Holden Caufield Was a Phony
Posted by Erin | Labels: in the news, Salinger | Posted On Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 8:56 PM
So, today J. D. Salinger died at the age of 91. I’m sure this was a sad day for Salinger fans, but I have never counted myself among them. When I read The Catcher in the Rye in 9th grade I was just this side of hating it. I thought Holden Caufield was the biggest phony of them all. Immature, egocentric, blaming everyone but himself for his problems. A whiner. I wasn’t brought up to admire Holden Caufield.
But, in the spirit of honoring the dead, I believe I may give The Catcher in the Rye another chance. Perhaps the 15 years since my first introduction to the book will change my reading. And since we have a copy lying around the house, I’ll also take on Nine Stories despite the fact that my husband said that after reading the first three he didn’t want to fall asleep because he was so depressed.
If you’re interested in a bit of background on Salinger, here’s a nicely done article from The Washington Post today.
But, in the spirit of honoring the dead, I believe I may give The Catcher in the Rye another chance. Perhaps the 15 years since my first introduction to the book will change my reading. And since we have a copy lying around the house, I’ll also take on Nine Stories despite the fact that my husband said that after reading the first three he didn’t want to fall asleep because he was so depressed.
If you’re interested in a bit of background on Salinger, here’s a nicely done article from The Washington Post today.
I should pick this one up too. Let me know when you start off with it.
That he's the biggest phony is kind of the point. What's funny is that both of us missed that, and yet it made me love the book and made you hate it. I've always thought A Separate Peace was a similar, but much better book. Phineas wearing a pink sweater because it will make people think he's a flit. Heh.
Just happen to be reading Catcher in the Rye for the first time...I believe I was kept from reading it in high school due to language. Find it interesting that Don Miller found some of his muse for Blue Like Jazz from repeated readings of Catcher. Miller says it's now hard to read Blue Like Jazz because it sounds whiny to him.
I couldn't get even 1/4 of the way through Blue Like Jazz for the same reason. There should be a rule that you can't publish a memoir until you are at least 60 years old. You need the perspective of many decades before you can look back on your life and see it for what it is--and not sound whiny doing it.