Catcher in the Rye-- Sixty-some Years Later

                                                                   

It's been a while since I re-read Catcher, and, not surprisingly, the years have made a difference. I first encountered the book when I was a seventeen-year-old freshman in college, and I was totally hooked. I still find Holden and his goofy sincerity quite endearing. His professed hatred of phonies (almost everyone/old guys who pick their noses/young guys who pick their pimples/and a myriad of other denizens of his prep school/NYC upper middleclass world always see-saws with his innate empathy for almost everyone. 

"About all I know is, I sort of miss everybody I told about. Even old Stradlater and Ackley, for instance, I even think I miss that goddam Maurice. It's funny. Don't ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody."

As I re-read, I wondered how today's young people would react to Holden. Catcher is sometimes seen as a classic and required reading (possible the kiss of death) or it's banned.

Back in the Sixties, my mother-in-law and some of her friends got their panties in a wad because Catcher was assigned reading at University of South Florida (where said book critics were advisors to a sorority.) Had they read the book? No, not really, just the few pages toward the end where the f-word appears.

Never mind that the use of the word is because Holden is trying to wipe it off a school wall before any little kids see it.

Of course, we argued this point with my MIL. Didn't matter. She was convinced that she was saving the sorority girls from having to read the word.

(My MIL also had strong views about interracial marriage because, as she told us, 'Cardinals don't marry Bluejays.' )

 Some people, it's a waste of time to argue with.

But I digress.

I still would like to know if younger people read this book and what their reactions are. It's pretty much a period piece now, if not actual historical fiction. 

(Back in 2010 I blogged about Catcher and other books that had been important to me in my late teens. That post is HERE.)

The Catcher in the Rye

The news of J.D. Salinger's death and the picture of that iconic cover -- I had that same paperback and wore it out -- took me back to 1960 and my freshman year in college.

Catcher had been out nine years when I first met Holden Caulfield. And everything about this book spoke to me -- true and real and sweet and sad.

I went on to read more Salinger, to write papers about his work, to have long discussions as to whether or not Franny was pregnant and what was the meaning of banana fish. And what about Seymour -- See more -- what did he represent?

J. D. Salinger -- I would say he'll be missed but he hasn't been around except as a legendary recluse for the past fifty years.

It's said he continued to write -- for his own pleasure. It would be lovely to think that more stories will surface -- but somehow, I don't expect it.

Besides, what we have of his is perfect.

At some point during that freshman year of college I was also introduced to T.H. White's The Once and Future King. This is one of my very favorite books of all time -- I love the Arthurian legends/tales/stories and this sprawling, multi-leveled book is magical. I've read it over and over.

These are two more books that I particularly remember from that freshman year. I was passionate about Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged -- a bit of a rite of passage for college students. When for my Intro to Philosophy class I was assigned to write about my personal philosophy, what I produced was was a pastiche of Rand's ideas.

I still remember the discussion the professor and I had: me, burning with the true flame of Rand's Objectivism and him, wearily shaking his head and saying, "But you leave no room for compassion."

I got over Rand rather quickly. I still have several of her books but haven't been tempted to a re-read. And as I think back on it, they seem a bit . . . corny.

Mary Renault's The King Must Die and its sequel The Bull from the Sea have held up much better. The beautifully retold story of Theseus and the Minotaur, these are some of the best historical fiction around. And yes, I reread them too.

A note: as of last night, the snow was coming down with more forecast. We may lose power; we may lose internet. If I don't post, that's what's happened.