Catcher in the Rye

[IronParrot]

Oh, I love overanalysis. The trick to enjoying it, even in the context of an English class, is to think about it in an original way. Not only will you enjoy the book more, but your grades will spike too...

[galadriel]

Analysis is all right, I guess, and a shallow reading can certainly mean losing subtle elements of the book... but there's a point at which you lose sight of the story and begin to view the book as this completely mathematical, lifeless hunk of words.

I prefer to analyze while I read, picking out the details as they come. Much more enjoyable than, say, filling out worksheets that involve listing uses of color in The Great Gatsby.

[IronParrot]

That's because worksheets don't leave you any freedom to discuss the colours. All they ask for is identification. An essay about the use of colour in The Great Gatsby? That's completely different.

[galadriel]

Oh, we discussed all right, post-worksheet. I just dislike talking about that kind of stuff - symbolism, parallelism, etc. - so methodically. If I notice it while I'm reading, it interests me, but if it's being taught to me, I often forget that we're talking about a book and not some sort of mathematical formula for words. The subtle devices of writers lose all their subtlety. But I guess it depends on your reading preferences, i.e., what sort of book nerd you are.

[Diaxion]

It is one of my favorite books. Probably in my top ten. It is also the best school book that i have ever read.

[Khamûl]

Odd. I just started reading this book the other day.

[Earniel]

Odd that eveyone seems to like this book. I hated it thoroughly, in fact I think I put it on the 'books we hate' thread. Although some of my hate may be because I had put it off till the last day and had to read it all in one night because I had a test on it the very next day. But it annoyed me immensely. I suppose it's just not my sort of book.

[HOBBIT]

Guys, why did you like it? I started it and finished it a few days ago.... my initial feelings were "eh"

It was alright - not too much fun reading it, but perhaps that is because it was a summer reading book and I did it at the last second..


Not very exciting to me, very dated......

But after thinking about it, I liked it a bit more.... but still

It's just about this kid who hates the world and practically everyone and everything! He has no real friends, judges everyone, is very lonely, drinks, smokes, wastes all his money, curses too much, immature, flunked out of 4 schools, lies all the time... I felt sorry for him - but couldn't relate all that much. Horrible rolemodel - doesn't seem like it would be fun to meet him.

His expressions got a little on my nerves:
1. boy!
2. I'm not kidding! No kidding!
3. goddam
4.phony
5. that killed me. he killed me. she killed me. she kills me

earniel, why didn't you like it? everyone else, why did you? again, i thought it was average.....barely held my interest, not a fun read.

Why is it a classic? I'm in To Kill A Mocking Bird - and already I like it a lot more.

[Earniel]

Originally posted by HOBBIT
earniel, why didn't you like it?

Oh, it's been at least 5 years since I read it so I don't remember that much about it (I probably repressed it), except that I hated it. Thoroughly.

If I remember correctly I found it immensely annoying because this guy couldn't keep a straight line of thinking, he jumped from one thing to another and the way he talked did not succeed in making me give a damn about the life he was wasting away. I thought the book was rather boring, nothing interesting seemed to happen in it. (I won't count the many times I said: "Will you get ON with it?!")

But then that's my opinion and as I said before it's probably just not my type of book.

HOBBIT, it's interesting to see that we both disliked it and we both read it in the last second.

[Diaxion]

If i've said this before, im sorry. It is a great book. Maybe the greatest of its kind.

[Khamûl]

Originally posted by Khamûl
Odd. I just started reading this book the other day.

That quote is from 9 months ago. I still haven't finished this book. I got busy and forgot about it. I'll have to finish it now that I have the time.

[Lady Tinuveil]

Originally posted by Eärniel
If I remember correctly I found it immensely annoying because this guy couldn't keep a straight line of thinking, he jumped from one thing to another and the way he talked did not succeed in making me give a damn about the life he was wasting away. I thought the book was rather boring, nothing interesting seemed to happen in it. (I won't count the many times I said: "Will you get ON with it?!")

But then that's my opinion and as I said before it's probably just not my type of book.

[/B]

I liked that he couldnt keep a straight thought, I think that makes it more like a life story than a thought out one. and The characters were very real to me, like actual people I knew.
I do understand why you would think 'get on with it', I did as well in certain boring parts, but I do appricate what the writer was trying to make you understand. Jumbled thoughts of an adolecent mind, and things we all think to ourselves sometimes...
Over all, I did enjoy it & I still have this book, although I wont pick it up again any time soon.

I read it a few months ago.
[It is odd that I never got the chance to read it in school, but picked it up on my own, one boring afternoon.]

[Ragnarok]

Originally posted by HOBBIT

His expressions got a little on my nerves:
1. boy!
2. I'm not kidding! No kidding!
3. goddam
4.phony
5. that killed me. he killed me. she killed me. she kills me

You forgot bastard, heh... he called everyone either a bastard or a phony. I thought his expressions were amusing.

[Nurvingiel]

*bump*

Originally Posted by HOBBIT

His expressions got a little on my nerves:
1. boy!
2. I'm not kidding! No kidding!
3. goddam
4.phony
5. that killed me. he killed me. she killed me. she kills me

Don't forget, "She really did." And variants. I don't mind his expressions though.

Eärniel, I imagine that this would have been a very annoying book to read for someone for whom English is not their first language. It's full of slang, old-fashined expressions people no longer use, and Holden's own quirky expressions like saying "goddam" every other sentence.

Personally, I love this book. I'm only half done but I find it very engaging. Holden makes me laugh out loud, but I find the book depressing sometimes too. Holden is so incredibly lonely, it really makes me sad.

He gets annoyed with people for being unable to carry on an intelligent conversation with him, but this might be due to his tendency to ramble, or get in his own head without explaining his thought to others, like when he asked Sally to come go to Vermont with him after they went skating at Radio City.

[Earniel]

Originally Posted by Nurvingiel

Eärniel, I imagine that this would have been a very annoying book to read for someone for whom English is not their first language. It's full of slang, old-fashined expressions people no longer use, and Holden's own quirky expressions like saying "goddam" every other sentence.

I don't think the different language made it more annoying, I read a lot of English, at times even more than Dutch.

This was just not my kind of book, I suppose. I'm not very fond of books about social problems and woe-is-me sort of stories. I like a book with something happening, not some guy constantly whining, I have no patience for that.

[Nurvingiel]

Haha, awesome. Well, fair enough of course. Books, like all art, are very subjective.

He does complain a lot, our Holden. The poor guy is so depressed I personally don't mind.

[Haradrim]

I'd have to say that I read this book a long time ago, though i remember it quite well. As someone who does tear books apart analytically I have to say I thought the book, on a technical level was excellent. Salinger manages to capture the depressed and lost mind of Holden in almost a perfect way. We all knew someone like Holden. Smart kid, doesnt fit in at school, lets life slip away and no longer seems to care. Technically very great.

However, on a personal level I hated this book. I wanted to kick Holden several times when he was moping. Im not someone who likes mopers... I like people who deal with their problems, try new things out, not wander around useless. Also I thought the point of the story got lost about half way through. No longer was it about Holden, but instead the world around him. I just found the metaphors confused and the rest of the work sloppy and uninteresting, at times coming across as forced.

Though I can admit it is a very defining book for american literature and a great example of an anti-bildungsroman

[Nurvingiel]

I think you make very good points Haradrim. But Holden does do stuff; he doesn't just whine. Everything he does gives more insight into his character.

For example, he hates his school, so he leaves. Holden is rebellious and resourceful. His family is also wealthy, even though he was short on money for most of his trip. He has the brains, means and will to simply quit school. Why does he hate school? Well, his visit to his favourite teacher (whose class he fails) tells us that he's very smart, but never does his work since he's really bored in class. But more disturbing to Holden, is that a schoolmate of his committed suicide and as his reflections show, the school dealt with his death very poorly. Reading between the lines and eliminating Holden's bias, you can see that he really does go to a pretty lousy school - not academically, but by how badly they treat their students in general.


(I did finish this book by the way, several months after my first post. Interestingly, the only reason I picked this book up in the first place is because it had been banned. I kind of have a goal to read one banned book per year.)

[Prince Myshkin]

The Catcher in the Rye

For starters, I enjoyed this book immensly.

Some of it sturck such chords of familiarity that I went through it wincing, wanting to be able to help Holden.

Initially I did think that his obsession with phoney-nes was a little over emphasized. Then with some later reflection, it occurred to me that a lot of people have different things that bother them about other people. Bullies really bother me, particularly bullies who are stopping people from saying things. I'm almost always getting myself somewhere I'm not neccesarily needed to speak up for someone. For Holden, there seems to be a desire for authenticity.

The somewhat disjointed writing style has always appealed to me. I love going through something with a slightly chaotic feel to it. It makes it slightly more realistic for me. That probably says something about me.

I read the Nine Stories by him about two weeks ago. I thought it was brilliant. They were all like watching a train wreck with blinders on. I'd be reading through and thinking, "Ooh ooh, I know something is going to go really badly sometime soon." And it did. But knowing that it wasn't going to go well didn't make it any more predictible.

I have fortunately not had to analyize any of it for school, I read them in my free time. Which I'm glad, because with the exception of a couple of things I prefer to have their intake be somewhat more experiential.

I'd like to appologize for I'm sure the spelling errors, sometime when my eyes aren't clouding from sleep I'll correct them

[Bombadillo]

Bumpity bump bump.

Originally Posted by HOBBIT

I have to read this for school over the summer (along with To Kill A Mocking Bird). That will probably kill the experience for me.

Well that's a one-two punch! I posted something on the moot once a long time ago where I said, "I used to be Holden Caulfield. Now I try to be Atticus Finch."

Holden sucks at life, man. He's a loser. Like a lot of kids entering high school in the 1940s, same as today, same as ever. Salinger writes him like a pro so you really relate to him and can't help but recognize his problem and wanna grab him by the shoulders and say, "Snap out of it! You're really a cool kid! Stop getting down on yourself and relax and be happy!" That's how I, as a young, impressionable reader, recognized the same faults in myself that otherwise would have gone unnoticed for a few more years until maybe I wound up in a rest home of some kind. I was seriously messed up; it's possible that this book changed my life. And Holden's character... he's just a common kid. Salinger was a genius.