# You were too young to read it, but you read it anyway **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 2, 2010, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-were-too-young-to-read-it-but-you-read-it-anyway/527409 "2010-02-02T17:40:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-were-too-young-to-read-it-but-you-read-it-anyway/527409/101 "2010-02-05T17:44:13Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Read Henry Fielding’s classic _Tom Jones_ one summer when I was 11. > There’s a few passages in it my parents didn’t know about. 😉 I’d consider 11 probably too young for that book solely because of the page count! I read _Tom Jones_ one summer when I was in college and although I’m a pretty fast reader I had to renew my library copy at least twice. ---
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-were-too-young-to-read-it-but-you-read-it-anyway/527409/102 "2010-02-05T17:50:38Z")
In a completely differently way I read Robert Swindell’s [Brother in the Land](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brother_in_the_Land) when I was emotionally too young. I could understand the language, no problem, but the apocolyptic misery completely traumatised me. Lay awake worrying about nuclear warfare for a long time afterwards. ---
**Author:** ![sunstone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunstone/32/3372_2.png) [@sunstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunstone)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-were-too-young-to-read-it-but-you-read-it-anyway/527409/103 "2010-02-05T17:57:06Z")
In 6th/7th grade I read the original Conan series…lots of violence, sex, and “alternate religious beliefs” This was especially shocking back in the 1950’s, and probably warped me for all time (or not). These were definitely forbidden books, and probably rightly so for a young boy. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-were-too-young-to-read-it-but-you-read-it-anyway/527409/104 "2010-02-05T18:09:12Z")
Mom and dad both worked and I’m an only child. There was not much to do in the summer except read. I’d probably get more out of the book now. Back then, I was just reading a good story. > [@Lamia](#): > > I’d consider 11 probably too young for that book solely because of the page count! I read _Tom Jones_ one summer when I was in college and although I’m a pretty fast reader I had to renew my library copy at least twice. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-were-too-young-to-read-it-but-you-read-it-anyway/527409/105 "2010-02-05T18:26:12Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > I’d consider 11 probably too young for that book solely because of the page count! I read _Tom Jones_ one summer when I was in college and although I’m a pretty fast reader I had to renew my library copy at least twice. I read \*Atlas Shrugged \*for the first time at age 13, and loved it. Part of what appealed to me about it was the length (and the fact that it was recommended by two of my favorite Star Trek fiction authors). I still remember the odd looks my English teacher gave me when I showed up with that for Friday afternoon reading hour. ---
**Author:** ![filling\_pages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9bd4f/32.png) [@filling\_pages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filling_pages)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-were-too-young-to-read-it-but-you-read-it-anyway/527409/106 "2010-02-05T18:26:47Z")
> [@lee](#): > > When I was 12 or 13, I read Men in Love by Nancy Friday. My mom picked it up as it was left behind at the hotel where she worked. My guess is they left it intentionally because it had a substantial amount of dried blood on it, but oddly, no pages were stuck together. I would sneak it out, read a fantasy, then sneak it back. I completely forgot Nancy Friday! I found a copy of one of her books about women’s sexual fantasies when I was maybe 13 or 14 and just about wore it out, ifyouknowwhatI’msayin’. ---
**Author:** ![In\_Winnipeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a8b319/32.png) [@In\_Winnipeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Winnipeg)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2010, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-were-too-young-to-read-it-but-you-read-it-anyway/527409/107 "2010-02-06T00:26:58Z")
How about “\*Other People Thought \*You Were Too Young to Read It, But You Read It Anyway”? National Lampoon. The year I was in Grade Six, I discovered it on the magazine rack at the local corner store, the March '72 issue, picturing Hitler in a tropical setting with an umbrella drink in his hand. It caused a bit of a ruckus when I brought it to school to read when I had nothing else to do. Yes, it got confiscated. ---
**Author:** ![Lethal\_Babydoll](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3be4f8/32.png) [@Lethal\_Babydoll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lethal_Babydoll)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2010, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-were-too-young-to-read-it-but-you-read-it-anyway/527409/108 "2010-02-06T02:56:30Z")
Mack Bolan “The Executioner” books when I was about 12. So much sex and violence, ah yeah! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-were-too-young-to-read-it-but-you-read-it-anyway/527409.md?page=5)