"The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger
It was like a long-lost reunion.
Holden and I, remembering the days of our misspent youth. One of us was getting kicked out of prep school, while the other was busy with her friend, writing stories about orangutans who happened to also be private detectives. I won't give you time to guess who was doing what.
In some ways, reading "Catcher in the Rye" was a happy bit of nostalgia for me. It brought back fond memories of junior year - furiously typing English papers in my dad's office, auditions for plays and anxiously awaiting callbacks, dating boys, and not dating boys, and entertaining foreign exchange students. Junior year was a good year, my friends. (It was also the year I met Jordan!)
But, in so many other ways, "Catcher" brought me joy as an adult, probably more so than when I was in high school. Within the first few pages, I found myself falling in love with Holden, and his voice. It's easy to see why this book is a classic, and a favorite of generations of teenagers. Holden is real, probably more real than other book characters previous to his time. He is a teenager through and through: confident, yet nervous, snotty, headstrong and impulsive, a bit shallow. As an adult, I can appreciate Holden and see a bit of him in my teenage self. I wouldn't have thought that when I first read the book at 16, but I can see it now. But then again, part of being a teenager is thinking you're not anything like other people your age; you're much more mature.
To speak a little more on Holden's "voice" - one of the questions I asked in the book's introduction was, "Is the way Holden talks and swears important to the book? Would it be the same book without this?" I would have to say, yes, the way Holden talks and swears is important to the book. It wouldn't be the same without it. It sets the book apart from other literature; it encompasses something special about its characters, about Salinger, and about the time he was writing - the time when teenagers were becoming their own entity.
Holden and I, remembering the days of our misspent youth. One of us was getting kicked out of prep school, while the other was busy with her friend, writing stories about orangutans who happened to also be private detectives. I won't give you time to guess who was doing what.
In some ways, reading "Catcher in the Rye" was a happy bit of nostalgia for me. It brought back fond memories of junior year - furiously typing English papers in my dad's office, auditions for plays and anxiously awaiting callbacks, dating boys, and not dating boys, and entertaining foreign exchange students. Junior year was a good year, my friends. (It was also the year I met Jordan!)
But, in so many other ways, "Catcher" brought me joy as an adult, probably more so than when I was in high school. Within the first few pages, I found myself falling in love with Holden, and his voice. It's easy to see why this book is a classic, and a favorite of generations of teenagers. Holden is real, probably more real than other book characters previous to his time. He is a teenager through and through: confident, yet nervous, snotty, headstrong and impulsive, a bit shallow. As an adult, I can appreciate Holden and see a bit of him in my teenage self. I wouldn't have thought that when I first read the book at 16, but I can see it now. But then again, part of being a teenager is thinking you're not anything like other people your age; you're much more mature.
To speak a little more on Holden's "voice" - one of the questions I asked in the book's introduction was, "Is the way Holden talks and swears important to the book? Would it be the same book without this?" I would have to say, yes, the way Holden talks and swears is important to the book. It wouldn't be the same without it. It sets the book apart from other literature; it encompasses something special about its characters, about Salinger, and about the time he was writing - the time when teenagers were becoming their own entity.
I can see why this book was challenged when it came out. I can see adults believing it would put ideas into teenagers' heads, with its careless response to school, sex, and respect for adults. But such an idea begs the question: would a book like this cause teenagers to act in this way, or were they already acting like this, and Salinger just happened to capture it? My vote would be for the latter, but I can see how it would cause adults to panic.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on Salinger's work!
Post your review to the Blog Hop below!
I'd love to hear your thoughts on Salinger's work!
Post your review to the Blog Hop below!
I liked it, but I didn't love it. To be honest. I love what you have to say though. There is tons of merit in this novel. I just wish we would have seen Holden happy at least once, he almost seems depressed to me.
ReplyDeleteI think that teenagers have always been more aware then adults think they are, and this novel brings that to light in a big way.
holden's voice IS the book. the story itself isn't that compelling -- a privileged teenage kid who doesn't feel like going through the paces for society's benefit -- but it's his voice, his language, his way of telling his story (i mean, it's salinger, but it's the character) that is the reason for reading. (also, i'm to imagine his voice, literally, make words in my ears and not just on the page. being upper-crust manhattan, i know he wouldn't have the caricatured 'joisey' nasal-ness, but i keep slipping into 'bahsten', which i know isn't right either.)
ReplyDeletealso, just had a thought -- would you want to hear from holden at our age, mid-twenties? would he be any different (pandering to the theory that the adolescent stage of life is prolonging into the 20s)? would he be even more of a bum? would he have finally done something with himself? =)
Loved your review. And I completely agree with Katie, but I never knew I did until I just read her response. Holden's voice IS the book. Holden's point of view, Holden's outlook, Holden's attitude - those are what make the book compelling. Without them, there is no Catcher in the Rye. (Man, that girl is smart. You hear me Katie? You are smart.)
ReplyDeleteAnd to your question of whether adults believed this book would put ideas in their children's heads... if they did they were in denial. Surely as teenagers they had similar thoughts. Perhaps it was being reminded of those thoughts (which, honestly, this time around made me cringe a time or two too) that made them worry for their children. The teenage "rite of passage" is a scary process - I can't imagine what it's like to live through it as a parent. *shudder*