I really loved that book when I was 15 and was required to read it for Mr Walton's English class.
And again at 19, I read it in contemporary American Lit. and I felt such a kinship with Holden Caulfield.
Just as I loved The Brother's Karamazov at age 19.
So, I have to say that, 28 years later, I am a different person.
I find myself reading these books with more impatience, asking
(aloud, in my semi-dark living room, at 1am)
why these characters cannot make intelligent choices and simply get on with life.
I imagine some of my trouble comes from being no longer the teenager, but the mother of teenagers,
with a keener perspective of how quickly time passes and how foolish it is to waste it.
Sometimes I think I'm just no fun any more, but my verdict on Catcher is that while it's really well written,
and it really is,
and Holden Caulfield is indeed one of the most "real" characters I have ever encountered in fiction.....
this book is best reserved for the young, and only read with some good encouragement alongside about how precious youth is and how wise we are if we use the time to get ready to do something productive with life.
But having said that, I will not encourage my own teenagers to read it.
It's so hopeless....
2 comments:
I do love the main character's name though. ;)
I find this to be the case with some many people, movies, sitcoms, and dramas. I want to say "get on with your life". I have lost my patience with Apathy. Maybe as a nation, we are just bored as teens, and need more stimulation like sports, charity, outdoor activities.
We quickly went from I Love Lucy, to All In The family, and now we are Californication as a family show. Too much fragmentation of the family and pressure to keep up with the financial burden we have taken on in life.
Anyway, I agree, reading Catcher 15 years after the first read.
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