Catcher in the rye

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empror
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Catcher in the rye

Post by empror »

Okay so i know this is an american classic and supposed to be one of those amazing reads, but i really didnt get anything out of it.
Maybe I'm reading it at the wrong time in my life and could relate more if I were a teenager but that doesnt make much sense if a book can't reach across ages.
There was maybe a single paragrpah that I felt I could get behind Holden and appreciate his view but otherwise I found it to be a struggle to finish.

I'm wondering can anyone make me appreciate this novel or do manyagree with me.
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Post by Mister Missouri »

I had been hearing what a great book it was for years, however, most people I know who've read it reached a similar conclusion to your own - myself included. I too thought it may have had a greater effect on me if I was younger reading it, but there's no certainty in that. I found the book a bit over the top, the main character was a bit of a drama queen. Some parts I did enjoy, but few. I was glad it was a short read.
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Post by Tamispeare »

The book is really sad, I can relate to it in some way, sometimes I feel so alone in the world and how much everyone is fake... :( I especially like the quotes of: "When do the ducks fly when the lake is frozen"? Isn't it touching? ♥
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Post by DATo »

empror wrote:Okay so i know this is an american classic and supposed to be one of those amazing reads, but i really didnt get anything out of it.
Maybe I'm reading it at the wrong time in my life and could relate more if I were a teenager but that doesnt make much sense if a book can't reach across ages.
There was maybe a single paragrpah that I felt I could get behind Holden and appreciate his view but otherwise I found it to be a struggle to finish.

I'm wondering can anyone make me appreciate this novel or do manyagree with me.
I have to agree with you. While I do not mean to knock anyone who DOES appreciate this book I just couldn't find anything at all about it that appealed to me. Another of Salinger's books which has no appeal to me at all is Frannie and Zooey. I've read it several times and did my best to get into it but I just couldn't. Reading F&Z was as boring to me as watching paint dry. I know Salinger is a well respected author and perhaps I should read some of his other works because I want to be fair and give him a second chance but if these two books are any indication of what his other books are like I think I'm inclined to just pass and save myself the trouble.
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Post by rekha123 »

If you like this .. go for "Go Ask Alice"
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Post by LadyStardust »

For whatever reason, this is one of the few "great classic reads" that I actually enjoy. (I know, I'm making myself sound terrible here, but many of the books we were forced to read in high school and college just did nothing for me. I slogged through them.)

I can see why a lot of people wouldn't enjoy it. For me, it's always been a great read, because I identify with the character; he's got a lot of issues, and I think I see myself in a lot of the things he says/does. It's always a bit of an eye opener to read a book and go "What a dummy, why'd he do that?" and then realize you're very much like that character, you know?
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Post by Carla Hurst-Chandler »

Laughing...re-read CITR after raising three teenage boys. Try it. Results may vary.
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Post by DATo »

Carla Hurst-Chandler wrote:Laughing...re-read CITR after raising three teenage boys. Try it. Results may vary.
Hey Carla !!!

I think maybe that's my problem with appreciating this book - I can't relate. I have no kids and I read it for the first time when I was an adult. It probably resonates more with people who can draw parallels with kids this age in their own lives or with younger people who find aspects of their own life in Holden Caulfield's.
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Post by Carla Hurst-Chandler »

Tony!

Want to thank you for pointing me toward Christ in Concrete. Enjoyed it in a deranged fashion :) Did you ever make it through LAMB (Christopher Moore) and what did you think?

Yeah...read the book CITR as required reading when i was younger...but re-reading it after your kids are grown (past their teens) is a whole new experience...lol...
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Post by DATo »

Carla Hurst-Chandler wrote:Tony!

Want to thank you for pointing me toward Christ in Concrete. Enjoyed it in a deranged fashion :) Did you ever make it through LAMB (Christopher Moore) and what did you think?

Carla,

Yes, I did read Lamb and thought it was outrageously funny. I thought I PM'ed you on my experience but I guess I forgot. I about lost it when Biff was watching Yeshua repeatedly putting the lizard in his mouth and the younger brother repeatedly killing it. And the angel watching soap operas and wrestling on TV and believing it to be real was a real hoot too. Lots of funny moments and though some might find it irreverent I thought the author treated the Yeshua character with respect while centering the humor on Biff. Liked the ending too. Biff finally gets his reward for all his dedication. Thanks for the recommendation !
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Post by Venusian42 »

In my view ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ is neither a classic nor a great read. However, one cannot remain objective as for the role of Holden as a voice, crying out for a revolution against the rotten spirit of the age. Salinger was a horrible author, but a great rebel. I do not admire him because of his books; on the contrary, I think his literature was duff, unpleasant, and even prosaic. However, I admire him because of his moral virtue. He was a great visionary and a superb moral guide. The ‘Catcher in the Rye’ is a very symbolic book. Salinger was a spiritual guide that dreamt about world peace and divine order. Holden (Salinger) was an altruist who wished to save the children of the next generations from the corruptions of the material world. Salinger rebelled against the industry of literature. He even rejected the film industry and said no to the devil. What author today will do such a thing? This book has got nothing to do with entertainment literature, for it is a book that was written in order to deliver a great message. Salinger, in that sense, was more of a disciple than an author. Yet he did it through literature and not through religion. Luckily, for the world, he was spiritual but not religious. Yet his voice was louder than the voice of the pope, because he was a broad minded altruist, and because literature triumphs over religion. Salinger had a lucky break; I couldn’t envisage his success in changing mankind without ‘The Catcher in the Rye’. However, I have no doubt in my mind that had he lived today his voice would have been muffled by the corruptions of this age, and he would have been ignored altogether. His warnings, sadly, were ignored, and now we witness a horrible corruption in regard to literature and in regard to the spirit of the age. He served mankind well, and contributed a lot in regard to human evolution. ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ is a book for mature adults only.
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Post by DATo »

Venusian42,

I share your opinion of Salinger's writing ability but I was unaware of the man's mission. Thank you very much for your enlightening post. Your post prompts me to read more about Salinger's life experiences. Perhaps after I have done so I will read him again with the benefit of a new perspective.
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Post by Venusian42 »

DATo wrote:Venusian42,

I share your opinion of Salinger's writing ability but I was unaware of the man's mission. Thank you very much for your enlightening post. Your post prompts me to read more about Salinger's life experiences. Perhaps after I have done so I will read him again with the benefit of a new perspective.

Sharing information can serve mutual benefit. My pleasure. In fairness, I would not put his other books in any library. His literature was horrible. I feel sorry for him, because he wanted so much to succeed as an artistic author. Remember Holden, talking about the story about the gold fish, and how literature is pure, and that it should not be violated and all that jazz, well, Salinger hated Hollywood. He turned down all of their offers to make films out of his stories and life. The reason he loathed Hollywood so much was the fact that the film industry mutilated literature. This man stood like a rock against the stream. They could not buy him. He kept silent until his death because he was hurt by the disgrace around everything on earth. His life was admirable but his literature is far away from art, or anything likeable, I regret to say. Being sceptic about the role of literature I often wonder whether literature was meant mostly as art or to deliver a message. Is literature art more than it is a message? In Salinger’s case I begin to believe that the best literature is the combination of the two. Strangely, in ‘Catcher of the Rye’, which is a novel deprived of pleasure and art, he managed, through the character of Holden, to break the norms of art and beauty, and set up the readers in revolution of what is right and wrong, or what is fair and unfair, and how the world should be, and how mankind should behave, which I doubt any aesthetic author would dare to do. Salinger simply crushed the norms of beauty by violating literature for the sake of redeeming it. Kafka, unlike Salinger, stayed faithful to the rules of art. He also dreamt about becoming a successful author, and unlike Salinger, his dream came true, for Salinger, deep inside him, knew that his literature was not worthy of an artistic beauty. Holden is Salinger, so sadly, Salinger never attained his life dream. However, destiny blessed Salinger with something that Kafka could never achieve, and that is becoming iconic on grounds of moral virtue (a disciple in stratum). Salinger knew that he was lucky. He was clever, thus, he simply exercised the dictum that silence is worth more than gold. It was his silence, the rage of Holden, that made him iconic, not his ugly literature. He played his cards well. He knew when to unfold his cards and he knew when to hold them. He managed to influence human consciousness like no other author of his time. He became a cult, but I tell you the truth, the only reason I admire him is because of justice. He was right, Holden was right all along, for mankind has already pressed the button of self destruction. Ordinary literature cannot save mankind. At the same length, religion cannot save mankind either. Only a pure spiritual literature, without regard to the vanities of art and beauty, but with a tang of revolution can do the job. Remember, the dream of Holden is to be a redeemer (catcher in the Rye). Salinger’s success as an author was not in literature, it was in revolution. He truly stood in that rye field and saved mankind from falling down the cliff of joining the jungle law. Being sceptic and all, in the end of the day, I begin to believe that literature is unworthy when it only clings to art, whereas it is worthy when it cries out loud for a revolution.
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Post by DATo »

Venusian42,

Once again a great post ... thank you for your insights.

Off the top of my head I can think of a few other authors who took a moralistic stand though they were not specifically targeting literature: Steinbeck's, Grapes Of Wrath suggests the idea of the degeneration of altruism resulting from the unbridled greed of capitalism, as does Upton Sinclair's, The Jungle. There is also Joseph Heller's, Catch-22 which attempts to describe the absurdity of war. But I feel the closest parallel to what you describe of Salinger's thematic intent can be found in Thomas Mann's, Buddenbrooks which primarily deals with the conflict between making money and art.

Since the latter half of the 20th Century there has been a plethora of books and movies which call attention to many social and political problems suggesting that the writers, like Salinger, were promoting an agenda. I think this began (at least in the USA) with the violent, internal protests against the Vietnam war and the subsequent, though non related, Watergate scandal involving a sitting president. I think art tends to follow the trends of the public's interest and this makes sense because the money usually follows the path of the public's interest whether it involves clothing fashion or political movements and most writers write to eat. But occasionally we find an author who writes purely for the sake of art. Kafka, I presume to suggest, was one of these authors. It is my understanding that Kafka, in fact, did not even wish to publish his work and asked a friend to destroy his entire oeuvre shortly before his death.

On the basis of your posts I feel reluctant to condemn an author for writing what his conscience dictates. I think the ideas Salinger was attempting to promote may have been worthy ones, but I feel he lacked the talent to promote them in a manner that is very appealing.
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Post by Venusian42 »

DATo,

Likewise, thanks for your insight. It feels as if the American Revolution is never-ending. You mentioned some authors, which I must admit; I haven’t investigated, but believe that they were, as you described, followers of the moral stance, which is, basically, adherence to art and culture. I read Steinbeck, however, and felt his incredible ‘Carpe Diem’ realism, as I call it. Such a moral consciousness is extinct in our generation, as you mentioned in your post that contemporary authors mostly write in order to eat. I regret to say that such a choice is the obliteration of art. Survival cannot compensate for the loss of pure artistic motives. The beauty of art is turned ugly due to opportunism, competition, survival, and conformism to the system of man. Literature should not be involved with survival, neither with fortune, nor with glory; lest it would become stained with primitivism. Literature should remain honest, pure, and loyal to it’s purpose, which is to serve a higher human evolution. However, all the above writers which you have mentioned, succeeded, each in his own way, to preserve that solidarity of ethics. Yet what about today? Was their message all for no avail? I hope not. I believe, moreover, that because of the technological advancement that literature has lost its cause these days. It seems as if the electromagnetic field that confuses the bees because of the humming of it’s exponential waves, does also interfere humans in regard to judgment. The bees produce less honey, and the humans produce less spiritual life. There is no respect to authors either, as you mentioned Kafka’s final wish was violated by avaricious folks that were supposed to respect his humble request to destroy his writings. Instead, his writings were sold to the higher bidder, and he was idolized to a point of contempt and vanity. I fear that the spirit of mankind has reached its lowest point of evolution, which is stagnation. I believe that it would be easier to convince the general mass not to eat junk food, than to ask them to stop the violation of literature.

As for Salinger, and this is a point for another discussion, did you know that John Lennon was murdered because of the book, ‘The Catcher in the rye’? well, at least that is what John Lennon’s murderer claimed at the time he committed this atrocious crime. Have you ever wondered, ‘What would have happened had Salinger did not publish ‘The catcher in the rye?’ I truly believe that John Lennon would have been alive today had Salinger was faithful to the silence rule. I fear that Salinger, indirectly, though inadvertently, was the cause for the loss of John Lennon. Ironically, John Lennon was the lamb that was slaughtered by the redeemer (the murderer deemed him self the catcher in the rye). John Lennon was also accused for comparing himself to Jesus in one of his songs, as here he sang about himself as being a human sacrifice. I think it was something like ‘They’re gonna crucify me’. I wish it never happened, but no one can change the past and John Lennon is now gone because of the ‘Catcher in the Rye’
Uncanny isn’t it?
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