I've heard that there are people who say that when they were 6 years old they read novels intended for adults. This is in stark contrast to me as I'm not sure I could read at all at 6! And that wasn't a lack of desire on my part, though I'm not sure how much effort I put into learning to read. It seemed to me that reading was too difficult. Indeed, back then I viewed the ability to read as being almost magical. Just the fact that these marks on a piece of paper could mysteriously represent words and sentences.
I did eventually learn to read, maybe when I was about 7. The first books I read were books like the Faraway Tree series and Wishing Chair series by Enid Blyton. I loved them to bits! There's nothing I've ever read since that comes close... well, maybe the Narnia books when I was a bit older. But certainly nothing I've read as an adult.
Which makes me think; how would a 6 year old get anything out of a novel intended for adults? And if they were sufficiently gifted to read novels for adults at 6 years old — in stark contrast to me — did this translate as being exceptionally gifted when they reached adulthood? I don't think there's much evidence for that?
Anyway, at about 7 or 8 I tried reading a novel intended for older children; namely "the Ragamuffin mystery", also by Enid Blyton. I didn't really understand much of it and certainly wasn't particularly engaged by it. Though in subsequent years I loved all the Blyton books for older children. But never as much as I enjoyed the Enchanted wood and Wishing Chair books.
At 11 or 12 years old, I finally read my first ever novel intended for adults — the day of the triffids. I was really intrigued by the idea of almost the whole world becoming totally blind overnight, and the sort of stuff I still really love reading. Indeed, I've read the day of the triffids a fair few times since my first reading. However, when I read it at 11/12 there were parts of it I didn't really understand. I can recall not really understanding the 2nd chapter! But now I understand it all, and it is brilliant!
