genre: fictionIt's hard to know what to say about this book that hasn't already been said. I kept hearing that I'd either love it or hate it and I was truly interested in how it would shake down for me, never having read it when I was younger.
I ended up falling more in the "loved it" camp. But here is why, I think: my dear friend LOVED this book as a teen. LOVED it. And I think as I read, I kept imagining her as a teen reading it - her and countless other teens finding in Holden Caulfield the same dissatisfaction with the world, that same frustration with the phoniness of the people they interacted with. Despite the fact that I felt like he was full of bull some of the time, I believed that he wanted to NOT be full of bull. He wanted to feel like an adult, wanted to NOT have that phoniness that annoyed him so much in others, even though it's clear that he wasn't completely successful.
Yes, there is more cussing in this book than maybe in any book I've ever read. Yes, he has a prostitute in his hotel room once. Yes, he smokes and drinks and wanders New York City and is everything you never want your own son to be...mostly. He's also sorta thoughtful. And he also looks for things that are beautiful and hopeful and nice. And sometimes he would slam me with a thought that was so fabulous, like: "Certain things they should stay the way they are. You ought to be able to stick them in one of those big glass cases and just leave them alone. I know that's impossible, but it's too bad anyway." I think it boiled down to the fact that I was able to swim through his choices and his aimlessness and his foul mouth and I could see that underneath there was a really intelligent, caring human being who just didn't want to put on some smiley face about something when he didn't feel like it. And as teens, weren't MOST of us like that? Crusty and crabby on the outside but still, on the inside, yearning to just find something real to hold on to, remembering that there used to be lots of things that made us feel happy? And in those (really rare) moments when he was happy, I want to just grab him and hug him, although probably he would think that's just me being phony.
6 comments:
Nice review. I loved this when I read it as a teen - now you've got me wondering what I'd think of it as an adult.
Good assessment. Poor Holden.
It really has more cussing than any other book you've read? I've probably read 2 or 3 with more. This has the most of any book I've FINISHED I guess. :)
I'm signed in as Jeffy, but you know it's me. I don't want to fix it. :)
That *is* a good assessment, Corinne. And you're much more charitable to Holden than I was. Kudos for that.
Oh Corinne your words made me want to cry! I loved your review. I know I can never be quite objective when talking about Catcher just because of the impact it had on me as a teen, but I find it lovely when other people see Holden as a lonely scared kid with something to offer the world. I so wish I could give that kid a hug too.
What a great review! I want to hug him too. I first read this in high school and totally loved and got it. I re-read it a couple of years ago and had the same reaction you did.
Weird note: I remember someone's review saying they liked it when they were younger because it resonated with her because Holden lost his brother. She had a good friend pass away and I had a father who passed away in H.S. I wonder if that makes any kind of difference when reading the book when you are young. I remember being so angry...not at anyone in particular but I just got Holden. Hmmm...
Great review of a great book...thanks.
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