Reading Up
Children tend to “read up,” which means that an 8-year-old wants to read about 12-year-olds, 12-year-olds want to read Seventeen magazine, and teens tend to focus on books set at colleges. The chain continues with younger people generally watching, reading, or listening to people slightly older than they are at the moment. Twenty-somethings watched ThirtySomething.
It could be that we do it as a form of preparation. You don’t need to learn how your age group operates. You’re curious about what is coming next. But it’s a general rule that we find people slightly older or farther down a road more interesting than people living in our same space.
What happens when you’re in the oldest or longest group? How do you read, watch, listen “up” when there isn’t a next tier?
I’ve been thinking about this because I’ve slowly aged out of Facebook groups. The information is no longer applicable — we’ve lived there and done that — but there isn’t a next step to jump to, a next group to join, a next stage to read about. The actors on the television are younger than I am. The characters in the books are often younger, too.
5 comments
Hmmm, fascinating… I feel like I read down more frequently, but maybe that’s because I spend my days with middle schoolers and I want to understand this bizarre world they live in? I did enjoy Margaret Atwood’s Old Babes in the Woods though, which was definitely reading up.
Interesting. Because some of my friends who are parents and readers read down – they read down to see what their kids were reading, loved young adult books or books about teen boys because they had teen boys (for eg), etc. They introduced me to YA books that I have enjoyed too.
I think we read up as a child because we’re desperate to grow up. Whereas as adults, we’re less desperate to face the realities of ageing. And I’m used to younger characters now – I often laugh at the responsibilities a supposed 20-something has in TV and movies and books. But the key is that I still FEEL young, so don’t find it hard to put myself in a character’s shoes.
For me the answer has always been variety – I read Richard Osman’s series about the elderly not because I’m curious about being elderly, but because they are rollicking good fun.
However, I wonder if you’re talking a little more about finding your tribe. There must be empty-nester Fbk groups/blogs etc that talk about navigating this new part of your life?
Interesting example…I was in my late teens/early 29s when thirtysomething came out and not at all interesting…then during my 30s when I may have been, streaming was not yet a thing…now I’m too old to enjoy it, I think…
I tend to read mystery series, some of which span decades but are written as though the whole series maybe encompasses a couple years, if that makes sense. Some (such as the Midnight Louie books) I started in my very early 20s, so I was younger than the protagonist, then by the time the series ended, I was like 20 years older than them…weird. And of course I still feel young so most of the series I read still have mostly younger people and I am not really interested in books with older people…
Not quite on point but I am finding it increasingly depressing how more and more of my doctors, etc. are younger than me (and I’m not *that* old).
This is so interesting! It explains my newfound interest/passion in issues concerning older and elderly adults. I just want to learn more so I can be knowledgeable for my parents, family, friends, and myself.
Maybe when I am elderly, I will just reread all of my favorite kids books that I’ve kept. 🙂
I suspect you reverse course, which is why sometimes you find elderly people acting like teenagers!