This is one of those books that everyone talks about but I never read because it wasn’t on my list for school. Now that I’ve read it, I’m afraid I just couldn’t really see the point of it, other than to show what it was like for a teenager who is going insane. Just reading it nearly made me go insane. It’s not that nothing really happens that bothered me, but the endless repetitions of the main character Holden drove me crazy. He’d repeat things three or four times before moving on to the next odd subject. I felt like I was watching someone with OCD who needed to wash their hands five times before they are satisfied that they are clean. If he didn’t repeat something at least four times, he was not going to be able to move on.
I suppose Holden just really didn’t like himself, but couldn’t face it, so he shunted the brunt of his dislike onto other people. This is especially true when you take into consideration that everything he disliked about other people were things he did himself. Most of the time I spent reading this book were accompanied by thoughts that the boy really needed to see a psychologist and the whole “you need to hitch up your trousers and get serious” attitude take by the adults just wasn’t going to cut it with that guy. That’s kind of like saying that he needed some sense smacked into him. That might make the smacker feel better, but it won’t do the senseless person one iota of good.
I’m afraid I just personally didn’t care for this book and I don’t quite see what the fuss is about.
1 comment:
I think the biggest deal about it is that it was pretty revolutionary for its time. I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it. It definitely didn't endear me to Salinger and I can't see myself reading any of his other work.
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