SJ Classic Novel Club: "The Catcher in the Rye"

[CD Boogie]

I'm interested to see how Mrs. Whitman reacts. I told her it should be required reading for mothers of boys.

Really? Why? Do you think Holden is emblematic of most high school kids? He's not like anybody I knew or admired. Unless you mean to use old Ackley -- that prince -- as a source of what a lot of high school boys are like. He's the most genuine character in the book, IMHO. Picking his zits, being a moody loner with poor hygiene.

Another reason I like the book is because it reminds me of my own all boys prep school. I wasn't rich like Holden -- my parents were both school teachers -- but I knew plenty of rich twats like Holden who did fork all in school and mostly because they knew their parents would take care of them down the line.

 

[Songbird]

They need to update the story with Holden getting an iPhone and Twitter account.

 

[Dick Whitman]

Really? Why? Do you think Holden is emblematic of most high school kids? He's not like anybody I knew or admired.

I think his thought processes are, absolutely. Tough exterior. Struggling to make sense of the world inside. Even the way he is trying to understand girls is spot-on, though maybe more like a 14- or 15-year-old than a 17-year-old.

 

[CD Boogie]

I think his thought processes are, absolutely. Tough exterior. Struggling to make sense of the world inside. Even the way he is trying to understand girls is spot-on, though maybe more like a 14- or 15-year-old than a 17-year-old.

Well, back in the 1950s, your average 17 year old is probably getting as far with girls as a 14 or 15 year old nowadays. Or at least that seemed the case when I was in high school in the late 80s, early 90s. Until the pill became available, there was a lot less underage sex. Just that heavy petting stuff.

 

[Moderator1]

There was??

 

[CD Boogie]

There was??

yes.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

They need to update the story with Holden getting an iPhone and Twitter account.

Today, his parents would be putting him on Ritalin and there's not a chance in heck the school would have expelled him without calling his parents first.

I read the book in high school, didn't think much of it then, and then read it again about a year ago. It was more interesting reading it now, as an adult, but it also still seems pretty dated.

It's like in high school, I remember we watched "Rebel Without a Cause." My teacher hyped it up as this great drama of teenage rebellion. Yet, when we saw it, we kinda were like, "that's it?" Maybe because we were a lot more desensitized to violence on TV and in movies and teens arguing with parents. But we didn't really see why the film was such a big deal.

 

[Songbird]

Even better, 2017 Holden becomes the lover of a Poin Files rapist.

 

[Buck]

Really? Why? Do you think Holden is emblematic of most high school kids? He's not like anybody I knew or admired.

You're not supposed to admire him.

I loved this book. I read it several times, although it has to be almost 30 years since the last time I read it.

 

[CD Boogie]

You're not supposed to admire him.

I loved this book. I read it several times, although it has to be almost 30 years since the last time I read it.

"you're wrong" -- John hinckley