How to introduce a 12-year old to literature?

I only began to read/study/compare literature when I was 17, so I had an already developed maturity in history, philosophy and politics to understand better the classics.

My brother, on the other hand, is a 12-year-old who is the smartest kid at his age (he's a chess/math prodigy and has an absurd memorization ability) but naturally still doesn't understand those social science concepts at large.

What are the best books for him to read in order to get a grip on literature? I couldn't possibly expose him to most Veeky Forums essentials/meme books without causing causing some trauma/apathy for literature.

My plan was to recommend:
>Animal Farm
>The Metamorphosis
>Hamlet
>The Catcher in the Rye/To Kill a Mockingbird (we are not natively anglophone, so he won't read those at school)
>The Sorrows of Young Werther
>Some Edgar Allan Poe compilation
>Some international poetry anthology

What do you think of it? Do you have any more recommendations? Experiences with introducing young brothers to lit? Thanks!

how about you let him be a kid instead of being one of those socially-stunted 2smart4u individuals incapable of socializing with their peers

wait until hes 14-15

/thread

Well, as I said, he's already very smart, so it's too late to make him have a normal childhood/puberty. Nonetheless, he's extremely kind and sociable. He's the one who's asked me to recommend some classics, so I'm trying to think of good books for the exact opposite reason of socially-stunting him.

>he's a chess/math prodigy and has an absurd memorization ability)
>but naturally still doesn't understand those social science concepts at large.

sounds like your brother might be a legit autist

>12 years old
>too late

wew lad
if he's asking then try and recommend a handful of books that wont overwhelm him. cant really say good examples would be though since i wasnt into literature at that age.

good luck op.

Homer, Virgil, and Machiavelli (be sure to find a well-annotated edition of the latter though; the Barnes & Noble Classics paperbook is good for this purpose).

Take him the library/book shop and have him pick whatever he wants.

Thinking it over, start with Virgil, and then move to Homer. Virgil is more concise and varied, and lacks the long passages of killing or feasting that could lead to boredom with Homer.
As for translation, I don't know. What is your native language anyway? Why do ESLs never just say it in their opening post?

>Veeky Forums essentials/meme books without causing causing some trauma/apathy for literature

Yeah, that's not so easy. Like, I can remember from when I was 10 and first delving into literature on my own. He could give The Snow Goose a shot. Also MAYBE Watership Down, but only if he likes animals.

This is actually really hard because the only books I remember reading when I was about that age were the Jean M. Auel novels which are garbage and also moderately inappropriate for a young man, and shit that was beginning to border on traumatising. Here's my list, though I doubt it'll help:

>Lord of the Flies
>The Wasp Factory
>Empire of the Sun

You could try and find some abridged Charles Dickens I guess?

Le Petit Prince is the best book for his age

Seconding this, and recommending

A Wrinkle in Time
The Hobbit

Both tinder for the fire

1984
Things They Carried
The Alchemist
Hundred Years Solitude
Borges Labrinthys
The Bible

Sliding through with the based historical fiction req

>a day in the life of Ivan Denisovich

I think you should probably wait till he's 15 or so. he won't really get much out of it otherwise. you could however make the value of literature clear to him as you're his older brother and probably looks up to you in some way.

>Wasp Factory

Awwww yis

Nathan Filer's Shock of the Fall has a Frank Cauldhame sort of character in it (directly inspired, Filer admits), so I'd recommend that as well.

Unironically, it might be an idea to get him some compendium book of Greek myths. Being exposed at an early age to that stuff will do him good culturally, and they are also really entertaining for kids.

Maybe Edith Hamilton's Mythology, but I'm not sure if that's too stuffy or dry. Any user who knows a more modern, entertaining compilation, feel free to reply with that.

also unironically, my younger brother is no genius but he enjoyed the Count of Monte Cristo and Les Miserables at like 13/14. They're great adventure stories with a literary appeal. Would also help them get past the intimidation of long books.

I would say its not stuffy at all. Everything is broken down into concise little sections. It's one of my favorite books and i find myself flipping through from time to time and reading bits.

>Goethe
>Shakespeare
>Kafka
>12 years old

lolwut m8? He doesn't even have enough experience with shit like existential issues and love and ethics and shit like that to appreciate Kafka or Goethe. If you want to introduce him to literary fiction (as opposed to genre fiction) try shit like Ray Bradburry, H. G. Wells, or Jack London. At least that's the type of shit I read when I was 10-13. If you have a 12 year old read some shit like Dostoevsky there just gonna be bored and not appreciate the deeper themes and message of the book. Get him a copy of the Three Musketeers or some shit.

BTW I think you might be autistic OP. Who the fuck would think to introduce a 10 year old to Immanuel Kant, or some shit like that? God damn.

Take your brother outside. He doesn't need to read he needs to think

Ignore suggestions to wait until he's 15. 12 is a great age to start reading, and few of the suggestions are anywhere near too advanced, certainly not The Metamorphosis and most Shakespeare. I'll recommend A Hero of Our Time and David Copperfield, and to add to someone's suggestion of Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers, Ivanhoe. Tacitus' Histories is accessible and not too dense, a good, engaging supplement to history and mythology primers.

As long as the desire is there I see no problem.