Catcher in the Rye - Page 2

Catcher in the Rye is amazing. He brings up a lot of good (peccimistic as hell) points about life. A small copy was found in Lee Harvey Oswald's pocket, "the man who killed Kennedy." As well as, I believe, John Wilkes Boothe (the man who shot Lincoln). If you've read the book and understand it on a certain level you can see why it makes since that they had it.

Hehe, Catcher was written in like the forties, so I doubt John Wilkes Boothe would have had a copy.

You must be thinking of Mark Chapman, the guy who shot John Lennon. Right after he pulled the trigger he took the book out of his pocket, sat down on the sidewalk and started reading it. He was a big fan. Though the book in no way promotes shooting people.

uhh.. woops, i guess everybody has the chance to say something completely and blindly ignorantly wrong sometimes.. but now that you mention it that is who i was thinking about, wait a minute am i just saying that to save face..aww shit

No prob, didn't mean to embarass you.

i really disliked this book, but that may be because i read it for school. i dislike holden though. hes just a snobbish whiner in my opinion. he cant see that he is causing all his own problems and tries to blame everyone else. also, the big draw of a book like this is its ability to relate to the reader, but i think that ability gets diminished as the book gets older. overall, i liked perks of being a wallflower a lot better.

^ What you say is true. But I liked Holden's simple and immature attitude, even if it wasn't getting him anywhere.

I read the book when i was 13, then again at 16. At that time i loved the book. I read it again at 18(now) and i dont know what i saw in it. I cant say its a bad book, i just think it does not have the literary merit that shakespeare, Cormac McCarthy, Herman Melville, and Faulkner provide. It lacks in Motif's, symbolizim, and only has one focus, that being growing up. I may be wrong, but i think its a novel for younger readers. Still a good book 4 out of 5.

Screw motifs and symbolism. If a book communicates it's doing its job. IMO a lot of "deeper," more complex literature I've read fails in this department, whereas Catcher hits the nail right on the head, at least for me.

Though Faulkner is the shit, I'll admit to that.

mein kampf, and the communist manifesto communictaed, but that does not make them good books. Nevertheless i never said it wasn't a good book. I just think its for younger readers. When one gets older and has more responsibility this book tends to be a mockery. Its fine being an angst teenager, but you have to grow up sometime. Like i said 4 out of 5. But there are plenty of books out there that provide the same focus. And not only the same focus but a better understanding about the human condition... I. E Blood Meridian.

I know it's hip among literary people to put down Catcher, but it still seems like an incredibly well-constructed, tightly-written novel to me. I think people just get put off by the obnoxiousness of Holden, or the fact that they were forced to read it in school and having him held up as a "typical teenager" or whatever. But creating a character that vividly obnoxious is pretty impressive, IMO, and it's better than a lot of modern literary shit, in that it doesn't rely on a ton of labored description or cleverness to get its point across.

Basically it's a solid novel, with great voice and driving force. A lot of authors over-extend themselves, but Salinger isn't one of them.

Its not hip, a lot of people like Catcher including me. My main focus in readin is to understand the human condition, which this book does, but in only one aspect. You have your opionion and i have mine> "opionions are immunity from being told your wrong."

I know you weren't putting it down, I was just trying to elaborate a little on my earlier post.

I pretty much agree with everything you've said, especially about the human condition--I just think someone who sort of zooms in clearly on one aspect is just as relavent as someone who ranges out a bit to include more. If that makes any sense.

Agreed... hehe