Classic lit no. three
This book.
To use the words of it’s narrator, this goddamn book killed me.
It really did. It moved me to the point where I don’t even know if I can write coherently about it, but I’d feel like I was doing it some great injustice if I didn’t.
The Catcher in the Rye is not so much a work of literature as a conversation. A rather one-sided conversation, one in which I met a boy sat by a carousel at a zoo in New York who told me a story about himself. The sort of conversation that you never want to end, where deep thoughts and feelings come pouring out between swear words and ‘boy, that goddamn nearly killed me’s.’
I think that sometimes a book changes you, and makes you re-evaluate how you’re living. I think other books shock you by slamming into your heart with their plot twists and their revelations and their scenes of death and heartbreak. But the Catcher in the Rye didn’t do these things – It subtly got to me, bit by bit, until by the last page I was so overwhelmed with feelings that I wasn’t sure that I even wanted it to end. I didn’t want it to end, it was magnificent, and I am left in a state of joyful disarray because I don’t think I can pick up another book.
I appreciate that as far as reviews go, this is sadly lacking in substance. I will say something though, just to close – I was watching John Green’s take on this novel in his ‘crash course’ youtube series, and he brought up something interesting. There are two Holden Cauldfields in the Catcher in the Rye – the sixteen-year-old Holden who doesn’t know how to get his words out, and the seventeen year old Holden who does, and tells the story of his younger self. This is something that never really occurred to me when I was reading it, and something which soothed me greatly – the disturbed Holden whom, as a reader, I got to know quite well was able to overcome his demons. The result: a story which will most likely stay with me forever.
If you’ve not already, read it.
It was a work of art.
This is a part of my ‘Becky reads classic lit’ series. To view my other reviews, click the titles below…
February 23rd, 2013 at 6:15 pm
loved this book too and still love it. but, i don’t know, everybody around me seemed to hated it. hope they turn it into a movie some day!
February 24th, 2013 at 12:35 pm
I know exactly what you mean regarding how everyone seems to dislike it! I suppose it’s because a lot of people are made to study it in school – somehow that always seems to affect how a book is perceived. Still, I’m glad we both enjoyed it!
February 24th, 2013 at 10:24 pm
I first read “The Catcher in the Rye” when I was 16, going on 17 – a perfect time to be introduced to Holden Caulfield. I am now 48 and, while I have read books better written, I have yet to read a book that so much changed my life. I’m still fighting “phonies” and trying to catch bodies I meet falling in the rye.
February 24th, 2013 at 10:45 pm
I wholeheartedly agree – I made it through without being compelled to write a single quote down, but the words I read are firmly instilled in my mind. I’m glad your experience of the book was as moving as mine – keep fighting those phonies!