Some misguided notion of my precocity, I think. Also, my mother teaches secondary English. So - uh, English teachers, I guess. not quite realizing that I was quite happy reading The Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy.
This manifested itself by me being given long books and classics long before I was really ready for them. I dutifully read them but I can't claim I really understood what the Hell I was actually reading. The Mayor of Casterbridge had me running scared of Hardy for years, but by the time I got to the sixth form and had to read him again, I loved it. Nothing the matter with the book, I was just too young to get it.
... though I suspect Jane Eyre would have been boring whenever. I have no desire to go back and reread it. Ever. Am I the only one who thinks Jane is a bit of a Mary Sue? She's damn near self-insert on Bronte's part!
I discovered some quite good books through my parents (Including Hitch-Hiker, oddly), but a fair few of them were boring. The sad thing is, Jane Eyre isn't the dullest thing they ever made me read. That would be The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Every time the plot got even vaguely interesting thr book broke off to describe the stately pinnacles and flying buttresses of Notre Dame. Ohgod. I have no idea how I got through that book considering I wasn't old enough to drink at the time...
Re: 5
This manifested itself by me being given long books and classics long before I was really ready for them. I dutifully read them but I can't claim I really understood what the Hell I was actually reading. The Mayor of Casterbridge had me running scared of Hardy for years, but by the time I got to the sixth form and had to read him again, I loved it. Nothing the matter with the book, I was just too young to get it.
... though I suspect Jane Eyre would have been boring whenever. I have no desire to go back and reread it. Ever. Am I the only one who thinks Jane is a bit of a Mary Sue? She's damn near self-insert on Bronte's part!
I discovered some quite good books through my parents (Including Hitch-Hiker, oddly), but a fair few of them were boring. The sad thing is, Jane Eyre isn't the dullest thing they ever made me read. That would be The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Every time the plot got even vaguely interesting thr book broke off to describe the stately pinnacles and flying buttresses of Notre Dame. Ohgod. I have no idea how I got through that book considering I wasn't old enough to drink at the time...