Jane Parsons
asked:
Advice please - I haven't read this since I was a teenager so I would be grateful if anyone could advise me as to whether an eleven year old would be OK with the content. My son is a very good reader and has managed some fairly grown up books but will this book traumatise him?
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Empire of the Sun,
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Tamsin Elsey
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James
No, it's not that graphic. It's profound and doesn't pull punches, but Ballard could write with great subtlety. I never felt a scene was particularly gross or searing. Rather, the entirety of the work is what weighs more on you.
Henry
Hi I'm only 16 so don't listen to me if you want sound parenting advice: I read this last year and as I remember near the end are very graphic descriptions of a variety of horrors, so if he enjoys reading that sort of thing then it's pretty good. But the movie is quite a bit better, and whitewashes the ending a bit, so just watching that instead is good. It's my favourite film directed by Spielberg so it's definitely worth a watch at only a couple of hours' viewing time versus the 500-page book.
Sheepdog
I taught the age for many years, long ago. I would applaud any parent who gave the book to most 11 year olds. But I'd be careful to encourage discussion of thoughts arising. And if the child had, say, recently lost a grandparent, I would delay... the descriptions of the treatment and fate of corpses in those less resource-rich times are pretty graphic. Connections might be made, unhappy thoughts spawned. All depends: Are you of the "keep them safe from the real world" school, or do you see books as a way to help kids learn about what's around them?
Mike Suter
I doubt it would traumatize him, however it is a dark dystopian book that would be more relished by an older teenager. I would say that books like this and Slaughterhouse Five are best suited to high schoolers, who naturally toy with cynicism, and are also better able to read things in historical context.
Lila
Would you be comfortable with your son reading Lord of the Flies? If not no, if yes, multiple Lord of the Flies by a factor of five. Besides the graphic descriptions of dead bodies, the point of view is that of a young boy who comes to see his prison camp as a place of refuge and stability.
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