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Are Fleming's books suitable for 10 year old ?

phibesphibes
in Literary 007 Posts: 3
My 10 year old son has loved reading the Young Bond books and as he wants to read more. So I am thinking of getting him the original Fleming books.

Do you think the Fleming books would be ok for a 10 year old ? I'm wondering if the sex content maybe inappropriate ?

Thanks

Comments

  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    Posts: 12,480
    Just my opinion, and without giving it a great deal of thought, I would say not appropriate. It is not just the sex- the whole world is an adult world, full of angst, adult perceptions, etc. and just not one I would recommend for a child of that age.
  • quantumofsolacequantumofsolace England
    Posts: 279
    Well, I first read the Fleming novels when I was 11 and immediately fell head over heels in love with them. They, far more than the films, are the reason why I'm still a 007 fanatic all these years later. They are indeed clearly aimed at a more mature reader and as I have re-read them repeatedly over the ensuing years I have found considerably more meaning in them and inevitably have greater appreciation of certain aspects of them now than I could possibly have done then. Still, that first reading of each of them remains a very precious memory. In the end I think it's very much down to the individual child and parents. Would my mum (who bought me the paperback of LALD back in 1973 on a whim) have let me read them if she knew how adult and dark the novels are compared to the relatively light-hearted, family-friendly (pre-Daniel) films? Definitely not! But that's just my mum.
  • BAIN123BAIN123
    Posts: 11,189
    Wait until he's a bit older.

    The Young Bond books are more timed down.
  • Villiers53Villiers53
    Posts: 802
    Yes they are!
    I started reading them in 1964, age 11 and they introduced me to a life time of adult reading.
    @quantumofsolace is completely correct in his summation. Of course, that are adult books and the choice has to be made by the parent based on their knowledge of their child. But frankly, providing they aren't of a nervous disposition, I'd let them read what they like. To read is everything and so many children don't. They sit in front of a screen all day and have the attention span of a nat. To read is such a joyous thing!
  • BAIN123BAIN123
    edited December 2014 Posts: 11,189
    Well if I remember in the FRWL book Kerim tells a story in which he kept a woman as a slave naked chained under a table. Is that really the sort of thing that's appropriate for a 10 year old? Fleming himself said that the books "weren't meant for schoolboys".

    I started reading them in my 20s and I feel I can take more appreciation from them as an adult. At the very least wait until he's about 15 or so. 10 just seems a bit young to me.
  • SarkSark Guangdong, PRC
    Posts: 1,138
    It's not the sex content I'd be most worried about. Fleming's books are products of their time (1950's and early 60s) and thus contain some viewpoints that are best left there. I'd be far more mortified to hear a 10 year old say something like "the Chigroes have some of the intelligence of the Chinese and all of the vices of the Negro" or "He considered Korean's to be somewhere below apes on the mamalian hierarchy." If your ten year old is mature enough to take the good and leave the less than good sure, but I think kids that age are mostly sponges, sucking up everything.
  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    Posts: 12,480
    I would simply argue to take a more cautious approach and have him read them as a teen, but not a ten year old. For all of the above reasons mentioned by others.
  • SaintMarkSaintMark
    Posts: 7,653
    I read them at 10-11 years old for the first time and I really loved the adventure, later on I read them in a more mature way and saw Flemings depth beyond the adventure.
  • phibesphibes
    Posts: 3
    Thanks you for all your replies. They've been very helpful and I think I'll wait a couple more years or so before I give them to him.
  • Villiers53Villiers53
    Posts: 802
    When I read some of the bunkum posted above, I have to wonder which classic or other era author would pass their stringent politically correct test?
    Sax Rohmer? Rider Haggard? Sir Arthur Conan Doyle? Charles Dickens? W.E.Johns? Alexander Dumas?
    Indeed, any of the aforementioned? I doubt it!
    Why can't people simply accept that things were different then and move on? I think it's called getting a life!
    Sorry but I find this constant Fleming bashing tiresome.
  • BAIN123BAIN123
    Posts: 11,189
    No we're not bashing Fleming. We're saying his books and their content aren't suitable for kids.

    THE MAN EVEN SAID THAT HIMSELF.
  • SarkSark Guangdong, PRC
    Posts: 1,138
    Villiers53 wrote: »
    When I read some of the bunkum posted above, I have to wonder which classic or other era author would pass their stringent politically correct test?
    Sax Rohmer? Rider Haggard? Sir Arthur Conan Doyle? Charles Dickens? W.E.Johns? Alexander Dumas?
    Indeed, any of the aforementioned? I doubt it!
    Why can't people simply accept that things were different then and move on? I think it's called getting a life!
    Sorry but I find this constant Fleming bashing tiresome.

    We don't have any trouble with the bolded. It's children that might not understand that some attitudes and beliefs are no longer considered acceptable, which is why people should wait until they're more discerning to let their children read such things.
  • AceHoleAceHole Belgium, via Britain
    Posts: 1,731
    Sark wrote: »
    Villiers53 wrote: »
    When I read some of the bunkum posted above, I have to wonder which classic or other era author would pass their stringent politically correct test?
    Sax Rohmer? Rider Haggard? Sir Arthur Conan Doyle? Charles Dickens? W.E.Johns? Alexander Dumas?
    Indeed, any of the aforementioned? I doubt it!
    Why can't people simply accept that things were different then and move on? I think it's called getting a life!
    Sorry but I find this constant Fleming bashing tiresome.

    We don't have any trouble with the bolded. It's children that might not understand that some attitudes and beliefs are no longer considered acceptable, which is why people should wait until they're more discerning to let their children read such things.

    Had to chuckle at the passage about women drivers in TB (book) though... :>

    “Women are often meticulous and safe drivers, but they are very seldom first-class. In general, Bond regarded them as a mild hazard and he always gave them plenty of road and was ready for the unpredictable. Four women in a car he regarded as the highest potential danger, and two women nearly as lethal. Women together cannot keep silent in a car, and when women talk they have to look into each other’s faces. An exchange of words is not enough. They have to see the other person’s expression, perhaps to read behind the others’ words or analyze the reaction to their own. So two women in the front seat of a car constantly distract each other’s attention from the road ahead and four women are more than doubly dangerous for the driver not only has to hear and see, what her companion is saying but also, for women are like that, what the two behind are talking about.”
  • Villiers53Villiers53
    Posts: 802
    AceHole wrote: »
    Sark wrote: »
    Villiers53 wrote: »
    When I read some of the bunkum posted above, I have to wonder which classic or other era author would pass their stringent politically correct test?
    Sax Rohmer? Rider Haggard? Sir Arthur Conan Doyle? Charles Dickens? W.E.Johns? Alexander Dumas?
    Indeed, any of the aforementioned? I doubt it!
    Why can't people simply accept that things were different then and move on? I think it's called getting a life!
    Sorry but I find this constant Fleming bashing tiresome.

    We don't have any trouble with the bolded. It's children that might not understand that some attitudes and beliefs are no longer considered acceptable, which is why people should wait until they're more discerning to let their children read such things.

    Had to chuckle at the passage about women drivers in TB (book) though... :>

    “Women are often meticulous and safe drivers, but they are very seldom first-class. In general, Bond regarded them as a mild hazard and he always gave them plenty of road and was ready for the unpredictable. Four women in a car he regarded as the highest potential danger, and two women nearly as lethal. Women together cannot keep silent in a car, and when women talk they have to look into each other’s faces. An exchange of words is not enough. They have to see the other person’s expression, perhaps to read behind the others’ words or analyze the reaction to their own. So two women in the front seat of a car constantly distract each other’s attention from the road ahead and four women are more than doubly dangerous for the driver not only has to hear and see, what her companion is saying but also, for women are like that, what the two behind are talking about.”

    He new a thing or two!

  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    Posts: 12,480
    This discussion was definitely about suitability for a ten year old, Villiers53 .
    I have no qualms with a teenager reading Fleming.
  • jobojobo
    Posts: 7,507
    'Parentel guidance is adviced' I think. ;)

  • RevelatorRevelator
    edited December 2014 Posts: 2,918
    Also keep in mind that a lot of Fleming will go over the head of a 10 year old and might even bore him. To an adult Fleming is far easier to read than Henry James or Faulkner, but to a 10 year old much of Fleming's vocabulary and mid-century terms of reference might be strange and incomprehensible. Additionally, a 10 year old isn't quite old enough to understand the appeal of sex, gambling, and gourmet food and drink. Best to wait until he's a young man, and no longer a child.
  • BAIN123BAIN123
    Posts: 11,189
    I remember I listened to an audiobook of DAF when I was about 12 and, to be honest, remember finding it kind of boring.

    Didnt touch the novels again until much later when I read CR shortly after seeing the film.
  • LudovicoLudovico
    Posts: 15,125
    I'd say yes. We shouldn't shy away from quality literature because of sex, violence and what have you. Fleming is not Sade and racial prejudice in Bond novels no different than in Sherlock Holmes and Tintin.
  • SirHilaryBraySirHilaryBray Scotland
    Posts: 2,138
    I agree kids are exposed to much worse these days.
  • pachazopachazo Make Your Choice
    Posts: 7,314
    Revelator wrote: »
    Also keep in mind that a lot of Fleming will go over the head of a 10 year old and might even bore him.
    That's the thing. It's not really a question of suitability to me, although i do understand those concerns. You probably shouldn't give them a go until you're a teenager and even then you can't fully appreciate them until you're an adult.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,281
    SirHilaryBray wrote: »
    I agree kids are exposed to much worse these days.

    For which see GTA: V.

  • tqbtqb
    Posts: 1,022
    Honestly, I tried reading Casino Royale when i was in the 4th grade.. so probably around 10 years old or so.... I had trouble reading it, as a kid it was hard to follow. The prose in which they are written are probably difficult for someone his age.
  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    edited December 2014 Posts: 12,480
    There is a huge difference between the sexuality (including treatment of women), racism, other prejudices, and violence expressed in Holmes stories and Bond novels. Big differences. I do believe that Fleming's novels are not suitable for a ten year old.
  • KerimKerim Istanbul Not Constantinople
    Posts: 2,629
    Get your son the entire collection for his 16th birthday. It's cheaper than a car and will last longer.
  • LudovicoLudovico
    Posts: 15,125
    4EverBonded wrote: »
    There is a huge difference between the sexuality (including treatment of women), racism, other prejudices, and violence expressed in Holmes stories and Bond novels. Big differences. I do believe that Fleming's novels are not suitable for a ten year old.

    I am not so certain about this, except sexuality, which was not really present in Holmes stories. Same thing with Tintin, but the early Tintins were very racist and sometimes even antisemite.
  • Villiers53Villiers53
    Posts: 802
    Birdleson wrote: »
    If it goes over the kid's head and bores him he'll put it down. Just let the kid give it a go, either he'll be into or he won't.
    Absolutely - @Birdleson's impeccable voice of sanity should reign supreme!
    The whole point of the young stretching themselves with adult fiction is to broaden their minds, vocabulary and life experiences. He will understand what he understands and will doubtless re-read the series latter in life to catch the rest.

  • ThomasCrown76ThomasCrown76 Augusta, ks
    Posts: 757
    I was ten when I started reading them and bringing them to school, but that was 1986. If I tried that now, I would end up in serious trouble
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