Sad and pathetic, I know, but…
I read to my kids, I make voices, and I have a huge bed… any particular story you would like…
[homer]Mmmmmm… Welfy… [/homer]
I can’t belive I wrote this… I am fully expecting to get lambasted for it…
Can’t… not… press… submit…
I read one of the books in third or fourth grade I believe and there wasn’t anything overly shocking. Nothing a child hadn’t heard by then at least, I think your wife is just over reacting.
Kitty
I should have thought that your main problem might be that the children might suddenly express a great interest in keeping white mice. Your particular little treasures would seem to be beyond that age, however.
This is the first time that I have heard anyone suggest that the “Hitchhiker’s Guide…” could be a bad influence on the youth of today.
But, really, I do think that the books of Douglas Adams, like those of Terry Pratchett (may his tribe increase) are pretty innocent; surely these books are not the primary danger to your children.
At least they will come along to you asking for the meaning of 42, rather than 69. 
That’d be Life, the Universe, and Everything.
And it’s sorta good preparation for dating somebody who actually likes this sport(?). Give it to your daughters as a cautionary tale. Would that I had paid more attention.
I’m trying to talk my brother into reading it. He’s 11.
Well, now that that’s out of my system, I can state that I found the HHGTTG totally by accident.
I was perusing through my dads books, looking for something by the same guy who wrote “Starship Troopers”… and there was this book, that my dad said he didn’t like much, but I would probably like. I was 13, and way to over-read…
Loved it.
Think I’m gonna dig up one of my copies and read it to my kids… hehehehe
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Fretful Porpentine *
**
Anyone out there want to date a cricket lover?
You sick, SICK person.
Belgium!
Holy Zarquon’s singing fish!
Have you no taste?
Is the first book the one that has the whale in it? I found the whale’s death to be extremely traumatic.
Other than that, I wish my mom had read those books to me. But no, she would only read me the “Stories for Free Children” that were in Ms Magazine, which gave me nightmares because they were so poorly written.
Except for the mention of the triple brested whore none of the above naughty bits are in the first (and best) volume of the four book trilogy (Adam’s description, not mine). Since you are probably well past the destruction of the Earth (my juvie bummer bit), I’m guessing it should be clear sailing from here on.
With the possible exception of the incredible weird and disjointed bits about the function of the improbability drive - not bad, mind, just weird.
It’s a five-book trilogy - the fifth one is “Mostly Harmless.” The last two are pretty lame though. I think the first three are relatively free of sexual content, except for those already mentioned.
The series does have a very casual attitude towards death and violence which can be a bit unsettling. There’s the whale scene which delphica mentioned (yes, it’s in the first book), Agrajag who gets killed by Arthur in every reincarnation, the Golgafrinchen Ark B business, etc. Lots of innocent people die for trivial reasons (unlike Hollywood movies where lots of bad guys die for trivial reasons). Still, I suppose it’s no worse than Monty Python. Must be a British thing.
Re the OP, is the detractor religious???
SLIGHT SPOILER COMING… so if you don’t want to know skip on to the next post. I was going to use the bit about it being funnier and having Marvin, but GuanoLad beat me to it.
We do find out that the earth, and all of us, were commissioned by the mice as part of a giant experiment. Surely that’s enough to get a book burnt by the fundies in some states.
Personally I think the Fjords are overrated.
Naw, the detractor is as rabidly atheist as I, as are our little heathens. I think her main concern is with our youngest - worrying that she is being dragged along with the older two, and not allowed to do young things (very poorly phrased, I know). Our kids are a funny mix. In some ways they are quite naive, meaning they want to think people are basically nice, and I do not go out of my way to expose them to the news so they can see all of the ugliness that goes on all the time. I figure there will be plenty of time for that later. And they don’t watch much current TV, mainly because I think most of it isn’t very good, but also because I think it shows a lot of meanness and disrespect.
But, they have tremendous vocabularies. They know an incredible amount about weapons from slingshots to ICBM throw-weights. On several occasions we have “swears” - they were curious why giving someone the finger was a bad thing, and were pleased when I showed them several variations of how to tell someone to fuck off. And when they wanted to know what is the worst swear, I guess I taught them a few new ones they had not come across yet. And of course they have known about anatomy and sex since they were old enough to ask questions.
So we don’t really qo too far out of our ways to shelter them. But we are aware that they are only little kids for a fleeting time, and don’t feel a need to rush them to grow up.
So, compromise, I am going to read them the “Little House” series, which are right at the age my 9 year old should be at and I’ll bet my 11 year old boy enjoys as well. After that series (5 or 6 books) back to the Hitchiker’s Guide.
And yes, I do voices. And sound effects. But I only have one all purpose accent, which I’m sure doesn’t resemble anything ever spoken by any Englisher. It also serves for French, Spanish, what have you. Any of them funny-speaking furriners.
I’m such a pain in the ass about reading to them. It has been a few years since I read them the Hobbit and the entire LOTR trilogy. And I read them books when they were really young that they have no memory of. I have tried to get them into Lewis Carroll a few times, but they have not yet shown an appreciation for it being as funny as I think it is. And it is disappointing to expose someone to something you think is really great, and have them not agree.
But come on over, pull up an afghan, and pile onto the couch. The more the merrier.
Don’t forget the possibility of glorifying alcohol abuse: the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster. (The effect is one of being smacked in the head with a gold brick wrapped in a twist of lemon) The Hitchhiker’s Guide tells you where to find the best ones, and where you can rehabilitate yourself afterward.
Damn you Myron, you beat me to it. I was wondering why no one was mentioning the Pan Galactic gargle blaster.
Anyway, Dinsdale, I think it’s really a great thing that you read to your kids. When I first read the OP the only reason I could think of was that the humour might go over their heads, but I’m projecting. Because I didn’t read at all for pleasure until I was already out of college. I was starting to read when I was very young (6-7 years old) but I was always made to feel kinda wierd about it. When I was bad, to punish me my parents would take my books away.
Even a few years ago (at the age of 23) when I would come home and read my mom would say (are you ready for this?), “Stop this silly reading, you’re smart enough”. It was said in jest of course, but I think you can get the point.
Your kids are very lucky.