Comments | 50bookchallenge: Book 6/50

jazznut85 in 50bookchallenge

Book 6/50 - Catcher in the Rye

Jul 24, 2011 13:04

Title: Catcher in the Rye
Author: JD Salinger
Genre: YA/Classic Lit?
Pages: 214

Synopsis: Sixteen-year old Holden Caulfield gets the boot from yet another prep/boarding school, Pencey, then decides to leave the campus right before the start of Christmas break and opt for some time for himself before he goes home to his family, to face the ( Read more... )

Comments 4

meatina July 24 2011, 20:17:39 UTC

I didn't find it as profound as it's made out to be either (I read it when I was 18/19), and my sister-in-law (who read it in her late 20's I think), also found Holden to be really irritating. I think possibly if you read it as a 14-year-old it has a deeper meaning, but I just wished Holden would grow up and get over himself.

noctilucenteye July 24 2011, 20:19:54 UTC

Almost afraid to admit it because so many think CITH is so good, but honestly I wasn't impressed at all. I kept waiting for a story to develop and by the end of it I was like, Oh that IS the story.

jazznut85 July 24 2011, 20:26:13 UTC

That is what really got me about it. Like, most everything I have read starts out with back ground that is right in the lines of how this book starts. But then, the book just kept on going and going with what felt like background material. Then, by the time I got about into the 130s or 140s, I was like, "where's the story?" and "where are all the rest of the literary elements?" Personally, I just though this book read just like a really really long blog post of that one whiny, "woe is me" twit that everyone seems to have at least one of on their LJ and/or Facebook f-lists. That's honestly what it felt like I was reading.

The question is, besides foul language, why the hell was this book banned for so long?

meatina July 24 2011, 23:18:35 UTC

I'd heard a few rumours about Mark Chapman being a big fan, and that made the book very unpopular. One of the rumours I heard was that he believed Holden should have committed suicide at the end of the novel, and that he linked what happens at the end with a John Lennon song, hence shooting him. Of course, there have been many theories on the death of John Lennon, but it's not unknown of the media to jump on a specific item as a bad influence ( ... )