I’ve read it twice. Once as a kid, and then as an adult, although that’s been a while now. I didn’t require my son to read it, but I did recommend it to him and he did read it, as far as I could tell.
I’ve always claimed it is the basis for the “drop” sequence in ALIENS, and I think this is when I reread it, and why my son got interested in it. I found out that the first chapter was 90% of what I remembered of the book, and the rest is incredibly talky, although I did remember various scenes.
His most amazing prediction : Sinead O’Connor
“But, do you know, once you get used to it, it’s rather cute. I mean, if a girl looks all right to start with, she still looks all right with her head smooth.”