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No, we shouldn't see books rated like movies and video games. I don't buy the child protection argument - firstly because it's the job of parents to assist their children to a decent discrimination in their reading, secondly because children are much more robust (IMO) than they are often given credit for.
It would though be amusing to see how many interest groups would be offended by the introduction of a ratings system, for example:
Gratuitous cruelty to horses - Black Beauty;
Death by drowning, death in a barrel full of spikes, death by decapitation, cruelty by adoptive parent(s), sadistic torture, child abuse, being eaten by wolves - most of Grimm and Andersen (which I happily read as a child);
Genocide, fratricide, masturbation, incest - the Old Testament;
Oppression, deceit, marital infidelity, banishment - Arabian Nights;
False imprisonment, breach of promise, possible bestiality, capricious justice, slavery, death in battle, rape, same-sex relations - Norse, Greek and Roman myths and fables;
False imprisonment, theft, personal injury, risk of death - The Railway Children;
Infanticide, cannibalism - A Modest Proposal.
Would ratings really help?
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