The Catcher in the Rye in Classics Without All the Class

Jan 17, 2012 Elenlille rated it it was amazing

Catcher in the Rye being a clearly character-driven novel, I think we can put it this way: you either empathize with the main character or you don’t, and depending on this you will love the book or not like it at all. Indeed, the opinions about this novel are highly polarized. If you read it expecting to be haunted by the story, you won’t like it. You have to be willing to give it some thought and analysis; otherwise you’ll be easily put off by the plain and annoying language and the apparent la Catcher in the Rye being a clearly character-driven novel, I think we can put it this way: you either empathize with the main character or you don’t, and depending on this you will love the book or not like it at all. Indeed, the opinions about this novel are highly polarized. If you read it expecting to be haunted by the story, you won’t like it. You have to be willing to give it some thought and analysis; otherwise you’ll be easily put off by the plain and annoying language and the apparent lack of a plot. So, even if I like the book, I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone asking me for a good, entertaining story.

I read Catcher for the first time when I was around 19, my then-boyfriend had read it and liked it. He gave me a copy for my feast day and I read it. It’s not that I didn’t like the story but I found it rather boring and it left me cold, with the unsatisfying impression that nothing happened in the story and that it was a light reading and that’s all.

I didn’t (don’t) think it was the best book for a teenager to read and understand, because it requires some perspective, but I didn’t quite understand why it had been banned, either. I now remember the South Park kids disappointed at the book (as Holden would say, that killed me): http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips...

This year I’ve decided to read more classics in English and the first book I came across in my bookshelves was this one. So I decided to give it another try. I didn’t quite remember what the story was about, only that the main character had been expelled from school and that he had a kid sister. So I started reading it again expecting to find it boring again and to read it in one or two sittings and move on to the next book. But, somewhere along the reading, something clicked on me and I started caring for the boy.

I don’t know where it happened exactly: perhaps when he starts wondering about the ducks’ fate or when he explains how he likes museums because nothing changes there except for you – I started finding his thoughts insightful and Holden a sensitive boy and not only a whiny one (well, he is whiny too; after all, he’s a teenager!). His brother Allie died and everyone’s moving on ("It rained all over the place. All the visitors that were visiting the cemetery started running like hell over to their cars. That’s what nearly drove me crazy. All the visitors could get in their cars and turn on their radios and all and then go someplace nice for dinner – everybody except Allie."); war is over and everyone’s moving on and going to the movies. And no one cares where the ducks go in winter. But Holden does. He cares about the ducks, about the nuns collecting money, about the kids in the seesaw, about old Phoebe. That’s the kind of grey hair he has. And that’s why I find Holden and his story endearing and I know they’re going to stay with me this time. ...more

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