• Welcome to BookAndReader!

    We LOVE books and hope you'll join us in sharing your favorites and experiences along with your love of reading with our community. Registering for our site is free and easy, just CLICK HERE!

    Already a member and forgot your password? Click here.

J.D. Salinger: The Catcher In The Rye

hobitten

hobitten

New Member
I am reading The Catcher in the Rye (J.D.Sallinger) at the moment. I have not finished it yet, but I am well underway.

Being Danish this book is not exactly included in the mandatory reads of my youth (and life). I came across it a few years back, have to. I do not have much in common with a 16 year old but didn't start reading it untill recently.

I understand that this book is a classic - and I think I understand why. It has got to be one of the first "teenage books": written about a (troubled) teenager, in the language of a teenager, describing the life and mind of one teenager around 1950. I enjoy it quite a lot, despite the fact that I am well past my teens!!!

I don't think I can relate to the character, but I really don't think I youngster, from a wealthy family in America, being thrown out of one prep-school after another (we don't have prep-schools in Denmark). But I can still understand Holden Cauldfield and enjoy the book. (this being a reference Murphyz review).

Is it true, that this book was "banned" from public libraries and schools in the US at certain period of time? I heard some rumour to that effect. :confused:

I'd like to hear from others who have read this book...

:)

By the way: The book is called "Forbandet Ungdom" in Danish, which translates into something like "Damned Youth".

Quite appropriate, don't you think
 
Wow, haven't read this since I was a teen myself. Perhaps we should add it to the book of the month setlist. :)

Yes, it was banned from libraries and so forth here, and I bet you could find a backwater high school that still doesn't allow it. Mostly because when it came out the U.S. wasn't quite ready to admit the alienation of its youth, plus there are a lot of curse words in it.
 
I read this a few months ago. I didn’t like the character at first, but I warmed to him as the story continued, and ended up feeling rather sorry for him. Despite the interpretation by most people that Holden was a rebel, he struck me more as a misfit and a loner. I would have thought rebels damage others, not themselves. Just my opinion. Perhaps if I’d read it as a teenager, my thoughts would have been different. Enjoyed the book, though.

Third Man Girl
 
I finished the book this morning.

I concur with Third man girl. Holden kind of grew on me. He is just a lonely kid, who has lost his brother and lost his way.

Hobitten
 
I have to admit that it is quite a while since I read the book, but I think what really accounts for the book's status is that it isn't just about a troubled teenager. I think it also says a lot about the human condition in general.
 
I think I covered all aspects of my opinion on this in the review, and my thoughts haven't changed with time since then.

I would like to add that I have recently read last years Booker prize winner 'Vernon God Little' by DBC Pierre and I found it hauntingly similar to CITR, and perhaps on most levels it was meant to be. The similarities are too close to be coincidence and is boderline plagurism, which is why I think it would be better to be classed as a homage to Catcher and not a replica. Not only is it about a misunderstood teenager trying to escape, and written in first person, but it so happens that his middle initial is G and throughout the book he keeps changing it to random words - remind anyone of Holden?

I'm not asking if anyone has seen the similarities between the two, as they are blindingly obvious, but I am wondering if anyone has read them both and which one they prefer out of the two (a decision I feel may be based upon the age of reading Catcher initially). I think I preferred Vernon, simply because it was slightly more humourous and there were a few times in the novel where I thought that things couldn't get worse for the 'hero' only to find that they did, but unlike in Catcher, there was slightly more of an emotional attachment to him.

Mxx
 
Murphyz originally posted:
but unlike in Catcher, there was slightly more of an emotional attachment to him
Click to expand...
I think I see what you mean. I haven't read 'Vernon God Little' myself, but I've read 'Catcher In The Rye' quite recently. I liked it, heck, I'm even tempted to say I loved it, but I do agree with what you're saying Murphyz. Holden just doesn't seem to care about anything. He's quite superficial; he almost never refers to his state of mind, only to the situations he lands in. It's all very descriptive and detached. It's hard to identify yourself with him because of this.

That said, I do think that the above adds to the character of Holden Caulfield (which, incidentally, is one of the coolest names in literature). It adds in such a way, that it strengthens the image of a loner, an outcast (as TMG said), simply because you can't really get a grasp on him, you can't pin down his feelings. He doesn't care what happens to him, and what kind of situations he gets himself into. The only thing he cares about are his siblings, especially Phoebe.

All these things combined make this a fabulous book, and a worthy classic, and thanks to your comparison, Murphyz, I'm quite tempted to give 'Vernon God Little' a chance.

Cheers, Martin :D
 
Citr

I have recently finished reading this book a few days ago..i really loved it and as a teenager myself, i really could relate to almost every feeling he went through in the book. In fact he is very similair to me in every way except that i dont fail classes. I feel like I almost knew him by the end of the book. I think holden was the one who had this inferiority complex and was basically having trouble crossing over to adulthood..which is why he wants to be the catcher in the rye..he doesnt want the little kids to fall off the cliff and suddenly becum adults when they arent lookin or paying attnetion. In the end he shows how he wants to keep lil kids innocent when he tried wiping off all the **** u signs signs in the elementary skewl
 
Started reading this book on the train yesterday, and am progressing at a steady pace. I somehow like his whining... Think it's very funny and all. Uh-uh.
 
I just finished reading it, and I must say I was strongly reminded of Gerard Reve's "De Avonden".
 
Too bad we'll remain the only two who feel this way, as De Avonden still hasn't been translated into English. At least I think it hasn't.
 
i loved CITR, have read it a few times and leant my copy out often. it was my favorite book for a very long time (still in my top 5 list) because i did relate to Holden. i felt so much like Holden in my late teens, in his contempt for everything phony and yet how he seems somewhat hypocritical in his disdain. i saw all that in myself back then. gawd, even now, sometimes! :eek: we read it in highschool (that was about 12 years ago). i think it's one of those books that's important to read and understand. it also started my interest in reading
 
Too bad we'll remain the only two who feel this way, as De Avonden still hasn't been translated into English. At least I think it hasn't.
Click to expand...
I'm studying to be a translator - I'll see what I can do for you. :)

Cheers
 
Martin said:
I'm studying to be a translator - I'll see what I can do for you. :)
Click to expand...

Maybe you could translate De Avonden as your thesis then or something. I don't think I'd ever be able to translate something. Way too hard for little old me.
 
Many people think it's easy as pie - just translate what it says, but there's a lot more to it.

Anyway, good idea, using it for my thesis - I'll look into that!

Cheers
 
Martin said:
Murphyz originally posted:
Holden just doesn't seem to care about anything. He's quite superficial; he almost never refers to his state of mind, only to the situations he lands in. It's all very descriptive and detached. It's hard to identify yourself with him because of this.
Click to expand...

I don't think it's fair to say the Holden doesn't care about anything - he cares very much about his Mother, and tries desperately for her to not find out about him being expelled from yet another school. He also cares deeply for his sister Pheobe.

Holden appears detatched and shallow because the death of his much loved brother has caused a few chemicals to go awry in his brain - he is in a state of depression. Like a lot of people with depression he does not know this at first, which is why he doesn't allude to it.

But as you also point out - your perception of Holden as detatched from society was strengthened because you yourself could not identify with him. That's the brilliance of this book - either you cannot relate to Holden (and so therefore can see why he feels outcast), or you relate to his depression and separation first hand.

Just my two cents :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top