"My advice is this. For Christ's sake, don't write a book that is suitable for a kid of 12 years old, because the kids who read who are 12 years old are reading books for adults. I read all of the James Bond books when I was about 11, which was approximately the right time to read James Bond books."
Terry Pratchett interview
I agree. I read them in my young teens I guess, and the Tarzan books about the same time. I remember the promotion for those said that they fulfilled the two premises for being great boys' books: they were written for adults, and in America. Of course Bond was written in England, but in Denmark in the sixties that probably felt closer to America than to Denmark.
By the way, last year I heard Stephen Fry give his warmest recommendation of the Ian Fleming books, so I thought I'd re-read a couple and bought them as audiobooks. But they don't really seem to hold my attention these days. Admittedly very little indeed does.
I read all of the James Bond books when I was about 11, which was approximately the right time to read James Bond books."
ReplyDeleteOr you need to have the maturity of an 11 year old.
Seriously though if you read the books at that age you might be able to read them again as an adult due to nostalgia. If you didn't read them as a boy and tried to read them for the first time as an adult, they probably don't have the same magic.
I have read Casino Royale and it was okay but I think I would have loved it if I had read it at age 11.
I started adult fiction about that age, but for me Cussler was the author of choice. The first few Dirk Pitt books were out, and "Raise the Titanic" had not been filmed at that point. I don't think I could read it again now.
ReplyDeleteI tried Casino Royale, once at the age of about 18. I didn't care for the pacing. I tried again age 39 after seeing all three screen version, and got through it, but was left thinking how much of a Saint rip-off the book Bond was. Deighton, for me, writes a more engaging spy thriller.
Talking of Fry - Laurie wrote a spy novel a few years back, called "The Gun Seller", it plays between a Deighton and a Woodehouse, lots of Boys Own adventure and a dash of typical Fry and Laurie.
I read Tarzan of the Apes in one day when I was about 12 -- the first time I'd ever read a whole book in a single day. At the time, I thought it was great literature. I read it again as an adult, and it was terrible. Not just disappointing, but deeply, truly, horribly bad.
ReplyDeleteAround the same time, I was reading and enjoying the Sherlock Holmes stories and Edgar Allen Poe. I've re-read most of them as an adult, and they hold up a whole lot better.
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ReplyDeleteI had read all of Edgar Allen Poe by the time I was 13 as well as some William Faulkner. I guess I was on a literature kick. I also had read all my mother's romance/mysteries by then and needed something else.
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