What should I read next?

[[deleted user]]

I am reading The Catcher in the Rye right now and would like to know what to read next. I am thinking Phantom of the Opera and Le Mis, but after that is a big question mark.

[James]

You should try Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates. It shares many of the themes and fears of The Catcher in the Rye but places them within a different context of 1950s suburban American. Very good book and well worth the read.

[Kressel]

You might try Salinger's less famous Franny and Zooey. I actually preferred it to this one. And if you haven't already read it, many people compare this book to Perks of Being a Wallflower.

[Alejandro]

Looking for Alaska.

[Joannemarie]

After Catcher in the Rye, you should absolutely read King Dork. It's filled with Catcher in the Rye references and, the cover is based on The Catcher in the Rye.

[DURTY]

Geek Love

[[deleted user]]

Any classics that are good.

[Cynthia]

Franny & Zooey. I loved it.

[Mandeep]

You can read works of Albert Camus

[Soraya]

Animal Farm is pretty good. Another favourite of mine :)

[M]

American Psycho, very similar except mass murder.

[Michael]

Saul Bellow -- Herzog

[Marie]

Catcher in the Rye one of my all time favorites! I suggest Franny and Zooey, A Perfect Day for Bananafish, and the Perks of being a Wallflower just to bring you into a more up to date book.

If you really liked Catcher in the Rye then try to read all of Salinger's shorts about the Seymour family. It will be a bizarrely disturbing journey yet enlightening in a way.

[Alexis]

The Perks of Being a Wallflower has a very similar tone.

[Al]

Ask the dust by John Fante.

[Sebastián]

I think you should read "Tropic of Cancer" by H. Miller, you really enjoy that book.

[Arnab]

Is the Perks of Being a Wallflower well written?

[Ed]

Try my novel, Bookman. It's about a young man coming of age in 1965; confined by a shotgun marriage right out of high school, he becomes a door to door salesman.

[Daren]

Ham on Rye

[Bodlerchik]

i absolutely loved The perks of being a wallflower, it was so good and easy-reading.

[Alan]

Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar is a good companion to the Catcher in the Rye, they have very similar themes.

[Pablo]

Franny & Zooey, The Bell Jar (I agree), Revolutionary Road (is tough, though), Portnoy's Complaint (is soooooooo much fun) and, specially and above all, Rabbit Run.

And my favourite one is The Mysteries of Pittsburgh. Another great coming of age bittersweet story. More contemporary. Even better.

Wonder Boys has something of a salinger-esque feeling but its air is clearly more optimistic.

[Sosen]

I second Ham On Rye.

[Holden]

A Separate Peace.

[Josh]

Maybe something good. You should take a look at Stephen King; Carrie White is more relevant (and much more interesting) than Holden could ever hope to be.

[Janis]

Mandeep wrote: "You can read works of Albert Camus"

Mandeep wrote: "You can read works of Albert Camus"

I read Camus in my French class in high school and did not enjoy it. However reading it in English might be definitely more beneficial for me. I will put Camus on my "to read" list.

[Daren]

someone claiming Steve King is better than Catcher in the Rye... wow

[Beth]

Wyndham wrote: "You should try Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates. It shares many of the themes and fears of The Catcher in the Rye but places them within a different context of 1950s suburban American. Very good..."

YES. Incredible book. Super depressing, achingly so, but very honest. The dialogue in RR is I think the best I've ever read.

[Beth]

Letters to a Young Poet by Rilke. The best writing I've ever read, hands down. I read Rilke and Catcher back to back, oddly enough, and I couldn't help but wonder how Holden might have reacted to Rilke's insight about youth and loneliness.

[David]

Daren wrote: "someone claiming Steve King is better than Catcher in the Rye... wow"

In fairness, they did not say Steve King was better - they said his character, in one particular work, was more relevant today. It's an interesting point...but I doubt classes in ten years will be replacing Cather with Carrie on the short list.

[Josh]

David wrote: "Daren wrote: "someone claiming Steve King is better than Catcher in the Rye... wow"

In fairness, they did not say Steve King was better - they said his character, in one particular work, was more ..."

Which is extremely unfortunate. It's easier to relate Carrie than Holden; she's lower-class, she's bullied, and she's raised in an extremely abusive household; as opposed to Holden, who's upper-middle class, spoiled, and, quite frankly, an unlikable dick.

It would be on the reading list now if vulgarity and obscenity wasn't an issue, and it shouldn't be, because not only is life both vulgar and obscene in areas, but it appeals to kids.

And, to make it clear, I believe that JD Salinger could only be considered talented in his era, and that I find Stephen King's writing style to be much more enthralling than Salinger's.

[Redd]

You should read Weight Loss Terrorists: http://www.amazon.com/Weight-Loss-Ter...


Check out my webcomic, updates every Thursday: http://reddkaiman.blogspot.com/2013/0...

[Carlos]

"Mars" by Fritz Zorn.

[Alex]

Catcher in the Rye is hands down my favorite book. It greatly influenced my decision to write my debut novel, Paradise Squandered.

Another favorite book of mine is a somewhat obscure beat generation classic entitled Been Down So Long it Looks Like Up to Me.



I highly recommend this book.

[Rita]

Voor Esmée, veel liefs en morsigheid.

[John]

Strong suggestion for Franny and Zooey. It is vastly different from catcher. And don't leave the author until you read, "Raise High the Roofbeam, Carpenter" - his collection of excellent short stories.

[[Coco]]

If you want a more modern book with the same style of teens trying to find themselves, try reading Looking for Alaska or The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

[John]

Don't finish until you've read everything Salinger wrote. Finish with all the the short stories. Any idea why he withdrew and stopped writing? What a loss!

[Tony]

Salinger's short stories.

[[deleted user]]

The Bell Jar.

[[deleted user]]

I suggest you read the second you said ... it's wonderful! anyway, the Phantom of the Opera is very nice ...It's nice also the musical in French with English subtitles :) I have not read The Catcher inthe Rye, yet.

[Sam]

Well absolutely anything else would be an improvement. If you enjoyed the book see a psychiatrist.
In all honesty though his other works aren't all that bad I just hated Catcher.

[_]

Very Far Away from Anywhere Else by Ursula Le Guin.

Crime and Punishment or

Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

[Henry]

I'd suggest something different, like a newly created genre: http://www.amazon.com/From-Wahnsinnig...

[Mark]

Perfect Day For Bananafish and Down AT The Dhingy