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Original poster

Is Great Gatsby suitable for v good 11 year old reader?

38 replies

pollycazalet · 08/09/2013 18:41

I read years ago and can't remember a thing about it except the green light and the optometrist poster.

If consensus is 'yes' I'll reread before giving to her.

OP posts:
Original poster
pollycazalet · 08/09/2013 20:51

I think probably the film has captured her imagination ( she hasn't seen it but has seen trailers, pics etc),

She's read all the Philip Pullman. Haven't seen that series tho Remus.

She doesn't have any problems finding things to read - just wondering about this particular book she's shown an interest in and from my experience with her older brother I do want to encourage stepping up to adult fiction if appropriate abd if it will engage her. When I was a kid there was no such thing as teen fiction.

OP posts:
SunnyIntervals · 08/09/2013 20:45

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 08/09/2013 20:42

I think you're right.

Is there a particular reason why she's asking to read it?

Dd1 devoured this series aged ten/eleven. Some of the themes are a bit adult but they are really gripping and well written.

rootypig · 08/09/2013 20:42

Way above her head, yes. What about Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy? And yy To Kill a Mockingbird.

QueenBoudicea · 08/09/2013 20:38

I remember reading it at school when I was 13 - can't remember too much of the detail though Blush

Original poster
pollycazalet · 08/09/2013 20:37

Thanks for all the comments by the way

OP posts:
lalalonglegs · 08/09/2013 20:29

I think shr would. It's a very adult book in its ambitions and ideas - the books you have mentioned were all written for children. GG won't do her any harm soblet her haveca go if she wants but, as I said earlier, she'll probably find it quite dull.

Original poster
pollycazalet · 08/09/2013 20:22

She's asked to read it. She's just read Little Women, the Uglies series and Alice through the looking glass, and lots of John Greene.

My real concern is she'd find it slow and way above her head.

OP posts:
RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 08/09/2013 19:17

I can't see many 11 year ods getting much at all out of it tbh. The description of Myrtle's body is pretty graphic but I imagine that nearly every 11 year old would've given up in boredom far before then.

Is there a reason you/she are considering it? What does she normally like?

nkf · 08/09/2013 19:13

What is it you don't want her to read about?

Sirzy · 08/09/2013 19:11

I cant see it being a book they would enjoy TBH.

I agree with the suggestion of to kill a mockingbird.

Trills · 08/09/2013 19:09

I found it terribly dull, and I'm a very good 29 year old reader.

lalalonglegs · 08/09/2013 19:06

The sex is alluded to (Tom is having an affair - Gatsby and Daisy obviously start a relationship) but there is nothing explicit. There isn't much in the way of violence (shockingly Tom breaks his mistress's nose, she is later run over) and overall it's a very proper little morality tale. I'm not sure that most 11 year olds, no matter how sophisticated their reading age, would actually enjoy it that much. Perhaps try a classic with more children in it - To Kill a Mockingbird, Catcher in the Rye, Lord of the Flies or some such?