Jade asked this question about
The Catcher in the Rye:
Am i the only person who fails to understand why this book is considered a classic, to me it was boring and tedious and the plot failed to engross me as many other books have?
G1g2g3g4g5gt .
To be honest, english isn't my native language and I'm very sad and a little bit outraged about the comments criticizing this novel. I'll do my best t…moreTo be honest, english isn't my native language and I'm very sad and a little bit outraged about the comments criticizing this novel. I'll do my best to make my point clear and in a respectful way. I think it's one of the best novels I've ever read. But if you are expecting a pretentious novel, this book is going to disappoint you. I am very disppointed with the comments saying this novel has no sense because you are missing the point grossly. Art is very strange, because not everyone understand it. Maybe some of you will never understand this novel, but I will try to share some of my thoughts (not all, because of the language) and hope some of you agree with me. The Catcher in the Rye is the most down-to-earth book I've ever read. Holden IS REAL. Salinger made an incredible character and you can feel him like a real person. It's funny how Holden's thoughts and impressions about art and life are developed in the making of the novel. Holden (and Salinger) says he hates falsehood. Then, he hates the cinema, the corny books ("they always have a character named David"), the 'phony' people, he hates when Ernie is playing the piano in a "phony way", when the actors of a play fail to represent truly a character. All those hatreds are thoughts and opinions about art and life from an artistic point of view and A Catcher in the Rye meets these thoughts: is a raw AND TRUE novel with true dialogues, true characters, true thougths and centered on Holden, an extremely alive and true character. This novel it's about true life and that's amazing. It's outstanding the way we can enter Holden's brain and follow every thought, feeling and movement. We can know much more about Holden than most of you will ever know about your own friends. As I said before, this is not a pretentious novel or candidate to win a Nobel prize and IT'S NOT the objective, remember: the author and Holden hate when Ernie is ruining songs by making horrible flourish. Also, we have to remember the whole novel it's a speech given by Holden, so it's not going to be any phony or pretentious. The objective of the novel is only TO BE TRUE and to speak about life with all his baseness but with a little of hope. It's pure art because it's pure expression. Holden and the novel reminds me of Le Petit Prince and a little bit of L'Etranger. Holden is like a grown version of Le Petit Prince, travelling around the city ("the universe") and running into "different planets" with people who annoys him and he is pity on them. But he is older now, and he reacts in a different way, he is anger, disappointed and he can't handle his feelings. Then, he is autodestructive, live an empty life and he is a nihilist. Like L'étranger, The Catcher in the Rye conveys us nihilist thoughts and feelings through Holden's life. That's why sometimes you can feel that nothing is going on but IT IS ON PURPOSE. As L'Etranger, The Catcher in the Rye tries to show us an empty life, the boredom that hides feelings of helplessness and desperate. Salinger tries to show this, through a boy doing nothing in particular during two or three days. That's why I'm saying this book is art, expression, an extremely deep novel with A LOT of content and thoughts, and we can learn very much. Holden is an artist and he struggles with the conflicts of an artist (indeed, he is a good writer, according the novel), but it's very easy just to say that "he is a teenager" and to criticize this book because of the language. This novel is very dynamic as we are in Holden's brain thinking what he is thinking and remembering what he is remembering step by step and he always do something. The problem of Holden is that he can't find happiness whatever he do and wherever he goes and that leads him to an empty existence. The novel also has a lot of simbolism, Holden is psychologically interesting, dynamic and interesting dialogues (Mr Antonelli, for example), interesting characters and a lot of beauty in small things. Holden and the author believe in the beauty of little things that not everyone can see them. Also, Holden has a story with a dead brother and Holden broke thw windows when it happened harming his hand for ever. It's not said, but Holden remember this episode any time: he only has to close his hand and it will hurt and then he will remember the day that his brother die. This novel is about existence, death, sadness, feeling lost and lonely, hating, society but IT'S ALSO ABOUT love (remember how much Holden loves his sister, his brother and Jane), searching of happiness, hope (remember the dialogue with Mr Antonelli), sensitivity, tenderness and the big heart of Holden. It is poignant to read the memories of Holden, how he loves Jane and her brothers and how dearly loves the small details ("he does not care if she Keeps her kings in the back row or not.". His love, is similar to Le Petit Prince's love and his rose). If you can truly understand this novel and Holden, you'll love it. During the novel, many of the characters seemed cynical with Holden and they don't undersand him. I think The Cather in the Rye is so bright that even in real life there are people who see Holden boring. If we all understand, the novel would have less sense. The thoughts about life, "to be and not to be", "the nothing" are very popular and interesting among the greatest novels and writers of all time, but people in this web for any reason doesn't like them in these novel. I'm sure Holden would be really disappointed and sad if he read these comments, because you are not actually reading and putting focus on this book. Once, I've read a book that said that a Russian could say thousands of truths to a classroom full of people, but no one would understand him. No matter how many times he repeats them or how strong he talks.(less)
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