On Mon, Nov 25, 2002 at 10:26:10PM +0000, "H. T." <electrictwilight at hotmail.com> wrote: > >With that in mind, the initial Vlad Taltos books are probably > >perfect for that age -- and they will allow him to grow intellectually as > >the books become more complex. > > I still disagree. In my opinion Steven Brust's works are far to mature at > least this 11-year old to understand. I also am not so sure if my father > and his wife would agree to my step-brother reading Vlad where he speaks > about his "work" so nonchalantly. With my step-brothers active imagination > he may not find any wit in it but take it quite seriously. He also might > read straight through all of what Vlad internalizes and not understand it > completely. By the "initial" books, I meant Jhereg and Yendi, which are certainly written in the mold of young-adult adventure story. There are far, far, far, far worse sources of casual death and graphic violence in this world, even accessible to kids, and most of those don't come with inherent maturity-boosters as Vlad's later understanding of consequences and morality provides. > Also, while reading some of Steven's works (a little here and there) to my > boyfriend the other night (I was deciding whether it was appropriate for my > step-brother), he asked me to repeat various paragraphs ? and he's 29, a > little dim-witted, but none the less 29. In the end, he said it sounds like > "literature" compared to "pulp fiction" and didn?t know if my step-brother > would understand it. By boyfriend would know the difference too as when I > was acquiring my masters I was reading him what is considered "great > literature" all the time. This varies widely depending on the books. Later Vlad books, Paarfi novels, Freedom and Necessity, The Gypsy, etc, all provide a much more literary feel that doesn't necessarily contradict the initial Vlad books as suitable. > >If you're going to introduce the lad to C.S. Lewis, then by all means let > >him read Vlad as well, just to balance out Lewis' subversive content :). > Emmm, I think Lewis is also probably a little too "old" for him. He is at the age that the Narnia books were intended for. Wait too much longer for the "mature young adult" type books and you will miss the window where they are enjoyable. > >No need to be ashamed J.K. Rowling sold her soul to the devil so that her > >books were al least agreeable to anyone who ever read them, which > >is kinda smart because all you have to do is find a movie producer > >.... well then there is the whole not having your soul thing, but > >hey people keep doing it and keep entertaining me so I'm not gonna > >stop them. (as if I could) > So, emmmmm, does anyone out there, (Steven?) know where I go to sell my > soul? Do I actually have to go to the 'cross-roads' or can it be > accomplished simpler? ... Oh, damn, then there?s that "not having a soul > thing," ... but... well let me know and I may consider it further. For the sum of... ONE... MILLION... DOLLARS... I have a ritual that will enable you to summon the Devil. After that, it's up to you. Cash up front, no refunds, small unmarked bills only please. > >Honestly, though, it seems at 11 he'd be ready for just about > >anything the fantasy/sci-fi section of the library could > >throw at him. > Hummm, not sure at this. I tried giving him Lovecraft (one of my absolute > favorites) and he thought it was too slow moving and he didn't understand > all of the words. You gave him LOVECRAFT and you are complaining that he's too young for CS Lewis and Vlad??!?!?!?!!! -- Matthew Hunter (matthew at infodancer.org) Homepage: http://matthew.infodancer.org/index.jsp Public Key: http://matthew.infodancer.org/public_key.txt