Catcher in the Rye

[Amethyst]

I just finished reading Catcher in the Rye. I really enjoyed it. Then I heard that it has been banned many times. I find that sort of amusing because the "smut" in it is so mild compared to today's books. Anyone else read this?

[redsquirrel]

I read it in 8th or 9th grade. I remember not being impressed with the rich kid alienation. I had a difficult time empathizing with his ennui.

I think this is one of those books that you love or you hate, and there's little in between.

[SailorMom]

I'm a hater. So are my kids. We trudged through it, expecting it to get better. Why else would it be a classic, right?!?!?

I know the episodes are usually inappropriate, but the South Park Episode on Catcher in the Rye is hilarious....

[Tasia]

We all love Catcher in the Rye here. :001_smile:

[Amethyst]

I enjoyed it. I laughed out loud at parts (I don't do that often) and I thought other parts were quite sad. It seems like most of the book-synopsis places (like Sparknotes) seem to frame it as adolescent alienation. But to me, I kept thinking, wow, so this is the mind of a manic depressive adolescent. The fact that he was rich didn't bother me at all.

 

The sex stuff that was supposedly so upsetting that some schools banned the book is so mild compared to today's books. Even the language was mild in comparison.

[Julie in MN]

I just finished reading Catcher in the Rye. I really enjoyed it. Then I heard that it has been banned many times. I find that sort of amusing because the "smut" in it is so mild compared to today's books. Anyone else read this?

 

I'm not sure about banning, but there is so much literature in the world that I have a really hard time understanding the motive behind "requiring" this book.

 

One of my son's friends refused to read it in her public school literature class last year, because she chooses not to read literature with personal scenes and cursing and such (it had nothing to do with her family, her mother was all in favor of the book). Her refusal was making a small stir and I believe her grade was being affected, but I never did hear the outcome.

[MicheleinMN]

Hated it. Read it, The Great Gatsby, and Lord of the Flies all as an adult. (They were the 3 little books I could never get through in high school.) Ended up hating Catcher, but liked Gatsby, and really liked Lord of the Flies. Well, really liked may not be the right expression, but I was very impressed with Lord of the Flies and wished my eldest hadn't already graduated because I would have made reading it a graduation requirement.

[Jennifer in FL]

I think there are better choices out there. I also did not like Ethan Frome or the book whose chapter read a single sentence, "My mother is a..." Can't remember. I think maybe a fish.... So stupid with so many great books out there. And these were honors classes.

[Matryoshka]

I don't think I've ever hated a book as much as Catcher in the Rye. I haven't read it since high school, but I remember it as a string of curse words strung together with conjunctions. I felt personally violated being forced to read that book for English class, and I totally sympathize with that girl who's boycotting it. :ack2:

[elegantlion]

I read it for the first time a few years ago. I enjoyed it, but wasn't blown away by it. I'm not sure I'll require it, as ds is a slower reader. It depends on how we approach modern lit.

 

I found it personally interesting because that's the era my dad was a teen, and Holden's behavior was more like my dh's. So I had visions of both of them in my head while reading.

 

If I were to choose, I'd pick A Separate Peace or Lord of the Flies over it.

[SailorMom]

k A Separate Peace or Lord of the Flies over it.

 

 

Now - those are worth reading.

[HodgesSchool]

I think there are better choices out there. I also did not like Ethan Frome or the book whose chapter read a single sentence, "My mother is a..." Can't remember. I think maybe a fish.... So stupid with so many great books out there. And these were honors classes.

 

 

I so agreed with you about Ethan Frome back when I was in high school!--but it is a much more interesting read for an adult. Because it is short and easy, it is often assigned to high school students--but emotionally it just doesn't work then.

 

Faulkner's As I Lay Dying (the mother is a fish line) is so easy to mock that young students can't get past that to see how F's literary innovations changed world literature. _Absalom, Absalom_ is a much better choice thematically for high school students, as is _Light in August_.

[Jenny in Florida]

I enjoyed it. I laughed out loud at parts (I don't do that often) and I thought other parts were quite sad. It seems like most of the book-synopsis places (like Sparknotes) seem to frame it as adolescent alienation. But to me, I kept thinking, wow, so this is the mind of a manic depressive adolescent. The fact that he was rich didn't bother me at all.

 

The sex stuff that was supposedly so upsetting that some schools banned the book is so mild compared to today's books. Even the language was mild in comparison.

 

I agree on all points.

 

I found Catcher in the Rye on my own when I was in high school. I knew it was considered somewhat scandolous, and I had to read it. I fell in love with all things Salinger after that, obtaining copies of all of the books and re-reading them until the covers fell off.

 

I was just telling my daughter about "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" a couple of weeks ago.

Edited May 25, 2012 by Jenny in Florida

[Tasia]

I agree on all points.

 

I found Catcher in the Rye on my own when I was in high school. I knew it was considered somewhat scandolous, and I had to read it. I fell in love with all things Salinger after that, obtaining copies of all of the books and re-reading them until the covers fell off.

 

I was just telling my daughter about "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" a couple of weeks ago.

My 11 year old discovered Salinger's Nine Stories in our basement a few weeks ago and "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" is his favorite. :)

[Jenny in Florida]

My 11 year old discovered Salinger's Nine Stories in our basement a few weeks ago and "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" is his favorite. :)

 

Sounds like a kid after my own heart.

 

I was one of those weirdos whose favorite books were all of the best-sellers from a generation or two before.

[Amethyst]

If I were to choose, I'd pick A Separate Peace or Lord of the Flies over it.

 

See, now I really did found Separate Peace boring. Loved Lord of the Flies though.

[Amethyst]

I don't think I've ever hated a book as much as Catcher in the Rye. I haven't read it since high school, but I remember it as a string of curse words strung together with conjunctions. I felt personally violated being forced to read that book for English class, and I totally sympathize with that girl who's boycotting it. :ack2:

 

I'm curious if you would still feel the same way today. As I said in my OP, I think the language is quite mild compared to most of today's literature. I can understand feeling that way about the language when I was in high school. I never use any kind of foul language, still don't, but I've gotten somewhat used to it in books. Not always. Sometimes it's just there, but other times there's a reason for the bad language and I try not to let the cursing get in the way of an excellent book.

[Julie in MN]

I think the language is quite mild compared to most of today's literature. I can understand feeling that way about the language when I was in high school. I never use any kind of foul language, still don't, but I've gotten somewhat used to it in books. Not always. Sometimes it's just there, but other times there's a reason for the bad language and I try not to let the cursing get in the way of an excellent book.

 

I can't speak for Matroyshka, but personally I don't think it's a matter of what's more or less shocking. Choosing to read quality literature with quality vocab is truly a possibility, and one would not run out of things to read!

 

Personally, I consider curse words to be uncreative, unoriginal vocab that a 2-year-old is capable of writing for effect. I tell that to my teens and their friends, too, so that's how it is to live in my house LOL :) Anyways, I truly believe the same effect can be created by an adult author in more complex ways.

 

Yes, I have read books with a minimum amount of cursing. I'm thinking of Little Britches, which is a true story where one character speaks the way he speaks. However, there is only enough given to make that clear and then we move on to more interesting things. The whole stringing-together thing that Matroyshka mentioned is what I'm thinking of when I say I don't see it as creative literature, and although I may not need to ban it, I'm not sure I need to *pay* for it or *require* it to enrich my life, let alone that of my teen. I think there's at least an equal risk that it will affect someone's life for the worse as there is that it would enrich.

 

Hope that helps explain another point of view!

Julie

P.S. I was a truly messed up teen from the early 70s, myself. I left home several times and finally left for good at 17, and I am blessed to have survived. I'm not naive, and still I think stories can be told in better ways :tongue_smilie: