Can a bright 8 yo really appreciate Dickens?

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My (fairly normal) friend has started coaching her 8yo for the 11+. As part of this they are reading Great Expectations together. Now, I consider myself reasonably bright, (although admit my A-levels etc were maths/science based, arts never really my thing) and I have never got to the end of this book. I find Dickens incredibly hard going.

The girl is undeniably bright, but not miles ahead of her class or anything. It's none of my business and they can obviously do as they please, but I'm interested to know if this is really realistic or if I (and my children) are exceptionally thick.

I think the important thing is that they find it themselves. I know DCs that age who have enjoyed it but they have found it themselves-I don't think it works if it is because the parent thinks they should.

I teach some extremely bright children and avid readers but can't say I've ever met an 8 year old who was capable of reading and understanding Dickens!!

A children's version, sure. But the syntax and language of the actual text is tough going for most adults.

I have an English Literature degree and I still can't stand reading Dickens. The paragraph typed out above is a perfect example - it's so convoluted it's almost laughable.

Why ruin a story that the child might enjoy as a teenager.

That is the reason that I think it a mistake to try and force things too early- try and get an 8 yr old to read Dickens and you may put them off for life. Thinking about it, the ones that I know who found him for themselves were probably 10 years.

No. I read Charles Dickens as a teenager, and have since tried to reread them at age 35. It's only now at age 35 that I can really appreciate Charles Dickens for the misogynistic writer that he is.

I have to say that I enjoyed Dickens much more as a child than as an adult. I remember reading Oliver Twist at around 9 or 10 - at the time I was utterly gripped by the storyline. Rereading it as an adult, I find the mawkish Victorian sentimentality of it utterly cloying, whereas a child I lapped it up. Maybe I've just become too cynical.

Perhaps a good way to start with an eight year old is to pick out some passages to read that might be appealing, and stimulate a bit of discussion. No need to wade through the whole book (unless they really want to!) Many of the books have exciting opening chapters that could easily appeal to an 8 year old - Great Expectations or a Christmas Carol are good examples. Because Dickens was writing his books as weekly installments in the newspapers, the chapters often lend themselves well to being read as a standalone item - particularly early chapters when he was trying to grab the attention of his readers.

I liked them much better as a teenager than I do now.

I am really surprised at all the nay-sayers! I was a good reader but not a genius and I absolutely loved it.

I remember my dad making the part when Magwitch appears really frightening. When I studied it for my degree the tutor said 'what is the over whelming feeling that we get when Magwitch appears?' I said 'fear'. Everyone laughed apparently it is supposed to be amusing

Don't see the problem here as long as she does actually enjoy it. Everyone is different though, if she's capable of understanding the words (even if she can't actually read them) then there's no reason why she shouldn't enjoy it. I personally still find Dickens boring as hell but I enjoyed other more complex books at that age. She may not delve deep into the metaphors and symbolism and such but that doesn't mean she can't still enjoy it.

But yeah, key thing is that she's enjoying the book and not being forced to read it in an effort to tutor her up as that would probably be less beneficial than reading a simpler book anyway.

Some children can only enjoy themselves at their comfort level: others find it stimulates their imagination if there are things that are just beyond their grasp.

Speaking as someone who at a very young age tried to read the Iliad in the original with a dictionary and no grasp of the Greek verb system, I don't think it was anybody's job to tell me I wasn't to do it- and I'm surprised at how much I did manage to work out. Not a job I would ever ask of my undergraduates- but then I suspect I never was very similar to the average undergraduate.

My parents were great in that they allowed me to try anything I wanted, but were never fussed that I was also reading other texts that were below my supposed age level.

I've read some heavy stuff in my day, but I also still keep up with new children's literature though my own children are growing out of it.

Basically, I don't hold with prescriptiveness: I think if you want to read it, that is a good enough reason to read it, doesn't matter if you're 8 or 80 (except if a text is genuinely unsuitable for a young person).

The best you can do as a parent is to know your own child and leave lots of opportunities open to them.

I think if the eight year old is enjoying it then what does it matter whether she understands it all?

I'm currently studying an English literature degree so DD (nearly 6) sees me surrounded by Dickens, Shakespeare and similar and will often pick a book up and try to read it/ask me to read it to her. It doesn't matter to me whether she understands it, but I love that she listens and is interested in the words.

I think Dickens is perfectly suitable for primary-aged children, providing they have fairly literary tastes (which are likely to have been fostered by their family from a young age).

My literary taste as a child was heavily influenced by what was on the bookcase