Spoiling Stories for Children
My son, who recently turned four, prefers books with pictures, and so my efforts to read him The Hobbit have led us through the novel at the pace of a hungry hobbit moving away from his dinner table. We’re nearing the end, though. Bard just pierced the dragon Smaug with his trusty black arrow. I’m not sure how much the boy is comprehending and remembering, given his young age and the fact that he tends to fall asleep after a few pages. Still, I’ve been debating with myself whether or not I am spoiling his first read of the book. When I read The Hobbit, I hadn’t the foggiest about what was to transpire, so the suspenseful parts proved very suspenseful. When Tolkien wrote that Bilbo fell into darkness and knew no more, I seriously wondered if the little adventurer had met his untimely end. My son, I’m sure, will read the books I’ve read to him regardless of his knowing the gist of what happens, but will his first reading experience of them be as good as if he were in the dark about the major plot points? Are spoilers really that big a deal in works of classic literature?
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Are spoilers really that big a deal in works of classic literature?
They are not as big a deal in classic literature as they are in contemporary murder mysteries and thrillers, but one of the pleasures of reading any well-told story is finding out what happens next. I used to know someone who would ask you if you had read this or that great novel, and if the answer was no, he would say, “Oh, you are so lucky.” Why? “Because you are going to have the pleasure of reading it for the first time.”
Kyle,
Let him remember instead that his dad spent that precious time with him! Those memories will be much more dramatically affective (for him and you) than the twists and turns of _The Hobbit_. For that reason, there is no (good) story that should be left untold to one’s child.
Best,
Victor
Purely anecdotal, but my folks read the Chronicles of Narnia to me when I was four, and I enjoyed it then and again several years later.
I’m sure your son will have good memories of you reading The Hobbit to him! I don’t think spoilers matter much to pre-schoolers. My granddaughter has a tape of “Finding Nemo”. Her parents eyes glaze over if you mention it, because she wants to watch it over and over. My kids wanted me to read “Where the Wild Things Are” over and over. They knew it so well that if I got a word wrong, they would correct me. When I was little it was “Winnie the Pooh” that I loved. Kids that age also love rhyming verse; have you tried “A Child’s Garden of Verse” by Robert Louis Stevenson, “When We Were Very Young” by A.A. Milne, or the classic Mother Goose?
Good points, all.
Are there short stories or poems you read again and again, each time finding yourself surprised? Flannery O’Connor and Richard Wilbur, among others, do that for me. Are there great plays (Oedipus Rex and Othello come to mind) that enthrall even though you know precisely how they end? Man (and woman) doesn’t read for plot alone. Plot-driven stories can be wonderful to read but, if there’s nothing more, they tend not to linger in the mind and heart.
Often enough, plot is red meat tossed to the dogs of a restless mind while the meal’s complex flavors and textures are savored. Or not. Much depends, of course, on the chef’s skillful assembly of common ingredients. And on your palate.
The Hobbit you read to your son is not The Hobbit he hears. How could it be? You each bring very different experiences, associations and abilities to the hearing. When I read The Lord of The Rings to my son, I was as thrilled with my rediscovery as with his delight. When I read The Divine Comedy in college, it was incredibly interesting; when I read it at 35, Dante interpreted my life: not something I was expecting from a guy dead nearly 700 years. If there’s depth and substance there — and Tolkein provides that in spades — it will still be there if and when your son encounters it again. For now, I hope you treasure the gift your son is giving you.
I had all of the LOR read to me when I was a kid. I don’t remember how old I was. I think Narnia was first around the age of 5, and then LOR. I didn’t get it all. I just remember getting a vague sense of awe and wonder at a new world opening up. That in itself is worth it, and then your son will return with a vengeance to figure out all the details. So I think it’s worthwhile. But maybe start with Narnia and George Macdonald and Big Red.