The Catcher in the Rye
discussion
Did you hate this book in high school?
I'm actually in high school right now. I read it last year for fun and loved it.
Georgie wrote: "I read this not for school, but yes during high school, and I loved it. I found it oddly amusing and I really like the picture it painted. Yes, it was dull and depressing but every now and again y..."
Did you play the song "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" when Phoebe got on the merry-go-round? How did your interpret that scene after hearing that abd imagining the children reaching for the ring...not knowing they could fall of...and the rain storm coming down?
Cosmic, Di you ask this question because you want to know people's opinions, or as an ex use to give everyone your lit. crit. lectures?
Georgie wrote: "Oniria wrote: "Absolutely. I hated every single letter of his stupid name, every single word he said, the way he talked, he moved, he thought. Everything about him was freaking wrong to me."It is possible that narcissism is involved. I read a statistic that 90% of the world is codependent. Holden exhibits strong codependency traits. Narcissists don't understand that world view and find it detestable.
Here's a blog I wrote on the subject:
http://redroom.com/member/monty-heyin...
Andie wrote: "Cosmic, Di you ask this question because you want to know people's opinions, or as an ex use to give everyone your lit. crit. lectures?"Here it is, you can read it for yourself. I am not sure that most teenagers have heard this song before and can call it to memory. For me it changed the whole experience of the carousel. I just wonder what other people think. This is a book discussion group, so in that spirit I am opening this up for discussion.
" Here,I said. "Wait a second--take the rest of your dough, too." I started giving her the rest of the dough she'd lent me. "You keep it. Keep it for me," she said. Then she said right afterward--"Please." That's depressing, when somebody says "please" to you. I mean if it's Phoebe or somebody. That depressed the hell out of me. But I put the dough back in my pocket. "Aren't you gonna ride, too?" she asked me. She was looking at me sort of funny. You could tell she wasn't too sore at me any more. "Maybe I will the next time. I'll watch ya," I said. "Got your ticket?" "Yes." "Go ahead, then--I'll be on this bench right over here. I'll watch ya." I went over and sat down on this bench, and she went and got on the carrousel. She walked all around it. I mean she walked once all the way around it. Then she sat down on this big, brown, beat-up-looking old horse. Then the carrousel started, and I watched her go around and around. There were only about five or six other kids on the ride, and the song the carrousel was playing was "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes." It was playing it very jazzy and funny. All the kids kept trying to grab for the gold ring, and so was old Phoebe, and I was sort of afraid she'd fall off the goddam horse, but I didn't say anything or do anything. The thing with kids is, if they want to grab the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything. If they fall off they fall off, but it's bad if you say anything to them. When the ride was over she got off her horse and came over to me. "You ride once, too, this time," she said. "No, I'll just watch ya. I think I'll just watch," I said. I gave her some more of her dough. "Here. Get some more tickets." She took the dough off me. "I'm not mad at you any more," she said. "I know. Hurry up--the thing's gonna start again." Then all of a sudden she gave me a kiss. Then she held her hand out, and said, "It's raining. It's starting to rain." "I know." Then what she did--it damn near killed me--she reached in my coat pocket and took out my red hunting hat and put it on my head"
The lyrics to the Smoke Gets In Your Eyes: (I love it because it sounds like a CON-fidence game.) What do you think Andie?They asked me how I knew
My true love was true
Oh, I of course replied
Something here inside cannot be denied
They said someday you'll find
All who love are blind
Oh, when your heart's on fire
You must realize
Smoke gets in your eyes
So I chaffed them and I gaily laughed
To think they could doubt my love
Yet today my love has flown away
I am without my love
Now laughing friends deride
Tears I can not hide
Oh, so I smile and say
When a lovely flame dies
Smoke gets in your eyes
Smoke gets in your eyes
I think I 'm tired of the little professor. Over & out
Cosmic wants desperately for there to be more substance there than there is.
Andie wrote: "I think I 'm tired of the little professor. Over & out"I think name calling is pretty childish of you. But maybe you just didn't have anything to add to the conversation.
It's not a conversation, sir, if you are merely copying and pasting walls of text from your personal crusade without engaging in discourse.
Cosmic wrote: "...Here it is, you can read it for yourself. I ..."Thanks Cosmic. You always challenge me to think more deeply about the book. And that is a good thing.
CiTR was hailed by the critics as a masterpiece from day one, and that didn't happen by accident.
Kenneth wrote: "Cosmic wants desperately for there to be more substance there than there is."I enjoy studying books in the vein described inHow to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading . Often people are looking for more than one interpretation to a book. I know I welcome it. I don't think there is one interpretation to The Catcher, but I think there is more to it that a biography of a teenager.
I understand that you don't like The Catcher seeing you only gave it one star and Andie liked it since she rated it four stars. It would be interesting to hear you two discuss how the same book provoked such a different out come or experience.
Someone did that for me. He made me question my first read through, which I realized later was just skimming, because I didn't stop to look anything up. When I did I got a different experience entirely.
I guess it is the kind of experience that the character Richard Hannay, in The Thirty-Nine Steps got when he first heard Scudder tell him about a conspiracy to start WW1. When Richard cyphers the book that Scudder leaves behind by breaking the code, well he got more of the story intended. I believe this is a hint on how the Catcher was written.
Holden's last name is Caul-field. It is described in the book David Copperfield as a veil. So maybe The Catcher is about lifting the veil and saving the future children by lifting the veil of history.
What does this have to do with The Catcher In The Rye? Well the movie The 39 Steps by Alfred Hitchcock is mentioned in the Catcher in the Rye. The movie mentions the book but is not about the book. Holden says he hates movies, but he takes Phoebe to this one ten times. He takes her so often that she has memorized the script. To me that means this movie is important. So I watched it.
Holden doesn't have a very high regard for movies so I thought that I should read the
too. We have been reading it in a Buddy Reading group. It has been very good.
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
I believe that a good book should make us question and come up with new answers. For me The Catcher did this. I can't help but praise Salinger for his clever way of exposing war, money and power. He is a genius.
Some people like maybe yourself, are not able to appreciate what I got out of it. So why waste your time worrying that I might cause people to interpret the Catcher In a way that makes more sense? Or that someone might reread the book looking for different answers than the one regurgitated for us in Cliff Notes and other mainstream media.
What's wrong with talking about this book and trying to get people to revisit it?
And if I am wrong why not show me where I am wrong, instead of ganging up on me in a discussion group.
Monty J wrote: "Cosmic wrote: "...Here it is, you can read it for yourself. I ..."Thanks Cosmic. You always challenge me to think more deeply about the book. And that is a good thing.
CiTR was hailed by the cr..."
Hi Monty,
You have been very articulate in your article to help people see post traumatic stress disorder, that you feel Holden suffered from and no doubt Salinger and many that come from the front line suffer from. I think that a great book speaks to people where they are. Your experience and mine shows this complexity when it comes to the Catcher. Really there are a lot of views that are posted on this group that reveal this. I think that kids may suffer from PTSD from going to school. I think in light of that reading
would pair up nicely with the Catcher.
Kenneth wrote: "It's not a conversation, sir, if you are merely copying and pasting walls of text from your personal crusade without engaging in discourse."I am not sure what you mean?
I can't force people to discuss the book if they missed parts that they read through the first time. To add text to the questions that I asked earlier seemed fair since Andie seemed vague on what was being discussed. I asked a question. Would you care to answer it?
Cosmic wrote: "What's wrong with talking about this book and trying to get people to revisit it?"You're coming through loud and clear to me Cosmic. Stick to your guns.
Cosmic wrote: "I think in light of that reading One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest would pair up nicely with the Catcher."If your're right--and I'll read/watch 39 Steps to find out--the two books are very similar in theme.
Cosmic wrote: "Kenneth wrote: "It's not a conversation, sir, if you are merely copying and pasting walls of text from your personal crusade without engaging in discourse."I am not sure what you mean?
I can't fo..."
You assume people missed things. You don't consider that we did not miss the things you saw, but instead dismiss those arguments. That you could be wrong appears inconceivable to you given the history here, and that you are part of a conversation is a farce when it is just your repeating your position. Tin foil hat definitely in place.
Kenneth wrote: "You assume people missed things. You don't consider that we did not miss the things you saw, but instead dismiss those arguments. That you could be wrong appears inconceivable to you given the history here, and that you are part of a conversation is a farce when it is just your repeating your position. Tin foil hat definitely in place. "This is a book discussion, and you have turned it into a personal attack. Not sure why? Is there something in The Catcher In The Rye that you find offensive?
I am assuming that you did not read the first post that created this thread, so I am copying it here for you. I hope you will tell me what you think about this.
Here is the question:
"Did you play the song "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" when Phoebe got on the merry-go-round? How did you interpret that scene after hearing that and imagining the children reaching for the ring...not knowing they could fall off...and the rain storm coming down?"
Yes. I hated it in high school, I hated it in college, and I hated it when I tried again as an adult. I could not relate to Holden and his over-indulged angst.
Cosmic wrote: "Georgie wrote: "I read this not for school, but yes during high school, and I loved it. I found it oddly amusing and I really like the picture it painted. Yes, it was dull and depressing but every..."
The reaching I interpreted as hope, no fear.
Georgie wrote: "The reaching I interpreted as hope, no fear. "I think that is how I also interpreted it the first time I read it. I think we try to make things make the best possible sense. Our minds are looking for that connection.
After playing the music, which is a very sad song I couldn't continue with that interpretation. She hopes her true love is true...but hope is the smoke that keeps her blind.
This for me felt like the stock market. Phoebe gave her money to Holden to hold for her. Like a bank, for instance. When she wants to take a ride on the carousel, he gives her her money to buy a ticket. She asks him if he wants to ride and he says no he will sit this one out. He is like a broker. She picks a old beat up horse (I thought she picks this horse twice. Maybe she "wins" the first time like the woman in the song she believes she has a winner and she doesn't want to sell out to soon.)
Holden is watching her going around and around. The music is playing the song "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" faster and jazzier. It feels kinda dizzy to watch. All the time the children (innocent, inexperience, naive, comes to my mind) are reaching, yes with great hope and optimism for the gold ring. The prize to be better off than you were.
I had some friends that had their money in the stock market when the tech stocks were crashing. The broker told them not to sell. They had hoped that this would have paid for their daughter's education and their retirement. It was a huge stress to watch. It was a couple generations of money. You couldn't advise them what to do because you were as naive as them. You just had to let them fall if that was what was going to happen.
Phoebe comes over reaches inside Holden"s pocket and puts the hunting hat on his head. Holden has told us earlier in the book that it is not a deer hunting hat, but a people hunting hat, that he wears this hat when he is going to shoot people.
What is the significance of Phoebe pulling the hat out of Holden's pocket. Isn't this where Phoebe's money is kept? And why does Phoebe put it on Holden's head? Do you think that in an allegorical sense it could be that Phoebe is in agreement with the banks to get some assets through war? The banks will bankroll the whole thing to make it possible.
How was Phoebe (which could be a mother or a wife) send her son or husband off to fight in this war? What created that hope?
Holden often uses the phrase "that killed me". He used it when the girls said that they were going to go to Radio City Music Hall. He says he got so depressed when they told him that.
What is Radio City Music Hall got to do with war? Who built it? How did he get the money to build it? How would he profit by war? You can easily Google this and find the answers. How could theaters have created the "smoke that gets in your eyes?" The optimism? Could that smoke be gun smoke? Or fires? How do wars start? Are we pressured by the media or the economy? Or both?
Remember Little Shirley Bean? surely this is a play on the words Little Shirley Temple. Her first movie was called "Stand Up And Cheer." It is about a president that has figured out how to get us out of the GREAT DEPRESSION. His SECRET WEAPON? OPTIMISM.
The record that Holden buys cost too much but he doesn't care it's for Phoebe. When he is in the park (is he in South Central Park? He does mention being there at the beginning of one of the chapters. Is so the Army Mall is located there) he breaks it. He eventually gives Phoebe the pieces...is this a symbol of WW1?
Holden makes a big deal in the beginning of the book about cheering for your home team. He is at a special vantage point, by that crazy cannon. What makes that cannon so crazy is that every PRESIDENT that we have had have, except one, is related to the royal family. In fact the more royal connections that you have the more likely you will get elected. So forget what your first grade teacher told you...you are not going to be the President of the United States.
Well go back and read all the "f$@k you" in the book and see what those might have been symbolically referring to.
If you are interested in more of this kind of discussion you might want to read my discussion thread BREAKING THE CODE TO THE CATCHER IN THE RYE.
Does this mean that your interpretation is wrong? Well that is really for you to decide. I am just telling you how I saw it from over here, and why I believe Salinger didn't want his book turned into a movie. People would have watched the movie, (like Bambi:Bambi...and never realize that this book was banned by Hitler and toned down because of its adult themes. But you probably never thought to read it thinking it was the Disney version. Faline had a brother Gobo, not mentioned in the movie. ) and not read the book. The book can't truly be read and interpreted the way I just did through a movie. It is coded and the code is in the book but you have to cipher it.
It took Salinger ten years to write this book. Why? What was he trying to say? Just that teenagers are moody and irresponsible? And all that David Copperfield kind of stuff? Or was there something more here?
Cosmic wrote: "Georgie wrote: "The reaching I interpreted as hope, no fear. "I think that is how I also interpreted it the first time I read it. I think we try to make things make the best possible sense. Our..."
You make a very good point.
Cosmic wrote: "All the time the children (innocent, inexperience, naive, comes to my mind) are reaching, yes with great hope and optimism for the gold ring. The prize to be better off than you were."Salinger calls it a "gold" ring, but it's always a brass ring. I wonder what's the significance, if any, of him calling it gold.
Monty J wrote: "Cosmic wrote: "All the time the children (innocent, inexperience, naive, comes to my mind) are reaching, yes with great hope and optimism for the gold ring. The prize to be better off than you were..."You know Monty, my first reaction was going to be that it was a reference to the gold ring in J.R.R. Tolkien book
The Lord of the RingsThen I started thinking more about the GOLD part rather than the RING.
Have you seen the documentary called The Secrets of OZ?
Here is a link:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=swkq2E8mswI
In it he explores Frank Baum's book as an allegory about money. Here is another example of a book turned into a movie and completely obscuring the meaning of the book. Dorothy's shoes are not red but silver in the book.
I have always thought gold was the best currency, but this documentary put holes in that theory. According to this documentary gold is a rich man's currency. You will have to watch it to find out why and also why the most stable currency was a fiat currency, historically.
Here also is another children's book dealing with adult themes that may not have been popular or may have gone against the establishment.
So we have
and
that were written as children's books but have adult themes. I wonder if someone knows of some other books that I could add to this list?
I think your only reasonable claim there is in regard to Baum. He has clear and established links to the battle over the gold standard and monetary policy. The link you propose in Catcher is dubious and circumstantial.
The discussion in this thread has meandered away from the original topic...There is no secret code in The Catcher in the Rye. It's a novel. Reading into it so much takes all the joy out of reading.
✿Lilac✿ wrote: "The discussion in this thread has meandered away from the original topic...There is no secret code in The Catcher in the Rye. It's a novel. Reading into it so much takes all the joy out of reading."Petergiaquinta says ..." If you don't learn about life from the great books you're reading, if you don't carry those books with you in your mind and imagination for years, dwelling on their ideas and pondering their messages, if you don't spend time as a thoughtful reader looking for patterns and motifs and slowly coming to an understanding of the author's craft, then you might as well just be watching TV."
A comment in the
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/4...
Kallie said, "...literary fiction requires more reader participation and attention and these are not skills readily developed in a culture that favors passive consumption of action and snappy dialogue rather than active imagination. Effort is involved, initially; the effort of engaging with the writer's voice and imagery. Once I've made that initial effort, a literary work entertains me. "
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
I read it while I was in the navy; the Catholic school I went to never would've let us read that. I read FRANNY AND ZOEY and several of his short stories. Never really noticed the Buddhist influence, which was supposed to be there, according to the biography I just read. They're supposed to be publishing several of the books he was writing within the next few years.Since I was in the Canoe Club at the time I rather identified with Holden, especially concerning phonies.
I did not hate it in High School, but like others I had as required reading with a tight dead line, such as Huck Finn, Waiting for Godot, and Shakespearean plays, the deadline got in the way of enjoying the book or play.
Jim wrote: "I did not hate it in High School, but like others I had as required reading with a tight dead line, such as Huck Finn, Waiting for Godot, and Shakespearean plays, the deadline got in the way of enj..."Jim if you ever decide to revisit The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn I would pair it with
for an entertaining read. I actually enjoy pairing a classic with non-fiction.Hope you will look art what I wrote about the Catcher in this thread and maybe take another look at that book.
David wrote: "I read it while I was in the navy; the Catholic school I went to never would've let us read that. I read FRANNY AND ZOEY and several of his short stories. Never really noticed the Buddhist influenc..."Did you know there are 33 "phonies" in the book?
Read my post called Dr.Thurmer in Breaking the code to the Catcher in the Rye. I didn't see a lot of things the guides said there was suppose to be there..but when I started studying it on my own I found a lot there.
https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
Some people don't think there is a code to break in the Catcher...but then why did he include the book/film
?
Cosmic wrote: "Some people don't think there is a code to break in the Catcher...but then why did he include the book/film 39 Steps"Because he loved the film? See My Long Friendship with J. D. Salinger.
Catcher in the Rye is more than a little personal for the author. It is no surprise that Salinger would put a favorite movie in it. An overlap in themes would be expected, as the movie would have influenced him before he wrote the novel.
Seeing this as evidence of a code is taking things a bit too far. While we're on the topic of films, remember Sol Robeson's words in the film Pi:
You want to find the number 216 in the world, you will be able to find it everywhere. 216 steps from a mere street corner to your front door. 216 seconds you spend riding on the elevator. When your mind becomes obsessed with anything, you will filter everything else out and find that thing everywhere.
When I first read it, I was a little bit disappointed. I expected much more. Now, I understand what Holden represents. All that struggle of remaining a kid keeps me sure of my opinion that the world of grown ups is dull and boring.
I just finished reading this book, and I am in the 7th grade. It was great. Holden seems to hate anything phony, and you can easily relate to him.
Mkfs wrote: "Cosmic wrote: "Some people don't think there is a code to break in the Catcher...but then why did he include the book/film 39 Steps"Because he loved the film? See My Long Friendship with J. D. Sa..."
Thank you for the link, I enjoyed reading the article.
Well he liked going to movies according to the article. He was very cultured. He loved the arts! He used them to explain his message.
Have you watched The 39 Steps by Alfred Hitchcock?
What did you think about it?
Could you see a relationship between it and school?
Do you believe that school was one of the subjects that the Catcher is about?
Mkfs wrote: "Cosmic wrote: "Some people don't think there is a code to break in the Catcher...but then why did he include the book/film 39 Steps"Because he loved the film? See My Long Friendship with J. D. Sa..."
I went back to the article that you referenced. Thank you, again!
Here is a quote from the article:
"Another time he described the fun he’d had on a trip to London with his children, where he took them to see Engelbert Humperdinck in a stage version of “Robinson Crusoe”: “Awful, but we all sort of enjoyed it, and the main idea was to see the Palladium itself, because that’s where the last scene of ‘The 39 Steps’ was set.”
Salinger loved movies, and he was more fun than anyone to discuss them with. He enjoyed watching actors work, and he enjoyed knowing them. (He loved Anne Bancroft, hated Audrey Hepburn, and said that he had seen “Grand Illusion” ten times.)
So I looked up that movie. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Il...
To see what it was about.
I plan to watch this one too and see how it relates to The 39 Steps. One thing that is similar is they both have WW1 as a theme.
Why do you think he liked The 39 Steps? And the Grand Illusions?
Here is a movie clip:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-4MVLo-s1IU
Here is a clip from the director of the film telling you about why he produced the film and where he got the idea for the film. It is very short, but I think you will enjoy it. I could almost here Salinger say this is why he wrote The Catcher In The Rye.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=l63xhUUZOH8
It looks like they restored the film and put it back in the theater in 2012 for a 75th anniversary edition.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vcO8rEjoG0c
Olsen Wells says it is the best film ever.
I read this in high school. As I remember, it was assigned reading. I didn't like this book at all.
This isn't on the curriculum in UK schools (as far as I know). I read it when I was in my mid twenties and found myself totally engrossed in the story without being able to say why. I think it is time for a re-read.
Ayden wrote: "I read this when I was a sophomore in high school. I personally loved the book. I love Holden Caulfield as a character and thought he was very relatable. But all my friends hated it, and thought it..."No, I, like you, loved this book. I read it in Jr High school (now called Middle school), and thought it was great. Did my 8th grade final book report/review on this book.
I read it on my own, didn't have to read it for school, and I personally thought it was hysterical. I probably laughed at everything I shouldn't, but some of the stuff Holden came out with made me LOL. High school was a long time ago, but I still remember how he took Sally to the Christmas Show and Sally said "Isn't it beautitul?" and Holden thought "Old Jesus would've puked if he saw it." LMAO a lot of what he was thinking was what I wished I could say.Probably shouldn't've laughed, but I did :)
.i somewhat enjoyed the book but i found it more humorous then educational..
Yes. I don't 'hate' Holden. I am glad I've read this book, as it's referenced all over the place, but I feel like it has been no benefit to me. It portrays a world in which a relatively common guy lives: cynical, drained of meaning, drained of hope, drained of everything. As I said before, not 'hate', simply dislike. I can see where his perspective is coming from, but it tires me. Personally, I enjoy reading positive, hopeful novels, possibly with happy endings, or at least endings with closure. For the same reason I stopped reading halfway through 'the Goldfinch'.I did find this book horribly depressing, simply to think that there were people out there that think like Holden thinks, who have potential, but turn it away forcefully. Holden is a hard guy to like, when you see what goes on in his head. How judgmental and confused. If he had a change of heart at the end, I would have positively loved this book, but I suppose that wasn't the point. If that wasn't the point, then does that mean the author is cynical and thinks the world is kind of hopeless?
My friend loved it, looked up 'if a body meet a body coming through the rye' on youtube, and sings it all the time. It's a well written book, but I disagree with what it's saying about the world. I also didn't agree with the amount of swearing. As a work of fiction, it's really well written. That's probably part of the problem for me: Salinger wrote a character that was super-realistic, super-relatable, and super-unlikable. Perhaps those who dislike it don't like how relatable a depressed, confused guy is.
This was the first book that I read where I thought that the author must have been/gone mad to write this. I despised it and couldn't figured out a. why we were reading it and b. why it was a classic. I could also never figure out why we had to analyze books instead of just reading them for pleasure.
Being only around 15 at the time, all I did was find it annoying. Maybe I should re-read it.
It was Americas first Pop Art paperback about teens. It was sold at a time when teenagers where the new consumer craze. If it was released today, it wouldnt be laughed at, because it would never get published. Hype makes critics of everyone. The only talented part of the whole book is the title. Is the world full of people who base their hypothesis on a title, yes. This book is about how the public will buy into what they are told to buy into. "Hey, I could be famous too, because I could write better than this" is what people think when they read it. Fluke.
I had to read it at school when I was 13 and then it was way over my head. I didn't understand the symbolics in it. Maybe I would see it in another way today at the age of 52. But I hated it so much back then so I don't think I will ever read it again =)
I love the writing style and I found Holden to be a really interesting character study. Plot was never important to me but in his NY excursion so many things happen that fold his past in so neatly and beautifully in succinct prose. When I first read it, I identified with feeling out of place and like I couldn't win- the metaphors were just really touching. I think people miss Holden's sense of humor (which is a lot like mine, which, people do frequently mistake). Holden is kind of an ass, sure, he's miserable and a brat. The story is an honest portrayal of that, while at the same time The Catcher is a GREAT example of flawed, biased narration- Holden thinks he has the potential to be a bit of a hero (saving innocence). I guess you can't help feel for him because you get to so intimately see the world through his lens.There are things I'm always quick to correct people about too. He's telling the story from a TB clinic, not a mental ward. I don't think he was molested (some people use this to explain his over reaction to his teacher patting his head). Another thing to consider is Salinger's experience in war, and that The Catcher might be a searing portrayal of PTSD.
for anyone who still doesn't like this book, I pose one question to you: Why do you think Holden cared so much about those goddamned ducks?
I didn't read this in high school but instead when I was in my mid-twenties (1980s). I did not like it at all and found the ending rather homophobic. Other members of a gay men's writing group I attended at the time enjoyed the book when they had read it as teens.
I think I was too old by the time I read this, would have liked it more if I'd read it a decade earlier. The homophobia I sensed is likely representative of the times when this was written.
Yes, it was dull and depressing but every now and again you could see this light. The light of his cigarette, the light of the merry-go-round, the light of his red hunting cap. They all stood out.
And some people will probably feel he didn't really get anywhere in his life... But he did.
I liked every bit of it.