Catcher in the Rye
Published June 14, 2003
Of course, Catcher in the Rye! Everyone has heard of Catcher in the Rye. A heckuva lot of people have read it. I decided i had to finally read it after Six Degrees of Separation. The con artist in that book does this whole discussion about how so many serial killers have this book.
Plus, it looked short. This was a nice diversion from the very long books I haven't been finishing lately.
Well. Having finished the books mere moments ago, and having read absolutely no criticsm of it, I can give my opinion.
Holden Caulfield is an incredibly annoying kid. I don't know why all the people in the story were so nice to him.
It's hell to be an adolescent. All dressed up and nowhere to go, basically. Holden is stuck in a very stuffy period in history, growing up in the very late 40s.
But I guess his main problem is that he can't find a way to get to where he wants to be. He is so caught up in all the details of his life, he doesn't know what he wants. He gets vague and foggy ideas from the books he reads and some snatches of moments. But in the end, all he comes up with is empty.
He seems so involved in his dissaticfaction with his life that I'm not even sure he wants to be satisfied. Once in a while, he seems to want to find something that makes him happy. But he can never grab onto it.
Is that how every kid felt in the 50s? Like Rebel without a Cause?
My dad was in high school then. He tells me he felt that way a lot. What is up with that?
Is that the sort of vague dissatisfaction the was the 50s? Is that what led to the sort of vague protest of the foggy "establishment" that was the 60s?
Maybe serial killers like this book because it is so vague. It lets them bank the fire that fuels the logicless reasoning for their actions.
I don't know. I've met some rather disassociated youth., and a lot of times I've felt like sitting them down and talking with them.
That's what Holden makes me feel like doing.
But with the fictional Holden, and with the real kids I've known, it's a little harder than a single convesation. The problems are not in their heads.
But the solution, at least the start of it is in the individual control. I do believe that.
But really. This book is also about more than just Holden's problems.
what i DID like about it was the way Salinger wrote it. He wrote in a way that would drive English teachers nuts. Repeating, and inarticulate sometimes.
But the book is from Holden's perspective, and the way Salinger writes takes the reader exactly into his head. He writes inarticulately because Holden is 16 and inarticulate.
I love the fact that this book is so "canon" while being so technically 'bad'. I mean, If I were peer-reviewing this book, I would have to redpen the crap out of it.
And I hate doing that. Because i don't like the arbitrary and inaccurate rules about what makes "good writing" in an English class.
So. I don't think that Catcher in the Rye changed my life, but it was worth the time to read it.
- Catcher in the Rye
- Published: June 14, 2003
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- Section: Books
- Writer: Murphy
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I'd guess your impression comes from a certain age. If it would be possible (and I'm afraid it isn't), go back to when you were 14 or 15 and then read the book. There are certain ages to read certain books and "Catcher in the Rye" feels best when you're the age of Holden. I loved the book back then and I must admit, I'm afraid to reread it now.
I've had quite a history with that book; I loved it back then, and I respect it now. I'm not embarrassed to re-read it at all -- it still has power.
The Catcher in the Rye is an awesome book. We are reading it for school in english class. I think that many people misunderstand this book because of the language and so on. Now a days, living in this world as a teenager, is much like the story. It is hard to trust anybody and it is hard to just plain live without being criticized. Holden is just a teenager, trying to figure out life and looking for love. Maybe he is just somebody that is looking for someone going through what he is going through. I think that everyone should read this book, and if you already have read it, read it again. It has so much to offer everyone. I think that it is alittle suspicious on how murderers have been caught with this book. Although, I have not read all of the book, I do plan to figure out why it is so interesting to those how are in favor of death.
I have a question I hope you can answere. Do you think that the reason Holdens teacher was petting his head was because he saw such potential in him, that Holden was headed for greatness with the proper direction? Or was he just being flitty or admireing youths foolishness?
Catcher in the Rye is my favorite book. As an adolescent, I appreciate Holden's outlook on life.
Jared:I think that Holden's distortion of reality and pesemistic outlook led him to think the worst-- that his teacher was making a sexual advance on him. While it was a little creepy, I think that his teacher was petting his head because maybe he saw himself a little in Holden. Earlier in the book, Holden talked about how his teacher really understood him.....I don't think Holden's married mentor was being a devient, he was being a father-figure and looking out for Holden's best intrest...(something Holden was unable to recognize from several people)
Does anyone really find him crazy?
this book was the worst book we have ever read EVER!!! we don't recomend it to anyone and if you have to read it try your hardest to get out of this gay book...he is always depressed and sad...he needs a bullet...sad excuse for a male
Oh get a grip, and if you've read the book you know what that means...
The Catcher in The Rye is my favorite book of all time. I've read it atleast 5 times and I started reading it again yesterday. Kind of ironic how the same people who hate Holden's character happen to be exactly like him- cynical. And yet they complain about how depressed he always is. It takes a half-intelligent person to read this book and understand it. I've heard a few people complain about Holden's "whininess" but if you have half a brain then you can figure out why JD Salinger wrote Holden's character to be that way. ANYWAY, the reason I love this book so much is because one of the main themes is of trying to preserve innocence and youthfulness while you are in the middle of a world that forces you to grow up. Like when Holden saw the words "F*ck you" written on the wall of the school his little sister attended and tried to rub it off... he was trying to protect her from seeing it and in a way "growing up". He looks at the adult world as kind of an abyss, a fall from happiness (which is described in the metaphor of being the catcher in the rye) and as a teenager, that's how alot of kids view adulthood. So I'm always able to relate to this book. I must've been 13 or 14 when I first read this book. I'm gonna be 18 soon and half of me is dreading it and the other half is excited.... a lot of ways I feel like Holden.
interesting. a good book. can i ask, is it true that this book was found in alot of serial killers homes before they killed?
Andrea, it was one killer: Mark David Chapman had an obsession with the book and he had a copy with him when he murdered John Lennon.
While I don't particularly like this book, I do have to admit I appreciated my teacher having us read it. Seeing the struggles of a person my age from the outside kind of helped me understand my emotions a bit more. I think I'll re-read it when I'm a bit older and see what I think then. I did enjoy Holden's analysis of the world around him, it was often blunt, to the point, and could even make me laugh =)
"I love the fact that this book is so "canon" while being so technically 'bad'. I mean, If I were peer-reviewing this book, I would have to redpen the crap out of it."
Huckleberry Finn, anyone?
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The book was written in the voice of a 16-year-old who sees everything around him as false, insincere -- "phony," to use his world. He sees an adult world that is full of nothing but compromises, of going along to get along; of "getting your priorites straight," which to him basically means mouthing a lot of empty bullshit pieties, like most of the adults in the book. Like a lot of books about growing up, it's about innocence and experience; it's a kind of mid-century version of (obviously) Huckleberry Finn, but also of Wordsworth's Intimations of Immortality. I don't see it as being anymore dated than those works. I don't think of it as being about teenagers in the 1950s; I think it's about teenagers in every decade, looking ahead and realizing the great dark chasm ahead of them. At least, that's always the impression I get when I re-read it -- I've always had the impression that it rings very true, that it captures a certain time of life with real accuracy. I think that's why so many adults look back on it and hate it.