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Image via WikipediaI’m not having much luck with this classics challenge – last week I decided that I couldn’t bring myself to re-read Wuthering Heights – so I thought I’d pick up The Catcher in the Rye instead. One of my friends at work keeps telling me that this was her favourite book when she was younger… but 73 pages in I think I’m going to have to abandon it!
As far as I can see this book has no story line – it’s just a 16 year old boy talking about a trip he made to New York city when he got kicked out of school. I know many people say that it’s a book everyone should read at least once in their lifetime – but I only have one lifetime and I just can’t watse any more of my time on it!
If you’ve read this book and think I should finish it then feel free to try and convince me in the comments below – otherwise it is being put back on the bookshelf… just in case – one day – I have a change of heart!
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You have to finish this book — it’s wonderful. My husband who doesn’t find any value in reading fiction even loved it! Don’t give up now, plus it’s a short book!
Julie P.s last blog post..Hello…You Won Maggie Again
Dear Mrs. S., According to the version in the picture, you left Holden in the Lavender Room of his hotel. I wondered if you wee simply being like the three tourists he engages there. How can you say there’s no story when an articulate, caring young boy is alone, feeling his failure, and trying to face his life, New York and his family without breaking down. In the process of Holden encountering and narrating his conflicts, you may even see that he is quite wise, sensitive and even a bit holy for a young boy who has been kicked out of another prep school .I find the writing (particularly the dialog) about how Holden is working through the trauma of losing a brother while also confronting his own adolescence to be extremely insightful. I think Salinger does a great job of portraying a variety of ways that a young man may understand females, and I doubt you will find a better author when it comes to understanding the dynamics of young f
I really did not like Catcher in the Rye. I read it either in high school or early college and it did absolutely nothing for me. I nearly hated every single character – and most especially Holden. I chalked it up to being something for the guys. I don’t blame you for abandoning it. Life’s too short to read things that don’t capture you.
Oh no! You’re going to miss out on one of the loveliest and heart-warming/heart-breaking books I’ve ever read. Maybe you can be convinced to just read the last few chapters? I tend to start books that scare me at the end to try to motivate myself into reading the whole thing. I felt like you did when I first started reading it, but Salinger starts working some magic throughout the book.
You know, I remember reading this in high school and thinking “what is the point?!”. I really wasn’t a big fan, and I don’t plan on reading it. I DID love many of the other classics I had to read in high school though … it was really just this one that I didn’t like.
Heathers last blog post..Live Your Road Trip Dream
Well, nobody can force you to love a book you don’t like. I can’t stand the Great Gatsby, even though I keep hearing its fabulous. But I really do like The Catcher in the Rye- especially how it gets right inside the head of a young man who doesn’t fit with the crowd and doesn’t want to. The most touching scene is at the end with his little sister in a park. I loved that. Go read the ending, if the internal dialog in the middle was just dragging for you.
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I teach this book to tenth-graders and, even though I find Holden’s ramblings kind of annoying, the symbolism in the book makes it worthwhile. And all the subtle and not-so-subtle references to mom and mother. It’s sort of like a scavenger hunt for the kids to find them.
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I can’t give you a really good argument as it has been too long since I read it, but if I remember right, it was a short book, and I really liked it. Definitely not much of a plot, more of a day in the life of sort of thing. Don’t waste time on books you dont’ like, though. I gave up Lolita, like the book everyone is supposed to read.
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I think Catcher in the Rye is a “right moment” book. I’ve read it three times, the first and third times I hated it, but the second time I read it I was about 15 and thought the book spoke for me. I was the right age to appreciate it, close to the age of Caulfield. In fact, I loved it so much that time, I went on to read everything else Salinger wrote, my favorite bein Franny and Zooey.
Should you finish it? I think a person can’t really join in a discussion about a book they’ve not read all the way through. Books often pick up halfway through, or the whole point of the book is made in the last twenty pages. BUT, at the same time, there are so many books that you’d enjoy more so why punish yourself with one your not?
The Kool-Aid Moms last blog post..Tuesday Thingers- I’ll swap ya Tuesday for a Sundae
I read it in high school and didn’t get it at all. I have not had the desire to give it another chance, but I’d never say never.
Lisas last blog post..The Lost Duke of Wyndham by Julia Quinn
I had a really really tough time with his Nine Stories and really have no desire to read anything else by him any time soon. I had wanted to read this one, once upon a time.
Sorry it didn’t work out for you.
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