christian bible (only part of it) and a few others of mine.... [Ravenladyj]
Yeah I read a lot of adult books most of them were classics others were just books from now from like Stephan King and such authors. I've always read books above my reading level because I really like to read. [ayumitakashi]
I read many books by Ayn Rand as a teenager. They had a major impact on me. [loudcry]
I read adult books too at a very young age. I just hate it when people dismiss you because of age. As if you're young so you can't be smart, or have a valid opinion. I read the Iliad at age 13, not an easy read by any means, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and fully understood it. Brave New World, 1984, Dune, around the same age, maybe 14. Reading is my passion, obsession even. And it was those very books that I read at a young age that set me upon this course. Don't worry about others thinking you're too young, they are ignorant, the fact is that whatever their age is, they probably don't understand the book themselves, so they can't conceive of you understanding it. [thelastwolf113]
I've read any aduilt books and I don't like it [dinhquanghuy]
no.... i havent read any of it... [moon317317]
off course,i read most of the adult books that suits me the best.Adult books are knowledge gaining books,i mean it provides a lot of information for adults or teenagers.....It totally useful for us and i urge all of the adults to have this book... [abhishekamb2000]
Yes I used to read them when I was a teenager. I remember having read some fragments of the classics at school, making me feel curious about them and so start to read them. What I had at home and what I could find in the library. It was the time when I jumped from comics (that I still enjoy) and teenagers literature to more serious one. Even classics from the XVII century are all right to read for a 13 y.o. child. I enjoyed them too. [overwings]
Oh my...I am retyping this response becuz I referred to the old, "dck and Jane" books. Notice how i had to abbreviate. anyway, because of an accident when I was 5, I was bedridden for several months. It was the early 60's and tv was not that entertaining and especially for a 5 year old day in and day out. My dad used to read to me a lot to pass the time and and he also introduced me to music. I loved the books that he'd read to me. Lad of sunnybrook farm, pollyanna. I found myself not wanting to wait until he got home from work to hear what happened next . He always chose a cliffhanger to end at. I could not wait to learn to read just so I would not have to wait for him. When I did return to school, I was so bored with the tradition ,"see jane run" books. They had their place but were so boring. I read "lad of sonnybrook bank" cover to cover in first grade. By third grade, I was reading, "gone with the wind". True I may not have "got it" all but I got enough to know it was a great story and I read it again and again until I did get it all. I didn't get slotted as "immature" for loving to read...i got slotted as "boring". Don't worry what others think! [sid556]
Yeah, i enjoy to read adult books when i was in elementary. I really a book worm when i was in grade 4! but i didnt wear glasses at that time, only now. Its so long time ago. now i have no much time for reading novel. I even dont interested to read harry potter, i prefer now to watch the movie only. When i was in elementary, i really enjoy to read detective novels like agatha christie and all novels by sir arthur conan doyle. they are really nice novels... really interesting... challenging... and exaggerating me... [manya_pearl]
I read pride and prejudice while I was seven years old. I think children can read adult books no matter how young they are as long as they are mature enought to handle what the book contains and that they understand what is meant by the book. Adult books are usually entertaining and very informative. I am sure that it will enlighten a child's mind. It might even increase his/her intellectual capacity. [drumbum04]
Nope I havent read any adult books when I was a teenager at that time I was reading detective stories. [wasim989]
Yes I have been reading since I was 10 and I was always looking for more, every time I would hear a book referenced in a movie I would go ask my parents to buy it for me. Im also making it a priority for my children, my girls are 10 8 and 5 and weve already done, The Red Pony, Pigman, The Outsiders, and right now we are working on Little Women, I read most of it to them but I will stop and let the two older girls do a chapter here and there. I love it when they stop me and ask me what a certain word means and we also have discussion on it each night to make sure that their paying attention to the details, using their imaginations and understanding whats going on. I cant wait until they start looking for books on their own and asking me to buy ones their interested in reading [lexibethr]
Yes, I read a lot of Jane Austen when I was a teenager.... [SassyKittyKat]
I read anything I could get my hands on when I was a child. My mother taught me to read right before I started Kindergarten, & I've had a book in my hand since then. (By 1st grade I was bored with Nancy Drew, so I started reading Agatha Christie.) I would say that I had read the majority of the classics before the majority of my peers. [8848Nascar_Mom]
Of course kids can understand those books! Kids are smart as a rule and their minds are completely open. I read Shakespeare when I was a kid. I think it was easier to understand the language then than it is for me now, to be honest with you. A child's mind isn't already muddled with so much of everyday life. [Anhedonia]
I read adult books from the time I was about 11. My Mom brought some of her book collection from her Mom's house and I read every one of them. I didn't have any problems understanding them...except for one. lol I just could not get into "Wuthering Heights" until I was older. I tried several times to read it, but just didn't get it. lol Now I have a nice collection of classics and I still enjoy going back and reading them again. [CherylsPearls]
We didnt read anything as highbrow as that..but we read Dickens...and i enjoyed those at the time...but you know i cant remember a thing about them now.But as a child my father joined a book club...and i got a new book every month...well this was the highlight of the month...the postman coming..it was wonderful.....I loved the Heidi stories ...and there were lots of others .. istill have a few of them....which i have kept for old times sake...when i was a child a book was a treasured thing...and we kept hold of it for evermore!!!!..but now the paperbacks are getting very much more affordable...in the big chains they are really good value.....i dont remeber my kids ever reading aqnything like War and Peace...though one of my daughters read some Chaucer at one time ..loll...she had to try to translate it and it was so funny....but in a way quite easy to translate....I did read Jane Austen though....and i love watching her stories on the tv..they have done some good adaptations,,, [ruby222]
No, I watched adult movies. [elmiko]
I've always been a huge fan of reading so I definitely read a lot of the classics. [hockeygal4ever]
Started reading at a young age. Read the classics at a young age. Read the writings of Ayn Rand as a young teen. Read City of God and Confessions of St Augustine as a young teen. Also read Marcus Arulieus as a young teen. I have reread many as an adult. I think our understanding and perspective of these books change with our perspective of life. It is easy to say that we understood these books as young people. We likely understood the words and possibly some of the basic concepts. However, without the life experience it would be impossible to fully comprehend the full nature of the philosphophy, morality, and ethical structure of many of the "adult" concepts. Just my opinion mind you. [lvaldean]
I agree with you. I read books like that growing up as well. I think I understood them, just as well as many adults do. Reading is a highly personal experience as well. People take different things from the same books. I feel age is too important. Not everything has to do with age. It has a lot more to do witt what kind of person you are and what experiences you have opened yourself to. [teison2]
Yes! I lived in a very small town and there were no bookstores within 20 miles of us, so by the time I was 8 or 9 I had read all the children's books on the library truck and in the school library. In elementary school, by 3rd grade I had read the books up to 7th grade (we didn't have middle school; we attended the same school from 1st through 7th grade.) Then I started reading the adult books. I mostly read historical fiction, but I read Hemingway, Faulkner, Fitzgerald and many others. I also discovered science fiction and read Asimov, Bradbury, Heinlein, and more. I did not understand everything I read, but I did understand most of it. [rhettaa]
I think maybe we were separated at birth!!! LOL! Actually, your "small town" had to have been MUCH larger than mine (Noble, Louisiana); there were NO booktrucks. Maybe you'd like to be my friend? I'm going to your site put in my bid. Maggiepie [Maggiepie]
I used to read Shakespeare and a lot of Jane Eyre when I was around ten, up into my teen years all the time. At that time in my life I wanted to get away, and in my mind when I read those books and plays, I could. I did get a lot of 'yeah right' comments when someone would ask me what I was reading and I'd tell them. [AmbiePam]
I meant to list the AUTHOR of Jane E., not the book itself! LOL Sorry, actually I did like that book so much I rented the movie, two versions of it. I think there is a version I have not seen, but I'm not sure. [AmbiePam]
I started reading adult books in my teens. Loved some and just wasn't ready for others. I think the people who made such comments to you were just showing their own ignorance. I do, however, believe that you should reread some of those books you read at 10 because you will get a whole new set of meanings out of things. Not because you were not mature enough to understand them then but because you have surely evolved as a person. [makingpots]
Yes, I read almost all of Austen's books by I was 13. I also ready Hardy and Dickens at around that age, I was always advanced for my age and never really enjoyed books aimed at children (apart from Roald Dahl of course). [creative_genius]
I never read any classics, but when I was in 6th grade I read a lot of Danielle Steele. Now I can not believe that I read them at that young of an age, but my friends and I all did . [angie828]
I was partly home-schooled in rural Louisiana by my mom & maternal g-parents. They had a few children's books ("Golden Books," mostly), & only a handful of other (adult) books on our farm. As they only had Sear's Catalogue to suppliment that meager supply, I soon began jonesing for more. I got so desperate in fact, I began writing my own. (Not as much fun reading a thing you already know the ending of, however.../o) I began 1st grade at 5 & 1/2, & by grade 5, I'd plowed my way through the entire school library (such as it was, it being a 12 grades in one building school), & discovered the small town (Noble) had a tiny public library. Soon, I'd devoured it, too. ALL the books were young adult/adult-level books, from the classics such as "Robin Hood," "King Arthur," or "Little Women," to poems from the masters, to all of Shakespeare -- ALL read. And since an _annotated_ Shakespeare was at hand, I most certainly _DID_ understand it! Mom bought lots of books for me later on, & eventually I came to live with her & my stepdad when moved to Houston. I'll never forget my first _city_ library exposure; I was in reader bliss! I HAUNTED the place, & spent countless hours learning/loving new authors. Kids can -- if they learn to read early -- almost school themselves. Certainly far better than today's gummint skoolz.... Just my tuppence. Maggiepie [Maggiepie]
I was starting to read about physics when I was thirteen, I was reading books for teens when I was five, and I just kinda worked my way up to adult books when I was a tween. I read alot of classics when I was younger too. Though mostly opera and plays. I think it's silly of people to say what others can and cannot believe based on age. It's like saying all twenty year olds are idiots, lol. While everyone's got a right to their own opinion it makes me angry when its parents who say these things and won't allow their kids to read anything above their age level. Hell, some adults don't even understand the classics. If the child can, for goodness sakes they should be allowed to. Maturity is not a matter of opinion, and is a personal thing and varies from person to person...assuming anything on stuff like this is foolish, in my opinion. [xParanoiax]
hi bd200789, yes, i did. i love debate, investigative story.. but today, i rather watch it than read it thorougly... loving visual effects, digerati [digerati]
Yes, I read some classics when I was young. But unlike you, I WAS too immature to read them at the time, because I didn't know what the heck was going on. Thats funny though, because I thought you meant "those" kind of "adult " books at first. I read some of those too when I was young also. And I REALLY didn't know what was going on;) [karathrace]
I really should read my posts over before I click submit. That was supposed to be had not pad. [Bd200789]
Yes, by the age of about 10, I was reading 'adult' books, having gotten bored with children's and teenage books (I used to read several books a week back then. Wish I still had the time to do that now.) By the time I began high school, I had read most of Shakespeare's work and several Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters' novels. [kriszelunka]
By the time I was in sixth grade, I had already read Pride and Prejudice half a dozen times. Everyone else thought I was weird. [Bd200789]
I read Portnoy's Complaint when I was twelve. My mother never knew. She probably would have thrown a fit if she did. [irishidid]