Was(is) the The Catcher in the Rye an important book to you?

[KaneKungFu123]

i still remember the first time i read it.

i skipped a class and was in the library. i wanted to check it out but of course the dike in charge wouldnt let me take it because i didnt have my school ID, so naturally I just stole it - they had 3 copies.

started reading it that night, stayed up all night reading it. skipped school the next day. then that night I read it again, and skipped school again.

when you start getting laid, i think the Holden in you shrinks a little bit. after you graduate high school and get some freedom, he shrinks a little bit more.

Where do the ducks go in the winter?

old holden caulfield, desperately confidently insecure.

robert frost and his two roads, too.

[tdarko]

i know this book is a cliche to a lot of people but this and watership down by richard adams are the two books that made me the reading addict that i am. i read watership when i was 10 and catcher when i was 11 and i have read both of these books every year since.

so yeah it was an important book to me.

by the way i just finished how the light gets in by m.j. hyland, you should really look into this book it has the that holden feel to it but female (ala bell jar). good book and i recommend it.

[KaneKungFu123]

narcissus and goldmund is 'that' current book for me.

edit: parts of it atleast. some parts are very dry. i guess, all of hesse's work represents where i am at now.

[KaneKungFu123]

will look into it.

vernon god little, winner of booker prize, is another catcheresque book worth a read.

[tdarko]

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vernon god little

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yes very good stuff.

[Lawrence Ng]

Perhaps you will also hold this book in your hand when you die like John Lennon did.

[Blarg]

I loved the book. Stuffed full of really raw feeling like very few books are. Most people aren't willing to abandon that much dignity and admit to the kind of feelings and fears that that book acknowledges and communicates so well. I remember laughing really hard at it and being very moved.

I think people who don't read this book and consent to let themselves be moved by it are missing out on a lot. One hell of a classic.

Sometimes I think of Holden's spirit passing on to Catch 22. There are some moments that are incredibly sad and heart-stoppingly raw in that book, too. And it's also gut-bustingly funny and transgressive.

A Separate Peace, by John Knowles, is also a good book to pair with Catcher.

[Lazymeatball]

I think I read this book twice for book reports or something. I was never that impressed by it and had no clue why people raved about it. Maybe I was missing something. I was always liked "Flowers for Algernon" much better.

[fimbulwinter]

[ QUOTE ]
i still remember the first time i read it.

i skipped a class and was in the library. i wanted to check it out but of course the dike in charge wouldnt let me take it because i didnt have my school ID, so naturally I just stole it - they had 3 copies.

started reading it that night, stayed up all night reading it. skipped school the next day. then that night I read it again, and skipped school again.

when you start getting laid, i think the Holden in you shrinks a little bit. after you graduate high school and get some freedom, he shrinks a little bit more.

Where do the ducks go in the winter?

old holden caulfield, desperately confidently insecure.

robert frost and his two roads, too.

[/ QUOTE ]

congratulations. you've just joined the ranks of those likely to murder multiple people.

fim

ps- everyone knows real men like steinbeck forster and faulkner

[tdarko]

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ps- everyone knows real men like steinbeck forster and faulkner



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i must be a girl cause i prefer vonnegut.

[morello]

This was never required reading for any of my classes, so I didn't pick it up until before I started college (age 19 or so). But I loved it, and have reread it probably three times since. Just a great book overall.

[Blarg]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
ps- everyone knows real men like steinbeck forster and faulkner



[/ QUOTE ]
i must be a girl cause i prefer vonnegut.

[/ QUOTE ]

I hate Faulkner, Steinbeck can be okay, and I never knew a single straight man had ever read Forester.

I like Vonnegut too, but he's not the kind of guy thought of as in the same league as Faulkner. Then again, I still like Vonnegut much better, and I think for well-deserved reasons that have to do with him more than a lack of ability to appreciate Faulkner in me.

[codewarrior]

Catcher is required reading for all boys. Watership Down as well, and A Seperate Peace.

[fimbulwinter]

[ QUOTE ]
Forester

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you know i'm talking about the passage to india author, Forster, right?

fim

[Phoenix1010]

[ QUOTE ]
when you start getting laid, i think the Holden in you shrinks a little bit. after you graduate high school and get some freedom, he shrinks a little bit more.

[/ QUOTE ]

Good comment. I've always thought this.

Catcher was my favorite book for almost ten years before I read Catch 22. If there's any work that better captures "teenage angst" and the wandering, forlorn, defiant confusion of adolescence better than Catcher does, I have not encountered it.

[Dr. StrangeloveX]

Started catcher in the rye a couple times, couldn't finish it. Got about half way through Narcissus and Goldmund. I get my youthful angst from bret easton ellis.

[miajag81]

It's important to me in that it's probably the most entertaining, well-written, and overall best book I've ever read, but I don't particularly identify with Holden or anything like that. I mainly just appreciate the style in which it's written.

[trying2learn]

first and one of the few books I've loved...i imagine this is true for many young men in our demographic.

[tolbiny]

Watership down has been one of those books for me aswell.
Then i decided to read his other stuff- man- hes a very good writer, but a lot of his stuff is about as far away age wise from water ship down as you can get. Miai is a story about a sex slave- Shardik about people abusing the ignorance of the masses- the plague dogs is a lttle more in line, but a lot of the images (experimental brain sugery on dogs) are a little much for the age when i fell in love with watership.

[man]

yes.

it made me realize that to be completely neurotic at that age is pretty much normal. that realization alone really helped me be more relaxed and comfortable with my awkwardness.

although I think JD is a insufferable navel-gazer in general. sorry, the literary snob in me had to get that out.

[Recliner]

I had to read it for an English class I had in high school.

I think I managed to actually read most of the book as opposed to using cliff notes for it. My general feelings about it was that it was a pointless poorly written book, among other things. It’s been several years so I can remember most of the reasons why I didn't like the book, though I can remember quite well hating having to read it.