As an adult, it’s been a constant source of frustration to me that there are huge gaps in my knowledge when it comes to literature that other people of my generation have read - either through school, or because they were popular at the time, or because they’re regarded as “classics”*
But it wasn’t like I didn’t read as a kid. I read A LOT. But the funny thing was, I was really specific about what I read.
For example, Jaws by Peter Benchley. I read that as an 11-12 year old and loved it. And then I read it 6 times in a row. Did I read anything else of his? Of course not. Wasn’t interested.
Or the Point Horror series (because I’m too old for Goosebumps!). I absolutely devoured them, but only the ones by R.L.Stein. Why? Because I read one of his first. That’s literally it.
Anyone else had this relationship with books as a kid?
*don’t worry, I know this is often more to do with matters of capitalism/patriarchy/colonialism than quality.
You must log in or register to comment.
Yes hahaha. As a child I was completely hooked on westerns written by Louis L’Amour. I read all of them, over and over again.
I was hooked on anything tied to the D&D universe until high school. Then it was only fantasy related to D&D. Shit want until I reached my 40s that I started reading “literature” and other genres.
But how I see it, life is too short to read what you don’t like. So don’t worry about not reading what a pretentious MFA grad thinks you should read. Just read what you like.
I don’t think it’s odd that a child wouldn’t have a particularly diverse book diet. Kids are often pushed towards commercialized series because it’s considered just good that they’re reading, and a series usually provides parents with a reliable source of new books they can draw on to provide their child. Most people don’t really start approaching well known “classics” until high school or maybe junior high at the earliest. And even then, their exposure is limited. Most people who seem to have read “a lot” and widely have done so of their own volition, as the number of books you can read as part of a HS curriculum is necessarily limited.
I fully agree. I was an avid reader at a young age. It makes me ill when my children’s teachers assign books based on some level they believe a child should be reading these days. The first book of substance I read was The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank. I was eight, and it was for a book report. My teacher was hesitant, but I was insistent. My mother was skeptical, but I did not care. I aced my report. My mother let me read anything I wanted from that point on, and I never chose a book assigned by teachers again. Children aren’t given a chance to explore books that might interest them anymore. Perhaps that’s why so many don’t even have an interest in trying to read great books.
I wish my parents had pushed classics more when I was a kid, because the children’s classics I’ve read as an adult have been so unbelievable charming and lovely and just leagues above Pee Wee Scouts and whatever other crap I was reading when I was six or seven. I also have a ton of gaps in my reading with regards to popular books and classics, though I’m hoping to focus on that with my reading in 2024.
I was actually surprisingly unpicky as a child reader, probably because I didn’t have anywhere near the selection to choose from as I do today - small town, no bookstores, teeny library. My books were mostly stuff pushed at me by other people.
I read a lot, but, as a pre internet kid in regional Australia, it was limited to what the library had - which was quite a random selection.
I don’t regret not reading many of the classics as a youngster. I feel like I genuinely enjoy and understand them more now I’m older.
I was also an avid reader as a kid, but it’s been hit and miss in my adult life. I’ve always made time to read, but I was either reading books to benefit my work or something fun like SciFi.
I’m now retired and have so much time to read. I thought I had missed out because I never took the time to read classics. One of my goals last year was to read some classics. I simply hated all of them, I think I read 8 and 2 of them were pure torture to finish.
I’ve decided I can live without reading anything from the 100 books you must read before you die lists. I don’t need to study literature or understand what iambic pentameter is. I just want a good story or to learn about something I find interesting.
TIL that the Iliad and Macbeth have been highly-regarded because they were products of a particular economic system or social structure or exploitation or because the high-regarders of them are or something like that?
Yes, as a child slightly younger than that I read books over & over just as, when a still younger child, I demanded to be told the same stories over & over. I’ve assumed this was because I found the familiar reassuring; possibly most chidren do.
I was picky as a kid but now I’m even pickier as an adult. I have to balance personal reading with university reading - generally, I don’t wanna waste my time on schlock.
yeah, I totally get where you’re coming from. I was all about fantasy books, especially anything tied to the D&D universe. Life’s too short to force yourself to read stuff you don’t vibe with. Just read what you love, forget about what others think you should be reading.
As a child if there weren’t dragons I wasn’t reading it. There had to be a dragon in the title, on the cover, or in the text. That’s just how it was. I was particularly pleased when I would hit the trifecta and have all three, books like The Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey or The Dragon and the George by Gordon R. Dickson. The first book I ever voluntarily read was about a boy and his dragon (Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher by Bruce Coville) and that was all it took to start that. That was my reading habit all the way up to HS and even then I’d say a good 50%+ of my reading was still dragons lol
Even now tho I keep a fairly narrow reading habit but it shifts more often. So one year I read exclusively space operas and the next year I might be on urban fantasy. I really only step out of that if a friend tells me I really need to read xyz book. Right now I’m pretty much exclusively reading scifi that addresses AI in some form or another but a friend was asking me about Blood Meridian so I’m on the wait list at the library for it
As a kid, I was obsessed with just about any book with animals in it (including non-fiction reference books). Especially horses and wolves, but really anything, including fantasy animals (I especially loved dragons and unicorns). My cousin once lent me her copy of Into the Land of the Unicorns and I read it 21 times. It was so bedraggled by the time I was ready to return it, I ended up buying a fresh copy for my cousin and keeping the ratty one myself.
Thankfully, I started expanding my horizons a lot more in middle school. But animal books still factor heavily in my reading habits.