i think this the whole truth of the book... this book should never have made it on the classic list or the required reading... you have stated my opinion of this book more eliquently than i ever could. thank you

You guys must be very young. I don't see why you would want to slash your wrists after reading this, I hope you didn't. After reading it, I wanted to give my little sister a big hug, and try to appreciate people and be more open.

Marco wrote: "You guys must be very young. I don't see why you would want to slash your wrists after reading this, I hope you didn't. After reading it, I wanted to give my little sister a big hug, and try to a..."

When I talked about slashing wrists, I was being facetious. I appreciate people just fine and I don't need an angst-filled book to do it. As far as age goes, why would I start to like it more when I'm older?

If you think you don't need to appreciate people anymore than you do, then you don't understand love. Love is unending, one can deepen it infinitely. And it's not that you need an "angst-filled" book to do it, but delving into the depths of suffering forces us to look to the virtues within us to overcome it, and grow the compassion within us to really understand our suffering and that of others. It doesn't have to come from a book, but a book is a good way to grow because all it is is concentrated "frozen" thought.

Oh and I don't mean to sound high and mighty, it's just that I really do believe that.

Marco wrote: "If you think you don't need to appreciate people anymore than you do, then you don't understand love. Love is unending, one can deepen it infinitely. And it's not that you need an "angst-filled" ..."

Okay hold on before you start writing a huge poem here about love. I am not saying I can't appreciate people or love people - or don't want to. If you like reading about depression and hardship that is your prerogative. If you feel it deepens your understanding of people, great.

If you compare this book to a non-fiction account of something like, say, Night by Elie Wiesel, Catcher in the Rye falls flat.

I would also prefer that you stop making broad, sweeping assumptions about me based on the fact that I disagree with you. 1) I'm not very young. 2) I didn't say I didn't want to appreciate people more, just that I didn't need to read a book like this to do it.

I didn't know I was so poetic :)

And you're totally right, I made way too many assumptions. You've given this a lot of thought, and I shouldn't jump to conclusions. And I haven't read night, it might be better, but that doesn't make catcher bad, for me at least.

"My God -- JD Salinger is basically Judy Blume with more cursing." (Or to be completely fair, I guess that should be worded -- "My God, Judy Blume is basically JD Salinger with Jews and menstruation."

Love that! =D