The Catcher In The Rye
i picked this book up due to the great praise and supposive controversy (supposivly its still banned in soem schools) and was really looking forward to it. but wholly shit was i let down. i found the story uninteresting and just seemed to drag on and on. i think this book can be compared to having a friend who does nothing but bitch and whine. however im still proud i read such a "classic" book, but still cant understand whats so great about it.
I first tried to read it in seventh grade, I stopped at like page 88 because I just couldn't take it anymore.
Last year I tried to re-read it, give it another chance, I got to page 90 before giving up on it. I just found it to be really irritating and mind-numbingly dull--- I just don't get it.
"Excuse me sir, Did you wash your hands after you took that big heaping dump. You know that sign, that sign says ALL employees MUST wash their hands after using the restroom, What part of that do you not understand?"- Malcom X
"Would you care to lick my sweaty baulz after they have been dipped in the finest venerial juices and sauteed in my own ass-sweat, madam?"- Winston Churchill
im with ya on that one fetus. it was more of a chore and a headache trying to read this book
[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by thegermanoven [/i]
[B]What made it great at the time it was written was how it exposed the 'teen mindset' [/B][/QUOTE]
Not every post-war teen was as cynical as Holden...far from it. In fact, he's surrounded by teens who are nothing at all like him, and that's the main source of his frustration.
It's more a question of whether or not each individual reader can identify with him. All of the feelings he is dealing with in the book can translate to any generation, but probably not to every *person* in that generation. The book struck a chord with me because I was very much like Holden when I read it. It's a polarizing book. It resonates with some readers, and merely annoys others.
Every time I watch the movie Bottlerocket, it reminds me of Catcher. If you've seen it, there's a part where Luke Wilson's character is talking to a sorority girl about his recent stay in a mental hospital. She asks him why he went crazy. He explains that one day his girlfriend asked him what he wanted to do that day: water-ski or just lay out. He then says, "I realized that not only did I not want to answer *that* question, but I never wanted to answer any other *watersports* question again, or see any of these people ever again for the rest of my life."
Either you identify with him (and Holden) or you don't. But there's no "correct" answer here. Some people are happy with their lives, and others just have that nagging feeling that *nothing* is the way it's supposed to be.
i think the only interesting part was when his trusted teacher started patting his head in his sleep. i thought it was gonna turn into a good part on how his teache rbetrayed hi etc etc etc but no. all we get is "maybe hes gay" nothing else no other info
I actually liked the book...but then again maybe I'm crazy
It was kind of boring for me too. Now that I think about it, I can't even remember what happened after Holden went to the city. Heh, oh well.
It was the first real book that made me want to read. I liked the style of it and i read it in 7th grade....everything up until then was goosebumps and shit so a great read.
I am a HUGE Salinger fan. I didn't read Catcher until my early twenties and loved the dialogue and Holden's view of phonies. What I appreciate more about the book is its place in American society as a whole. See Mark David Chapman and whomever shot Reagan.
For me what bought and sold on me on Salinger was the story about the glasses ans I would HIGHLY recommend Nine Stories and Franny And Zooey. Seymore Glass is a far more interesting character than Holden Caufield.
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It's great. End of story.
And I'll tell you why.
Excuse the double post, but anyway...
It's about something in all of us that we all experience. The ambivalance of adolescence. We all want to grow up, but we don't want the responsibility. When you're a kid, you want to be a grownup. When you're growing up, you want to be a kid again. And if you try to tell me that you don't feel that, you're lying.
i feel that grade5, but i didnt pick that up in the book at all
[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by grade 5 dropout [/i]
[B]And I'll tell you why.
It's about something in all of us that we all experience. The ambivalance of adolescence. We all want to grow up, but we don't want the responsibility. When you're a kid, you want to be a grownup. When you're growing up, you want to be a kid again. And if you try to tell me that you don't feel that, you're lying. [/B][/QUOTE] exactly.
everything of salingers is great, the glass family, nine stories
How is Franny and Zooey? Is it worth a buy?
BUY IT.
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[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by H.D.Thoreau [/i]
[B]BUY IT. [/B][/QUOTE] what he said
whats the frannya nd zooey and glass family about?
franny and zooey are two short stories. they are Glasses
Franny is about basically a young girl who has a nervous breakdown at a restaurant with her boyfriend.
Zooey= also known as Zachary Glass= is a story allegedly written by Buddy Glass about a young aspiring actor who is trying to take a bath and read a letter his brother Buddy wrote him while taking a bath, while his mother bothers him and Franny is recovering from her breakdown on the living room couch. the story then moves to dialogue between the two siblings.
To unpoetically describe the Glass Family they are all genius children and particpants on a childrens game show called Its a Wise Child(think Magnolia, think The Royal Tennenbaums)
The "Glass stories", which are reallly most of his published shorts, are Considered by some to be SAlingers greatest work, but controversial with discrepencies in character and orgainization. Most of the stories revolve around the oldest and smartest seymore glass and it is really hard to talk about him without spoiling my favorite story A perfect Day for Bananafish the first short in Nine Stories.
A brief rundown of the glasses and their stories is this. aside from the obvious Franny and Zooey.
A perfect Day for Bananafish-revolves around a postwar Seymour Glass and his wife on their vacation. Seymore has a very interesting happening with a little girl playing on the beach.
Uncle wiggly in connecticut-perhaps about Walt Glass(Nine Stories)
The Laughing Man-perhaps narrated by the impressionable Buddy Glass.(nine stories)
Down at the dinghy- Boo Boo Glass and her young son Lionel. Her name here is Boo Boo Glass Tennenbaum.
Teddy(my favorite)-Buddy claims responsibility of writing this story in Seymour an Introducion
Raise High the roof beam, carpenter- buddys view of seymour
Seymour an Introduction-more of buddys view of Seymour.
Now by this Neandrathalithic summary I have left myself wide open to more learned and loyal Glass fans. I know you asked for what are they about and i completely relate to the learned belief that the shortest distance between two points is not a straight line but a full circle and the bouquet of paranthesis that simple readers unlike myself seem to replicate((((())))))
Again i do humbly apolgize for not setting one straight with regards to Seymour but i recommend reading ninestories first for the simple fact of the wat the fuck just happened here feeling that A perfect Day brought me.
Adding to this longscribbled thread i would like to point out that if anyof you are interested in the whole Holden thing and happen to have a pirated copy on file of Hapworth 16, 1924 please pm me.
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i love the bananafish story, why does it have to end like that though, but seymour and raise high the roofbeams, is probably my least favorite of his
I nkew I hated Cather in the Rye when after I finished it someone asked me what is was about. All I could say was, "I don't know."
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Yes, it's [i]supposed[/i] to be about adolescence. It's [i]supposed[/i] to be about common experiences that we all face in our teenage years. Unfortunately, it's unrealistically written and has aged worse than any other book I've ever read. The End.
There is hope, but not for us.
are the glass family ones suppose to be very serious or is it funny or what?
yes, i feel like the guy in conspiracy theory..i dont have a hardback, unfortunatley, but i did manage to pick up a 14th printing of this edition with this cover for the used low price of $3.00:
[img]http://www.thismodernworld.com/media/gra/salingerfront.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.thismodernworld.com/media/gra/salingerback.jpg[/img]
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lucky bitch
I think it's great. Franny and Zooey is better. Shorter too.
ok so lets sya i ecided to give salinger another chance. what book should i get, make or break so its gotta be his best
read nine stories. quiet days in clichy was boring.
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[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Workingirl [/i]
[B]How can you say that Henry Miller is boring? He was banned in the U.S. for Christ's sake! Can't anyone appreciate a good ole fashion dirty book when they read one? [/B][/QUOTE]
I'll say it. Henry Miller is boring. Tropic of Cancer is the only book I gave up on. Just put down. I hated it that much. Want a summary of the first 30 pages: "Prick, cunt,cunt,prick,prick,cunt,cunt,cunt,prick,cunt,etc..." If I don't like a book, I still try to finish it, but Miller broke me. Oh! Fuck Arthur Miller too.
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lil known fact, I was in a short film based on a bit of this novel. The whole bit with Holden and the prostitute, Sunny. I played Holden (of course) and kicked some ass.
was there ever a movie on catche rint he rye.
why was miller banned?
ill check out Nine Stories next time im in Chapters
miller's damn good, him and burroughs, both banned both great books
no to the catcher in the rye movie...the was an adaptation of Uncle wiggly in conntecticut but thats all Salinger could deal with.
As far as Miller is concerned I think tropic of capricorn is very good, but quiet days in clichy really didnt do anything for me.
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[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by knoxville [/i]
[B]was there ever a movie on catche rint he rye.
why was miller banned?
ill check out Nine Stories next time im in Chapters [/B][/QUOTE]
Miller was banned for his language. It reads like: "Prick, cunt,cunt,prick,prick,cunt,cunt,cunt,prick,cunt,etc..."
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lazlo u have it out for henry miller, i mean in this day and age, how u say he talks which is - prick prick cunt cunt, louzy way of stating his writing. but he did it in 1937 he was pushing some boundaries, he was even kicked out of brittain for it.
[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by godspeed [/i]
[B]lazlo u have it out for henry miller, i mean in this day and age, how u say he talks which is - prick prick cunt cunt, louzy way of stating his writing. but he did it in 1937 he was pushing some boundaries, he was even kicked out of brittain for it. [/B][/QUOTE]
Did you read Tropic of Cancer? One of the "50 Greatest Pieces of Fiction" according to the book people? If so tell me I'm wrong. I'll get the book and start quoting if it comes to it.
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v298/Lazlosdead/completeLazloSig.jpg[/IMG]
no there is a lot sex, im just saying for the time he was doing it in was pretty risky.
the book people also didnt have vonnegut on that list so wtf
I dunno how it was decided.... If anyone knows what I'm talking about or where to find this list, post it for me please....
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I read catcher in the rye when i was about 16, along with all those other supposedly fantastic modern classics, like Animal farm, farenhite 451. All i can rememember was it was OK. Whatever. ive read so many better books in thew 3 years since then.
people only think they enjoy these books because everyone tells them they should.
Take Animal farm, its a good book with a interesting plot and morals, but in the end its just a stab at polotics, not a fantastic work of literature.
dispite this, you should give anything a go, even to find out if its crap or not.
I read Catcher about 12 months back and thought it was effortlessly wonderful. So much so that at the end of the novel I handed my notice in at work. It was liberating really, until that is I realised I was no good at anything else, and that all other jobs around at the time were too much hassle than my own. I ended up eating some serious amounts of humble pie that flowing Monday I can tell you.
Has anyone read Fante’s, Ask the dust? Similar in concept but I actually prefer this to Catcher because it’s much more funnier and poetic.
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the first time I read catcher I was about as neurotic as Holden, so I loved it.
The second time, I was in my right mind. he's whiney, he's annoying, and i'd love to kick the shit out of him.
"Do you have 846 pounds of zinc? I don't!" -- The Laz.
"I was almost Six On Tha Dot. What a mistake that would have been." -- Six On The Dot
Most of you who read Catcher did so without guidance. I don't mean to call you stupid, but I'm not sure if you saw all the significance in the hidden metaphors that are in this book. The fucking ducks and the pond is the most awesome metaphor I have ever come across. The whole end seems totally arbitrary unless you have an analytical mind. Catcher In The Rye is definately not for the person who wants shit in their face all the time. It is a thinking book for people who don't take things as they are.
Thinking about it, most people who like Chuck will hate Catcher. Chuck throws his main ideas in your face and never lets go. Salinger hints at it like...twice in a book. I enjoy Salinger much more than Chuck simply because I like character development. I'm not in it for the plot.
[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by knoxville [/i]
[b]was there ever a movie on catche rint he rye.[/b]
[/QUOTE]
Salinger swore that none of his books/works would be commercial in any way shape or form. Ever wonder why Holden Caulfield is never on T-shirts or in any movies? It's because Salinger knew that his works should stay in words on a page. Think of him as the Bill Watterson of literature.
In fact, Micheal, that play you did may, in some obscure way, be a copyright infringement. All depends on how it was used.
In summary, Catcher is literature. You need to think to read literature. It is a classic for a reason. You might try to find that reason while you read it next time; you may just enjoy it. 
Salinger writes about REAL LIFE better than anyone I've read, and being subtle is key to that. His characters have layers and layers of walls built up around them, just like real people do. Figuring them out can be just as difficult as understanding the true thoughts, feelings and motives of anyone you may bump into during the day.
You don't have to agree with Holden, nor do you have to even like him. Unfortunately, though, that's where most people draw the line and pass judgement (again, just like in real life). Salinger wants the reader to dig deeper and try to understand why Holden is the way he is. The answer doesn't come easy, if at all. But the important part is *trying* to understand, and to continue trying once you've closed the book.
btw - "Uncle Wiggily In Connecticut" was turned into a movie with his permission (called "My Foolish Heart") , but he probably did it very reluctantly and has since swore "never again".
Hmm, maybe that's the catalyst to him saying no to adaptations?
I had a disusion in the pub the other day with to blokes about catcher in the rye.
it was suggested that this is a male book and thats why women dont really like/get it but men love it.
What do you think?
i think you could be right...but what about The Bell jar?? Ive heard that its the feminine version of Catcher.
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The Bell Jar is not a feminine version of Catcher in the Rye, IMO. It is about depression, while Catcher is about coming of age.
I don't agree with Enid and his pub buddies, because I know a lot of women who love Catcher. Plus I think that most of what Holden does/says can be applied to both sexes (maybe not the hooker thing).
[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Diabetic [/i]
[B]The Bell Jar is not a feminine version of Catcher in the Rye, IMO. It is about depression, while Catcher is about coming of age.
I don't agree with Enid and his pub buddies, because I know a lot of women who love Catcher. Plus I think that most of what Holden does/says can be applied to both sexes (maybe not the hooker thing). [/B][/QUOTE]
coming of age?????thats the whole genre type, that is how the acadamy defines his story...if ya wanna know the truth about it...besides it seems hard to be an actual coming of age if hes institutionalized isnt it? doesn coming of age imply that hes reached somekind of adult maturity? just curious.
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I think coming of age means that the story centers around the struggles of young-adulthood and all that comes with growing up. Holden is at a time in his life where he is going through a lot of changes. He clearly shows that he is trying to discover something about himself.
The Bell Jar is about a twenty-something woman's struggles with depression. I guess it could be called a coming of age story, but the thing that holds me back from calling it that is that not many people can connect with the main character (whose name escapes me at the moment) due to the fact that most people are not clinically depressed. Plus her whole virginity thing is kinda weird, but that could be in a coming of age story... Anyways, I think Plath is just trying to convey her emotions about her struggles in a book.
firstly you cant not agree with me because a didnt give an opinion i posed a question, and secondly im a bloody woman!
Dalking about depression, has anyone read Prozac Nation? what did you think? it has to be one of the most annoying books ive ever read!
What made it great at the time it was written was how it exposed the 'teen mindset' and how the way it was written expressed how teens felt 'at that time'.
Or whatever.
I liked it. It moved really fast.