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J.D. Salinger: The Catcher In The Rye

I read CITR in high school and thought it was unusual to see "...k" in print. When I re-read it as an adult I "met" Holden as a holier-than-thou, whining, sneering person who I would not spend a minute being condesceded by. How did he manage to be seen as a sympathetic character? Is he not a product of a writer whose best (and almost only) companion is only himself ?
Mats
 
Mats Flemstrom said:
I read CITR in high school and thought it was unusual to see "...k" in print. When I re-read it as an adult I "met" Holden as a holier-than-thou, whining, sneering person who I would not spend a minute being condesceded by. How did he manage to be seen as a sympathetic character? Is he not a product of a writer whose best (and almost only) companion is only himself ?
Mats
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That's how I saw him.
 
I'd like to have some people I know reread this book and see if they still identify with Holden.
 
Sounds like it might be time for me to reread Catcher again. I came to it in adult life, after not having read it as a teenager, and was quite taken with it. It seemed to me to be a book that would resonate differently with readers in different stages throughout their own lives, after they had progressively experienced more of life each time. So it is time for me to check out that theory with my own reaction after a rereading now. Based on my earlier reading, I currently call it a masterpiece.
 
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/21/weekinreview/21schuessler.html?_r=1&ref=books

The trouble is today’s teenagers. Teachers say young readers just don’t like Holden as much as they used to. What once seemed like courageous truth-telling now strikes many of them as “weird,” “whiny” and “immature.”
(...)
Ms. Feinberg recalled one 15-year-old boy from Long Island who told her: “Oh, we all hated Holden in my class. We just wanted to tell him, ‘Shut up and take your Prozac.’”
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Accurate though that article might be in detailing reactions of today's readers to a book about an adolescent of two generations ago -- yes, two whole generations ago -- I still find it irritating (and superficial) to see the estimation of a work of literature reduced to the question of whether readers like the main character or not.

But, then, I don't know why particular books are included in the school curriculum, or not, or what their study is supposed to accomplish, so I won't suggest that there might still be some merit in students comparing or contrasting Holden's life to their own modern life styles.

Nevertheless, the book might not yet be dead, just the teachers who are at loss for how to teach it in a meaningful way to their oh so thoroughly modern students. If it has in fact become a period piece, as it seems it might, so be it; but that is what most classics are, and they are still worthy of serious attention, unlikable characters and all.

All in all, an interesting pop article from the wizards at the NYT.
 
I cannot think of ANY good reason to "take" a book, a story, a play or a poem in school. The ones that I was "taught" simply made sure I would never read them or that author again ( e.g. "Great Expectations" in gr.9 ). 45 years later I cannot enjoy Dickens.
Encouraging reading is great - a semester spent deconstructing a work in school is simply a terrible idea.
 
Mats Flemstrom said:
Encouraging reading is great - a semester spent deconstructing a work in school is simply a terrible idea.
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I can somewhat agree with that, yet I think its just the actual school work that gets to me rather than the book itself. I try to read the books on my own terms before letting school mixed with my own procrastination get a hold of it.

I read The Cather in the Rye when I was 14 or 15 and I enjoyed it I think because I was 14 or 15, and though Holden himself might be outdated for modern youth, the emotions he feels are universal and timeless.
 
I have read this book three times in my life since I was told multiple times it was amazing. I read in school at the age of 16, on my own at 21, and I read it last week (I'm 23). I tried it again in college and then after since my older brother said he found it better after he had "been in the outside world." I have not enjoyed this book any of the three times I have read it. I don't understand how it is suppose to reach out to teens today. I personally see it as a over privileged teenager who needed to learn that life is not fair and take what you deserve, which should be nothing for him.
 
Just finished this book after an intense couple day's reading. The thing was... i couldn't put it down as I definitely enjoyed the narrative voice of Holden and his angsty/ungrateful tone certainly resonates with me however I feel that like many "classics" and culturally worshipped novels the story never really went anywhere, just thoughts without any real purpose or plot but... I don't suppose that's a bad thing. I just prefer to feel like I got something out of reading a book - the whole beginning and end, journey thing but oh well!
I definitely still enjoyed it and think I would like to come back to it in a couple years with a more mature perspective. :) Would be much appreciated to hear other's thoughts on the lack of real plot/vague symbolism in the book?
 
I read it for the first time about a year ago and I really really enjoyed it, I honestly thing it is one of the best books ever written. Salinger really nailed it. Are there any similar books I could read?
 
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