Catcher in the Rye - Page 2

GrayMouser · 01-31-2010, 06:14 AM

Count me with Earniel- I hated it.

Read it when I was 15 in 1969; at that time i was very involved in left-wing politics, so my major impression was "spoiled whiny overprivileged brat'.

OTOH, I very much liked Franny and Zooey. Maybe I'll give it another whirl now that I'm no longer reflexively judgemental (Okay, not quite so reflexively judgemental)

Interesting that he'd said he'd kept writing for himself over the years; could be a mass of stuff to come out, depending on his executors.

And of course Hollywood is slavering over the movie rights- he'd refused them to everybody over the years. Good luck on that.

galadriel · 06-08-2003, 06:29 PM

Quote:

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.

Nah. They're both great books that are easy to get lost in, so just pretend you're reading for them for yourself. Of course, if your English class is anything like mine, the experience *will* be killed next fall when you're forced to over-analyze them ad naseaum.

***IronParrot*** · 06-08-2003, 10:36 PM

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 · 06-09-2003, 09:47 AM

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*** · 06-10-2003, 12:31 AM

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 · 06-12-2003, 07:32 PM

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 · 08-12-2003, 08:06 PM

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*** · 08-13-2003, 12:09 AM

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

***Earniel*** · 08-13-2003, 05:14 AM

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*** · 09-01-2003, 08:34 PM

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.

**Nurvingiel** · 10-21-2006, 03:46 AM

*bump*

Quote:

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*** · 10-21-2006, 06:22 AM

Quote:

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** · 10-21-2006, 03:08 PM

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 · 02-25-2008, 06:05 AM

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

***Earniel*** · 09-02-2003, 03:55 AM

Quote:

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 · 09-11-2003, 07:18 PM

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

***Khamûl*** · 05-06-2004, 01:21 AM

Quote:

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 · 05-10-2004, 02:42 AM

Quote:

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 · 06-06-2004, 11:15 AM

Quote:

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.

Hidayat · 11-30-2009, 01:09 PM

Hello people, I'm new here and I joined this forum in order to stop playing video-games and do something more productive :P. Well, I have read this book over the summer, for it was required by the AP Lit course, and we're going to be discussing it soon. However, I fail to recognise the genius in the Catcher in the Rye. To me, it is at best a simple story about a 12 (not sure) year old, but nothing more. Can someone explain to me why exactly is this considered a masterpiece?

01-31-2010, 06:14 AM	#1
GrayMouser Elf Lord Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Ilha Formosa Posts: 2,068	Count me with Earniel- I hated it. Read it when I was 15 in 1969; at that time i was very involved in left-wing politics, so my major impression was "spoiled whiny overprivileged brat'. OTOH, I very much liked Franny and Zooey. Maybe I'll give it another whirl now that I'm no longer reflexively judgemental (Okay, not quite so reflexively judgemental) Interesting that he'd said he'd kept writing for himself over the years; could be a mass of stuff to come out, depending on his executors. And of course Hollywood is slavering over the movie rights- he'd refused them to everybody over the years. Good luck on that. __________________ Glendower: I can call spirits from the vasty deep. Hotspur: Why, so can I, or so can any man; But will they come when you do call for them? "I like pigs. Dogs look up to us, cats look down on us, but pigs treat us as equals."- Winston Churchill

06-08-2003, 10:36 PM	#3
*IronParrot* Fowl Administrator Join Date: Dec 1999 Location: Calgary or Edmonton, Canada Posts: 53,420	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... __________________ All of IronParrot's posts are guaranteed to be 100% intelligent and/or sarcastic, comprising no genetically modified content and tested on no cute furry little animals unless the SPCA is looking elsewhere. If you observe a failure to uphold this warranty, please contact a forum administrator immediately to receive a full refund on your Entmoot registration. Blog: Nick's Café Canadien

06-09-2003, 09:47 AM	#4
galadriel Elven Warrior Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: a castle made of clouds Posts: 459	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. __________________ Human kind cannot bear very much reality. dreamflower - for all things Lady Galadriel

06-10-2003, 12:31 AM	#5
*IronParrot* Fowl Administrator Join Date: Dec 1999 Location: Calgary or Edmonton, Canada Posts: 53,420	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. __________________ All of IronParrot's posts are guaranteed to be 100% intelligent and/or sarcastic, comprising no genetically modified content and tested on no cute furry little animals unless the SPCA is looking elsewhere. If you observe a failure to uphold this warranty, please contact a forum administrator immediately to receive a full refund on your Entmoot registration. Blog: Nick's Café Canadien

06-12-2003, 07:32 PM	#6
galadriel Elven Warrior Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: a castle made of clouds Posts: 459	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. __________________ Human kind cannot bear very much reality. dreamflower - for all things Lady Galadriel

08-12-2003, 08:06 PM	#7
Diaxion Elven Warrior Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 112	It is one of my favorite books. Probably in my top ten. It is also the best school book that i have ever read. __________________ good day

08-13-2003, 12:09 AM	#8
*Khamûl* Slacker Warrior Admin Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Alabama Posts: 2,759	Odd. I just started reading this book the other day. __________________ "If the giving of information is to be the cure of your inquisitiveness, I shall spend all the rest of my days in answering you." Gandalf to Pippin Psalm 107:31

08-13-2003, 05:14 AM	#9
*Earniel* The Chocoholic Sea Elf Administrator Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: N?n in Eilph (Belgium) Posts: 14,363	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. __________________ We are not things.

09-01-2003, 08:34 PM	#10
*HOBBIT* Saviour of Entmoot Admiral Join Date: Nov 1999 Location: NC/NJ (no longer Same place as bmilder.) Posts: 61,986	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. __________________ President Emeritus (2000-2004) Private message (or email) me if you need any assistance. I am here to help! "I'm up to here with cool, ok? I'm so amazingly cool you could keep a side of meat in me for a month. I am so hip I have difficulty seeing over my pelvis" - Zaphod Beeblebrox Latest Blog Post: Just Quit Facebook? No One Cares!

02-25-2008, 06:05 AM	#14
Haradrim The Official Court Jester of the Entmoot Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Far Harad Posts: 1,006	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 __________________ A Bit More Grown Up This Time...

09-11-2003, 07:18 PM	#16
Diaxion Elven Warrior Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 112	If i've said this before, im sorry. It is a great book. Maybe the greatest of its kind. __________________ good day

11-30-2009, 01:09 PM	#20
Hidayat Sapling Join Date: Nov 2009 Posts: 2	Hello people, I'm new here and I joined this forum in order to stop playing video-games and do something more productive :P. Well, I have read this book over the summer, for it was required by the AP Lit course, and we're going to be discussing it soon. However, I fail to recognise the genius in the Catcher in the Rye. To me, it is at best a simple story about a 12 (not sure) year old, but nothing more. Can someone explain to me why exactly is this considered a masterpiece?