Book Ratings

[Scheherazade]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_..._rating_system

We have ratings for movies and video games but not for books. Why is that?

Is it all about visual effects?

Do you think it would be good to have a ratings system for books as well?

[Lokasenna]

I'm not sure I really like the idea of ratings for anything... can a complex set of feelings, reactions and interpretations be boiled down to a basic number? I can't help but feel that devalues the original somehow...

[Scheherazade]

I mean ratings as in PG, 18, 12 etc...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_..._rating_system

[LitNetIsGreat]

What for, teenagers don't read to they? Maybe you are thinking that sticking a rating on a book will encourage reading then? No, it is a bit naff I think.

THE COMPLETE WORKS OF SHAKESPEARE



Edited by Scheherazade, complete with an introduction and
extensive notes by Harold Bloom

15 WARNING
* This book contains sexual innuendo and scenes of graphic
violence which some readers may find offensive

[Paulclem]

I have to admit that I read some books that had some sexually explicit and violent content when I was a young kid - 9 years onwards I mean. I was able to because none of my family read books, and so there was no censorship or questioning.

Of course I felt it was fine for me to read them until I had kids myself, and thought perhaps I should have had some restraints. I even came across a porn novel - no pictures - when I was 11, and passed it around my mates at school. We learnt quite a bit, but I don't think it was a healthy way to learn about sex. We certainly learnt more than the sex ed on offer.

I think I would have to agree with Scher on the ratings. The discomfort about my own kids reading the stuff I did clinched it.

The thing with Shakespeare is that it is difficult to understand for the young mind and perhaps doesn't matter. Some of the pulp horror was pretty bad.

[Gladys]

My son read early and much: Shakespeare and Chaucer as a seven-year-old. One of the few books he abandoned, twice, for violence was Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson.

In reading to our children, we favoured books with adult themes as educative of our world. Ratings were important in movie theatres where leaving was problematic.

[Silas Thorne]

I'm pretty sure when I was younger, 'American Psycho' did have a rating on it, and it was coated in plastic film so children couldn't thumb through it. However, my friend recently told me that a few years ago when he was in Japan, he saw that there was a magazine called 'Rape World' just a shelf or two above the childrens' comic books, within the reach of young childrens' hands. Some horror novels too do have scenes of rape and torture in them, so I can see why it may be necessary to remove them from literate younger readers, perhaps by a rating system.

However, many famous children's stories and great mythic tales contain cannibalism, sexuality and excessive violence too, and are deemed acceptable by society.

[Scheherazade]

Neely>Sarcasm is always appreciated (even though it is misplaced).

Just for clarification: I am not advocating book ratings as such at this stage; this occured to me at the library actually, where they have some sort of rating system. For example, you cannot borrow "adult" or "young adult" books on a child's card. So, I wondered if it might be a good idea to have a general rating to guide readers.

And why is it so important to have a rating system for movies/games?

Gladys> It isn't only about going to movies. How about DVDs and video games?

I don't think it is only about sexuality or violence either. There are many books I so wished that I had not read when I was a teen. I either thought I understood most of those or simply did not understand and brushed them away as "boring".

[LitNetIsGreat]

Neely>Sarcasm is always appreciated (even though it is misplaced).

Just for clarification: I am not advocating book ratings as such at this stage; this occured to me at the library actually, where they have some sort of rating system. For example, you cannot borrow "adult" or "young adult" books on a child's card. So, I wondered if it might be a good idea to have a general rating to guide readers.

But is there really any need? Are there swarms of children wanting to take out adult books from libraries? I just don't think it is justified. At the same call, would you discourage a 'young adult' from reading serious literature based upon some sort of rating system? I'm not sure I fancy that myself.

[OrphanPip]

I don't think we should be limiting what teens want to read. I did read a lot of John Irving when I was in high school, and I'm pretty sure my parents wouldn't have approved of what was in those books. However, there has to be a point sometime when we allow teens to explore and learn on their own.

[Scheherazade]

At the same call, would you discourage a 'young adult' from reading serious literature based upon some sort of rating system?

The assumption being that young adult books are not "serious" literature?

However, there has to be a point sometime when we allow teens to explore and learn on their own.

Of course... They can do that once they are over, say, 14; once they are done with the usual children's/young adults' books?

What is the point of forcing a bunch of bored 13 year-olds to read Shakespeare or 1984, knowing only too well that they will do so (that is *if* they *ever* do so) only to pass a course and parrot whatever you have told them or they have read in Cliffnotes?

It is interesting that I am coming across as an advocate of the idea because I am not at this stage; it was just a passing thought I had had and wanted to explore with you guys to see the pros and cons; however, as usual, intolerance rules and we are all racing to see who is "more righter".

[Niamh]

I think the catagorisation and cataloguing of books in stores is a form of rating. There are some books that do specify and age range, and i've come across a few with "for young adults over 13" etc on them. If i think a book is too grown up for a child, i have no problem hinting to their parents that there may be content in the book that the child is too young for. A lot of parents are greatful.

[Eryk]

If you want a rating system for language ("cuss words") we can use the same one for books and movies. But when it comes to sexual or violent content a reader has some responsibility for how much they imagine. It's all done for you in the movies.

The 19th chapter of the Book of Judges recounts the gang rape, murder and dismemberment of a woman. This chapter is included in "Children's Bibles" purchased by the same Concerned Parents whose activism is the bane of school boards, public libraries and TV networks.

[Homers_child]

I think the catagorisation and cataloguing of books in stores is a form of rating.

I always thought so, too. There is a children's section, a teenage fiction section etc. The sections that are simply labelled 'fiction' tend to be free game. There could be strong themes expressed in the books but thats the risk you take when you step out of the teen section.

When I was somewhere between 13 and 15, I remember I got a book from a library sale that had a cool title, and it ended up revolving around a Victorian prostitute and the family that she was interrupting. Some could say that I was too young to be reading that type of novel. But it turned out that I loved it and I plan on reading it again soon. I didn't feel as though it was inappropriate for me at all. Yes there were scenes describing sex but it didn't bother me, it was artistically written and I really got sucked into the story until the very end.

So, if books end up having ratings on them. Who is going to determine when something is inappropriate for a certain age group to read? Some people are more mature than others and can handle stronger themes.

[LitNetIsGreat]

The assumption being that young adult books are not "serious" literature?

Now who is being sarcastic? I didn't mean it like that but hey...

What is the point of forcing a bunch of bored 13 year-olds to read Shakespeare or 1984, knowing only too well that they will do so (that is *if* they *ever* do so) only to pass a course and parrot whatever you have told them or they have read in Cliffnotes?

Good points, but what does this have to do with rating? The canon in schools is a different (but interesting) discussion.

It is interesting that I am coming across as an advocate of the idea because I am not at this stage; it was just a passing thought I had had and wanted to explore with you guys to see the pros and cons; however, as usual, intolerance rules and we are all racing to see who is "more righter".

Well I noticed that you voted FOR the rating on books, but I don't think anybody is getting intolerant or anything.

I always thought so, too. There is a children's section, a teenage fiction section etc. The sections that are simply labelled 'fiction' tend to be free game. There could be strong themes expressed in the books but thats the risk you take when you step out of the teen section.

When I was somewhere between 13 and 15, I remember I got a book from a library sale that had a cool title, and it ended up revolving around a Victorian prostitute and the family that she was interrupting. Some could say that I was too young to be reading that type of novel. But it turned out that I loved it and I plan on reading it again soon. I didn't feel as though it was inappropriate for me at all. Yes there were scenes describing sex but it didn't bother me, it was artistically written and I really got sucked into the story until the very end.

So, if books end up having ratings on them. Who is going to determine when something is inappropriate for a certain age group to read? Some people are more mature than others and can handle stronger themes.

Yes, I mean it all gets a little messy doesn't it. With film it is slightly different because any sex or violence is all there to see, but who is going read the minds of the individual reader to determine what they can and can't imagine?

I think books laid out in sections as they are in the libraries and bookshops work fine as they are.