33. The Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger

I think a lot of people read this in highschool. We didn't ... I'm not even sure I can remember what novels we did do. Lord of the Flies in Gr 11, To Kill a Mockingbird in Gr 10, Fifth Business by Robertson Davies in Gr 12. Look at me go. Just don't ask for any complicated plot summaries.

I got my copy of The Catcher in the Rye off of my brother's bookshelf. What's more, he has actually read it. I asked him if it was any good - "It's a classic" he said. Yeah, but does that mean it's good? "It's a classic, it doesn't have to be good." Helpful. And also begs the question of how exactly a book becomes a classic.

If I'm not mistaken this book is also on a list of most frequently banned books (I thought I had a list around here somewhere but I can't seem to put my fingers on it). I don't really get that either. I mean, it's not really something I would want my kids (if I ever have kids)to read but mostly because I think it would bore them to the point of wanting to poke their eyes out and turn them off literature forever and not because I think it would give them "ideas". Heaven forbid. Yes I know I'm a terrible person. Again, it's probably a lack of context. I am really starting to feel like I should just keep to reading books that I can easily relate to because this lack of context thing is really becoming a problem. Or maybe I should just read more and things will slowly start to contextualize themselves. Who knows. I'm going to try the latter and see where it takes me at any rate.

As for the book itself .. well, in case you couldn't tell from the above commentary, it's certainly not making my top 10 list anytime soon (speaking of which, I should do a top 10 list ... hmmm). Mostly I found Holden Caulfield to be absolutely insufferable. He was self-absorbed, he hated everything and everybody, he was a spoiled little rich boy with no concept of what actual suffering might involve and he went into a deep depression whenever he wasn't handed what he wanted on a silver platter. And then narrated his drivel over 214 pages (yes I know he isn't real). No other characters are flushed out, there is no sense of forward momentum, there is a lack of narrative continuity ... Need I say more?