Got something to say or just want fewer pesky ads? Join us... 😊

Books to be read when young



Gwylan

Well-known member
Jul 5, 2003
31,324
Uffern
In the America thread [MENTION=22849]Stato[/MENTION] raised the interesting point that there are some books to read when young, in particular, citing Catcher in the Rye and On the Road. I read both of those in my teens and have not returned to them since. I loved them at 16/17, I'm not sure I'd like them now,

Got my thinking about other authors who lose their appeal after you've turned 30. I suggest Tolkien (although I hated him as a teenager), Hesse and most science fiction/ fantasy writers. I'd imagine Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore are books for young minds only - they started writing when I was a middle-aged so passed me by.

One for me is Mervyn Peake: loved the Gormenghast books as a young adult, started re-reading Titus Groan a few years and thought it was awful.

Any more?
 




Westdene Seagull

aka Cap'n Carl Firecrotch
NSC Patreon
Oct 27, 2003
20,938
The arse end of Hangleton
My family and other animals is a good one. Depending what you mean by young I'd also throw in the whole 'Ant & Bee' collection but they cost a fortune on Ebay nowadays.
 


Gwylan

Well-known member
Jul 5, 2003
31,324
Uffern
I was thinking teenage/early 20s rather than kids' books. Yeah, Durrell is a good one, I don't expect many people over 25 read them
 






Eeyore

Lord Donkey of Queen's Park
NSC Patreon
Apr 5, 2014
23,380
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. A great educational tale of a journey in a fantasy land of words and numbers.

My signature below is actually one of many quotes I remember.
 


Theatre of Trees

Well-known member
Jul 5, 2003
7,718
TQ2905
K
In the America thread [MENTION=22849]Stato[/MENTION] raised the interesting point that there are some books to read when young, in particular, citing Catcher in the Rye and On the Road. I read both of those in my teens and have not returned to them since. I loved them at 16/17, I'm not sure I'd like them now,

Got my thinking about other authors who lose their appeal after you've turned 30. I suggest Tolkien (although I hated him as a teenager), Hesse and most science fiction/ fantasy writers. I'd imagine Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore are books for young minds only - they started writing when I was a middle-aged so passed me by.

One for me is Mervyn Peake: loved the Gormenghast books as a young adult, started re-reading Titus Groan a few years and thought it was awful.

Any more?

Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman are most definitely for adults, Watchmen is an incredibly dense piece of work with some plot indicators buried in an appendix which would appear at the end of every episode and often be made up of lengthy newspaper stories, biographies, reports. I re-read it every couple of years or so and never fail to discover bits I'd previously missed.
 


Mental Lental

Well-known member
Jul 5, 2003
2,271
Shiki-shi, Saitama
Roald Dahl and Enid Blyton were the two main ones for me when I was really small. This is pre Harry Potter of course.
 






Fignon's Ponytail

Well-known member
Jun 29, 2012
4,106
On the Beach
I was thinking teenage/early 20s rather than kids' books. Yeah, Durrell is a good one, I don't expect many people over 25 read them

My Family and other Animals is my favourite book EVER. I had to read it one summer at Varndean for my GCSEs & fell in love with it...that was 1990. I've read it at least a dozen times in the last 25+ summers, & it never grows old. As a family we loved the recent Durrells series on ITV, yet my 14 year old couldn't get on with the book funnily enough - despite being an avid reader, & mad keen on the natural world & travel etc.

Interestingly (to me anyway!) my wife used to visit Jersey a lot as a kid, and her family got to know Gerry quite well. She remembers them going round his house for tea quite often, sitting on his knee, & all listening to all his stories! Would've loved to have met him myself.
 


Marshy

Well-known member
Jul 6, 2003
19,698
FRUIT OF THE BLOOM
The Secret Garden by Francis Hodgson Burnett


I think its probably meant for 10 year olds or around that age... but I enjoyed, a lovely book for anyone to read.
 



Paying the bills

Latest Discussions

Paying the bills

Paying the bills

Paying the bills

Albion and Premier League latest from Sky Sports


Top
Link Here