Book 327: The Catcher in the Rye
I figure if I’m reading books about disaffected youths, I should be reading the classic in the genre. King Dork, one of my earlier books, was a sendup of Catcher, and it was nice to read Catcher to get some perspective. I have to say, I think that The Catcher in the Rye is a classic for a reason, and it’s one of the few “classics” I’ve read this year which seems worthy about the title.
It’s a book about a particular moment in time, which makes it distinctive, and also a particular time in one’s life. Everyone’s been that age, and confused, and disaffected, and everyone’s struggled with identity and emotional issues, though not all of us have been kicked out of a string of prep schools.
I can see why people love this book. The language is great, and Salinger has a great way to turn a phrase, to paint a scene. I can smell and feel and almost touch the scenery in this book, it feels so intensely alive. I think that people who were unhappy as youths can read this book and identify with it, and people who were part of the “phonies” can read it and imagine that they aren’t part of the phonies, and identify with the story as well.
Should this book be idolized to the level that it is? I don’t know. I mean, it’s good, and I like it, and there’s a lot to get from it, but I think it just happened to hit the right note at the right moment, and that’s why it became so famous. At least it’s good, unlike a lot of other famous books. It’s also an interesting historical document, because it’s more about self loathing and struggling with self identity, turning things in on oneself, unlike contemporary books, which seem to be all about lashing out at others to cope with your own pain.
Demographics:
The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger. Published 1945, 277 pages. Fiction.
Tags: book project