2009 Reading List, Book #16: The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger
16 books. Pathetic, I know. But actually, #16 kind of snuck up on me. Darrin brought a mauled copy of The Catcher in the Rye on the long drive to Montreal, and I asked if he would read me some of if. He is a very good reader. It's particularly nice to have him read novels set in the United States involving US residents because he can do the accents. (Ann Patchett's Run falls into this category too)
I read more of it in Montreal and finished it when I got home. I first read the book in Grade 12 in Mr. Ashton's class. What I remember about him, other than the shame I felt when I was making fun of him one day with friends and realized too late that he was walking right behind us, is that he was never afraid to tell us (or tell me, anyway) if he thought a famous book was overrated. I believe he had that opinion of TCITR. I remember we all fixated on the fact that Holden Caulfield hired a prostitute, and that he was a loser, and that was pretty much it.
I don't spend a *whole* lot of time with teenagers, but I know a handful of them. And all I could think while I was reading TCITR was: If I had to discuss this book with them, would I be able to show them how they ARE Holden Caulfield?? Because they'd never believe me. I'm sure they'd be disdainful of him. But he IS them. When I spend time with them I see all the good and bad: the quick judgments, the instability, strange priorities, unpredictable emotions, selfishness AND selflessness, irritating inability to use words beyond a limited vernacular, touching moments of insight and inspiration, fear and anxiety, extreme use of hyperbole... I suppose it's comforting that things haven't changed that much. But I know I didn't see myself in HC when I first read TCITR, so I wonder if readers are doomed to never see their own adolescence reflected in the book until their adolescence is over?
I can't think of anything brilliant to say about this, just what my gut reaction was. Maybe others see more of HC's idiosyncracies than his commonalities with Everyteen.
I read more of it in Montreal and finished it when I got home. I first read the book in Grade 12 in Mr. Ashton's class. What I remember about him, other than the shame I felt when I was making fun of him one day with friends and realized too late that he was walking right behind us, is that he was never afraid to tell us (or tell me, anyway) if he thought a famous book was overrated. I believe he had that opinion of TCITR. I remember we all fixated on the fact that Holden Caulfield hired a prostitute, and that he was a loser, and that was pretty much it.
I don't spend a *whole* lot of time with teenagers, but I know a handful of them. And all I could think while I was reading TCITR was: If I had to discuss this book with them, would I be able to show them how they ARE Holden Caulfield?? Because they'd never believe me. I'm sure they'd be disdainful of him. But he IS them. When I spend time with them I see all the good and bad: the quick judgments, the instability, strange priorities, unpredictable emotions, selfishness AND selflessness, irritating inability to use words beyond a limited vernacular, touching moments of insight and inspiration, fear and anxiety, extreme use of hyperbole... I suppose it's comforting that things haven't changed that much. But I know I didn't see myself in HC when I first read TCITR, so I wonder if readers are doomed to never see their own adolescence reflected in the book until their adolescence is over?
I can't think of anything brilliant to say about this, just what my gut reaction was. Maybe others see more of HC's idiosyncracies than his commonalities with Everyteen.