J.D. Salinger's Holden Caulfield, Aging Gracelessly

Washington Post ^ | October 19, 2004 | JONATHAN YARDLEY

[nothingnew]

Like most high school students I had these books inflicted on me and I've yet to forgive my teachers.

My ninth grade english teacher had us read Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy.......if I ever run across her I'll slap her silly.

FMCDH(BITS)

[Mad Dawgg]

"I read Franny & Zooey, liked it much more than Catcher."

I've read that as well as "Catcher" but my favorite by far is "Raise High the Roofbeam Carpenters."

It really catches the flavor of a family get together.

[durasell]

Kid stuff, I had to read Tobias Smollett. I believe forcing young people to read TS is a felony in many states.

[Savage Beast]

I agree with you. I have never understood the magic of Hemingway. I love William Faulkner and Albert Camus, and I like Scott Fitzgerald, but Hemingway just leaves me wondering what am I missing?

[NYS_Eric]

Darn you (LOL)! Somehow, I knew you'd call me on that statement.

The Count of Monte Cristo (Dumas) has to rank right up there. Even the unabridged version is nearly impossible to put down.

For 20th Century literature, Invisible Man and Brideshead Revisited are among my favorites. I also have a weakness for Tolkien-- I re-read Lord of the Rings every 4 or 5 years.

For modern fiction, I love almost anything by Richard Russo (Empire Falls, Nobody's Fool, The Risk Pool).

All the King's Men, however, stands in a special class. I think you just talked me into taking it off my bookshelf! (I do need SOMETHING to take my mind off all these polls for the next 10 days.)

[durasell]

What did you think of the movie version of Nobody's Fool?

[NYS_Eric]

I know it didn't do too well, but I enjoyed it. Bruce Willis did some real acting in that film-- loved that character. And Paul Newman turned in another great performance (WHY does he have to be a leftie?). I may be biased because of the "upstate NY" background.

[durasell]

Ha! My sentiments exactly Bruce Willis can actually act. Who knew? And having spent time in upstate NY, I think they nailed it, exactly. I watched it in July and still felt cold...as for Newman and his politics -- I don't ask my dentist (and he's a really good dentist) to program my computer, why would I look to actors for political advice?

[.38sw]

If you are older than the 11-14 year old window for Catcher, then don't bother

Hehehe. Oh, yeah. Waaaaay older.

[durasell]

Yeah, sorry to say, you missed the boat. I love books as much as anyone, but I still find grown up adults reading Catcher a little creepy. But that could just be me.

Try Stop Time, This Boy's Life or Duke of Deception -- all of which are excellent reads. Note: The last two should be read back to back, as they were written by brothers covering the same period of time.

[.38sw]

Are they excellent enough reads that a woman (that's me) would enjoy them? I don't read as much as I used to, can't find much time, except when I'm travelling and stuck in airports and sitting on planes. So lately I've tended to buy the sort of book that reads quickly and easily, but isn't necessarily intellectually stimulating, or takes much of my brain power. Sad, huh?

[sharktrager]

I shared Caulfield's contempt for "phonies" as well as his sense of being different and his loneliness, but he seemed to me just about as phony as those he criticized as well as an unregenerate whiner and egotist. It was easy enough to identify with his adolescent angst, but his puerile attitudinizing was something else altogether.

I have always felt Salinger was well aware that Caulfield was not much, if at all, better than those he so disdained. When I read the book I actually felt that was what made it worthwhile.

That said, Old Man and the Sea is truly Hemingway's worst work, and I am a huge fan of his writing. The awards were "Lifetime Achievement Awards" because his early work had been too masculine for the literary elite. I angered my honors English teacher when she assigned it because I told her it would make much more sense to read something he had written that was actually readable.

[Jakarta ex-pat]

James Michener

[durasell]

This Boy's Life and Duke might be a little tough for a woman. They portray an extremely dsyfunctional household --in brief, when the parents divorced, one boy went with the father and one went with the mother. The father was a con man and the mother had emotional problems, and married the wrong guys, etc. etc. etc. No hilarity ensues.

On the other hand, Stop Time remains an excellent book of a very strange childhood with a happy ending. Though not short, it's also a very quick read.

All these books are nonfiction, though Stop Time may be billed as fiction.

[GoLightly]

I never read it, nor did I ever think about reading it. "Old Man of the Sea" was read because it was assigned by Mrs. Uteck, the ancient English teacher everyone thought should have retired after our parents had her. I can still hear her going on & on & on about "irony". She cured me of any further interest in Hemingway.

Wasn't Catcher in the Rye the book in Conspiracy theory, i.e. that was the clue you had been programed by the evil CIA or whatever?

Yes it was.

[sharktrager]

Try True at First Light. It was published just a few years ago and I truly enjoyed it. His son went through the unfinished manuscript and got it ready for publication.

The setting is much smaller than his earlier works, so it is more personal (and even more autobiographical) than his better known works. But the main character (essentially Hemingway himself) is a natural extension of his early work. More reflective of the natural progression of those protagonists much later in life. (Assuming they had either become wealthy or maintained the wealth described in the early works)

Plus, it is about big game hunting which has to piss the hell out of anyone on the left.

[durasell]

Holly is that you?

[sharktrager]

I would also like to add that I think Moby Dick is not only an abuse of the English language, I believe it is truly the worst book I was ever forced to read. Melville writes as if he got a good deal on adjectives and had to use them all up.

[Lurker]

I hated CITR. Bored me to tears in HS. Now Lovecraft was my favorite author for a while. Then I discovered Heinlein, Asimoov, C.S. Lewis....

L

[durasell]

MD is a masterpiece. Unfortunately, you have to find a free month in which to read it at a leisurely pace. This is difficult for a lot of people