The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger

[bluegrassandyb]

I just finished this book and I don't get it. Maybe I'm not as smart as I'd like to think I am, but what was the plot? The theme? It seems to me that I was just following a nut-job all over New York City. I kept waiting for something to happen, anything that resembled a plot. The copy I read had 241 pages; if you took out all instances of the phrase "goddamn", it would have been about 200 pages. I understand it was written around 1945, and was considered groundbreaking at the time; I just don't understand why.
This is the reason John Lennon was murdered???

[janetbellinger]

It was considered groundbreaking for many reasons. It's a young person speaking in first person. When the book was written this was unheard of. Young adult fiction, if it existed, was written by adults in a condescending moralistic way. This book in comparison captured the spirit of the times. I think it was written later than 1945, probably in the 1960s when self expression in young people first came into vogue. Don't forget, when this book was written, young people still were in generation wars with their parents, who had all the power. We have come such a long way since the book was written and we have come to expect creative expression in novels. But this book led the way for many other authors to come.

[pdr]

1951, the book was still highly controversial when I was old enough to read it a few years later.

It was roundly and soundly condemned by the established authorities (Church, State and Public Opinion in respectable newspapers!) as an incitement to self indulgent, egotistical behaviour where an individual was encouraged to put hirself and hir needs before duty to parents and nation. The lack of discipline and self restraint shown by Holden was genuinely shocking to a majority of people, especially after WW11 where so many had given up so much.

Critical acclaim goes something like: the novel is about the human condition. Or the psychological battles of Holden Caulfield, his self-destruction during the novel make the reader think about society's attitude to the human condition. It's also held to be: a critical look at the problems facing American youth during the 1950's.

I flicked through it again a few years ago. Incredibly depressing. I mean poor old Holden has a nervous breakdown and does nothing but get more depressed. And yes, I don't find the plot interesting although the character is.

[janetbellinger]

Maybe some people are more interested in characters than plot. I know I am. Maybe it's a female thing although I hate to make gender distinctions. I can only speak for myself. If the character gets my sympathy and attention then I am hooked. If it does not, then it doesn't matter what happens in the book, I am not satisfied with it.

[KTC]

This book is the perfect example of how I would like to write. I am not a fan of plot. I know that sounds ludicrous, but oh well. I'm sure this book has one...but I don't look to define a plot. I go where the day takes me. And I love this book. It's not my favourite Salinger...in fact, if pressed I would say it's my least favourite Salinger title. My favourite is the Glass family stories...especially FRANNY & ZOOEY and Raise High the roof beam, carpenters.

[C.bronco]

I read it when I was 13 and was unimpressed. I didn't like Holden; I thought he was a whiny, spoiled kid. If I read it now, I don't know if I'd come to a different conclusion.

[SylviaDiamandez]

If you re-read it, notice how protective Holden is of his younger sister Phoebe, and how upset he becomes near the story's end when he hears curses or finds a certain four letter word written on or scratched into a flat surface. He may be self-destructive, but there's good within him.

[Silver King]

where an individual was encouraged to put hirself and hir needs before duty to parents and nation.
P, is this a new spelling trend to correct gender bias in writing, or have I just been lost at sea too long and should've noticed it earlier?

[CBeasy]

This may very well be my favorite book. Its must read for young adults, or anyone who feels lost in the currents of life.

[K1P1]

I read it when I was 13 and was unimpressed. I didn't like Holden; I thought he was a whiny, spoiled kid. If I read it now, I don't know if I'd come to a different conclusion.

I felt exactly the same way. Poor little rich kid. I recently wondered if I'd react differently now, but it's not high on my list of priorities.

CBeasy - what is it that you like so much about it?

[travelgal]

I didn't like it, either. I didn't get it. It made me feel stupid. I disliked Holden, didn't see a plot, didn't see a resolution. I had to read this in secondary school and I thought it was drivel. It's one of the few books I never finished.

[KTC]

If you re-read it, notice how protective Holden is of his younger sister Phoebe, and how upset he becomes near the story's end when he hears curses or finds a certain four letter word written on or scratched into a flat surface. He may be self-destructive, but there's good within him.

Oh my God...he is brimming over with goodness. That's what I got out of it anyway. But that is a perfect example. His sister is INNOCENCE. There is something about Holden that makes him the saddest character in all of fictiondom. His realization that everything is a gimmick...that everybody is out for themselves and greed rules the world. He is a boy on the cusp of entering the world of adulthood...a world he loathes because he sees how fake everybody becomes. I think I probably felt the same way as him the first time I read it. I'm guessing I was about 12 or 13? I knew I was heading for the same ugly 'grown-up' world that Holden was entering. I read the goodness in him throughout the entire book. It bristled me.

[Unique]

kev. you're biased. that salinger tattoo gives you away.

[KTC]

I know, Unique. I'm guilty of camping out at the end of his driveway. I had my middle name changed to Zachary Martin Glass.

[bluegrassandyb]

I am a big fan of character driven stories; I just assumed there had to be a plot in there somewhere. I was fascinated by Holden, repulsed, but fascinated. Growing up, I had the same feelings of disgust with the "fakeness" of adults. I actually finished this book in two days. The relationship with Phoebe made me nervous, I kept expecting there to be an element of abuse. Maybe I'll try one of his other works. Are they all along the same vein, i.e. character driven, plotless?

[Southern_girl29]

Catcher in the Rye is actually one of my all time favorite books. Holden is scared, and Salinger does a perfect job of getting that across. It's been a while since I've read it. I need to get my copy out and reread it, but I doubt my opinion of it will change.

[blacbird]

I think it's a young person's book. I read it at about 18 or 19, and found it effective and engaging. I've looked at it a couple of times in later years, and it seems much less interesting. I don't think it wears well into a second reading, or being read at a later age.

caw

[civilian chic]

I agree, blacbird; when I first read it in high school, I was blown away. Reading it a few years ago, I can't think of why. Raise High the Roof Beams, Carpenters, though, still does. And Nine Stories.

Some books, especially those that address cultural renaissance, have to be read at a particular point in one's life. Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein rocked my then-17-year-old world.

[SylviaDiamandez]

He's not exactly brimming over with goodness. Through most of the book, he's a jerk. When you're sixteen, peer pressure means you have to go along -- with the other jerks -- to get along. But little things poke through, like giving the two nuns ten dollars at breakfast, and being upset by the two men cursing at the Christmas tree. JDS shows us just enough of this side of Holden to suggest there's more under the surface.

[KTC]

I think he's brimming with goodness, which is the reason he's so disheveled in his head. There's a huge conflict between, "I don't give a rat'sass" and, "I care too much about everything."

[janetbellinger]

You're probably right about reading it at the right time. I read it in my y outh as well and have not reread it. Some novels are enjoyed most if you just read them once.

[WerenCole]

I am holding this book in my hands as I write this. It hasn't been more than 20 feet from me in about a month.

I am writing a 8 page paper on Catcher (again) in about a week. I have read this book more than 20 times and that is not hyperbole. Read it for fun as a kid, three times in high school, five for college courses, and numerous times in between. I can talk like old Caulfield if I wanted too. Boy that Caulfield, what a card. I always hated that word card, so goddamn phony. People who use that word are all a bunch of phony jerks, I swear. Honestly, you would never catch me saying that someone is a card.

Hold is:
Scared of Confrontation
Inable to take responsibility for his actions
Inherently hypocritical
Inherently generous and altruistic
A little misguided.

Catcher in the Rye. . "When a body catch a body coming through the rye. . ." Holden wants to be the catcher that saves children from falling over the cliff after they emerge from the rye field. He wants to preserve the innocence of children and at the same time is struggling to hold onto his own innocence. He is deeply affected by the death of his little brother Allie. . . almost to the point of complete neurosis. At the end, when it is raining and he is sitting on the bench watching his little sister on the Carousel he is crying because he is witnessing one of her last true moments of childhood innocence. He shows a classic case of an perpetual type of male syndrome post-ejaculatory depression. . . guys, you know what I am talking about. After the orgasm when you just want to leave, get away, a little satisfaction mixed with a little self loathing. Think about it next time you. . .

Not sure where the whole serial killer rep came from, I think that serial killers probably share a lot of anger and neurosis that Holden has in this book.

Oh well.

[kristie911]

I loved this book, in fact it's one of my all time favorites. I read it in high school and have read it several times as an adult. It blew me away then and while it doesn't necessarily blow me away now, I am so drawn into the story and the character, I still can't put it down once I start it.

Yes, I agree it seems to be plotless, just this kid wandering around the city but his internal conflict is so compelling, it makes up for the plotlessness (is that a word?). Maybe I can just relate. I remember when I first read it, I thought, "wow, someone does get what's going on inside my head." Now I just think, "wow, I've come so far but I remember what it felt like then."

Definitely a must read!

[KTC]

Seems I found the other Biggest Fan of this book?

[SylviaDiamandez]

I always thought Allie was the second oldest Caulfield kid, after DB, but before Holden and Phoebe. Holden tells us he died on July 18, 1946. He remembers the exact date. If he was sixteen in 1949/50 (if the publishing date is 1951, that's a reasonable guess re the time frame of the story), he would have been thirteen when Allie died, and even younger in the remembering-Allie-playing-golf flashback.

[WerenCole]

In the beginning he tells us that he was three years older than Allie. I would find the page number but my head hurts from a long day.

Maybe tomarrow.

[Serenity]

At the end, when it is raining and he is sitting on the bench watching his little sister on the Carousel he is crying because he is witnessing one of her last true moments of childhood innocence.

You are talking about my absolute, most favorite scene in the whole book. It has one line that I think sums up what Holden is going through/thinking/feeling, is- in my opinion- related to one of the major themes in the book, and is something that I quote to this day:

"Blessed are the dead that the rain falls on."

I haven't read the book in a while (something like 16 or 17 years), nor do I have it with me, so I hope I'm not remembering the line wrong. I'm pretty sure it's right. Holden experiences so much death in his life, and it drives him. Is the character an a$$? Yes. Does he genuinely want to do good? Yes to that as well.

[Rolling Thunder]

Never read the book. Until I went through this thread. So, today I stopped at the library and picked it up along with Steinbeck's 'Of Mice and Men' and "Grapes of Wrath'.

I love long holiday weekends.:)

[KTC]

I just reread Of Mice And Men. I love that story. You're in for some fun!

[aghast]

the questin is would this book be publised in 2006 and become a best seller - seems like todays world is so fast paced and impatient and thirsty for a thrilling plot that pure characer study novels like that would die before they even have a chance

[Rolling Thunder]

Well, I finished it today. Bluuuurg. My first thought on ‘Catcher’ is Mr. Salinger wrote it as a whim even though he claims it took him ten years (on and off) to complete. Sure, the metaphorical musings and symbolism are tightly wound but I don’t believe he thought the book would ever become the controversial icon it did. I don’t blame him for withholding the motion picture copyright. (I did find a comment about him being quoted: ‘Mr. Caulfield would be displeased with a movie’). I wonder if this is a metaphor on why he’s been quiet for such a long time; from his own feelings the book is his secret shame.


Anywho. Gonna go try to kill off the grey matter harboring this book. A pint of whiskey should do the trick. Besides, Steinbeck is waiting for me. Hopefully, He can resurrect by faith in the literary genre.

KTC: Damn, I hope you're right about MICE. I have TORTILLA FLAT as well, so if OM&M grabs me I'll go on to that story.

[rhymegirl]

This book is the perfect example of how I would like to write. I am not a fan of plot. I know that sounds ludicrous, but oh well. I'm sure this book has one...but I don't look to define a plot. I go where the day takes me. And I love this book.

I love it, too.

I was discussing with Neurofizz (who is reading my young adult novel which is written in the first person) the idea of a writer trying to capture a young person's method of speaking. Salinger does it perfectly in this novel. He has Holden say things like "So I was telling you what happened and all". He does not speak in perfect English. He uses the passive voice. He uses slang. I say that's perfectly fine to do if you are writing in the first person and you have a teen narrator.

I think this novel is one of those "internal monologues"--someone telling the readers what he felt and experienced--thinking out loud.

[rhymegirl]

Catcher in the Rye. . "When a body catch a body coming through the rye. . ." Holden wants to be the catcher that saves children from falling over the cliff after they emerge from the rye field. He wants to preserve the innocence of children and at the same time is struggling to hold onto his own innocence.

Yes, this is the point of the book.

[aliajohnson]

I think this book is similar to the Dada movement. It needed to be done. It opened doors, and its value can't be overstated for that reason.

But now that it HAS been done, please, please let's not do it again.

Sorry, but I found it mind-numbingly dull as well. And yeah, I felt he was a whiny rich kid I couldn't connect with in any way. Then again, I read it as an adult, not a teenager, and I'm willing to consider that has a lot to do with my opinion.

[Haggis]

I read this first when I was a kid of 13 or 14 or so. The next time I read it was about 6 months ago. I didn't remember the book at all.

Didn't he do something unspeakable with a raw liver when I was 13? I swear he did, but it isn't in my current copy.

Anyhow, I think the book is more meaningful for a precocious teenager than it is for an old fart like me. Holden is an engaging character, true, but I just feel like smacking him upside the head for his attitude. It's a coming of age book, sure, but I have little sympathy for a rich, spoiled character when there are folks out there like Huck Finn who might benefit from my concern.

[blacbird]

Didn't he do something unspeakable with a raw liver when I was 13? I swear he did, but it isn't in my current copy.


You're thinking of Portnoy's Complaint, by Philip Roth.

caw

[KTC]

I love it, too.

I was discussing with Neurofizz (who is reading my young adult novel which is written in the first person) the idea of a writer trying to capture a young person's method of speaking. Salinger does it perfectly in this novel. He has Holden say things like "So I was telling you what happened and all". He does not speak in perfect English. He uses the passive voice. He uses slang. I say that's perfectly fine to do if you are writing in the first person and you have a teen narrator.

I think this novel is one of those "internal monologues"--someone telling the readers what he felt and experienced--thinking out loud.

I agree totally with everything you said, Kath. I'd love to read your novel if you need another beta?

[britwrit]

I read it as a teenager and then I just reread it a few months ago (as a 35-year-old). Holden gets a tiny little bit tiresome but wow, what a wonderful picture of old New York. I hope Salinger has a sequel tucked away up in Cornish and that he doesn't burn it before he dies.

[Jamesaritchie]

the questin is would this book be publised in 2006 and become a best seller - seems like todays world is so fast paced and impatient and thirsty for a thrilling plot that pure characer study novels like that would die before they even have a chance

Even in 2006, there are still many, many literary novels published that are written much like Catcher.

It's really an impossible question, but I'd sure read Catcher again if it were just being published, and many of the novels I do read today are literary novels that do not have a fast pace and a trhilling plot.

Look at novels like The Bridges of Madison County, or much of the writing Nicolas Sparks does, or that of a couple of dozen purely literary writers, and you'll find many a novel written along the lines of Catcher.

Sparks also has a bit of excellent writing advice on his website. http://nicholassparks.com/WritersCorner/Index.html

[KTC]

The novel that made me first stand up and say, "Now I get what they mean by literary!" was Old School by Tobias Wolff. It is simultaneously a lot like Catcher and nothing like it. I think that if you're a catcher fan you would be an Old School fan. It's a great literary novel from about 2003. It first appeared, as excerpts, in The New Yorker...I loved it so much then that I couldn't wait to get my hands on the hard cover when it came out. It's a fabulous read. If you like Catcher, go check it out...

[CBeasy]

This is one of my absolute favorites. I don't know, maybe I just relate to it on a few different levels, but that book really spoke to me.

[CBeasy]

Well, I haven't read this book since I was a teenager, so perhaps I'd get something different from it if I read it now, as an adult. The book just really fit in with the place I was in my life when I first read it, and it actually helped me out a bit.

[Jamesaritchie]

It just always seemed to me like a book that might speak to the young and angsty, but coming from an adult that wasn't feeling nostalgic or empathic, it just seemed... immature.

It's supposed to seem immature because Holden Caulfield is immature. This is a novel of someone caught between milk and meat, as my grandparents would have said. It's a better novel for adults than for the young. It does speak to the young and angsty, I think, but it's main purpose is to make the older generation understand the young and angsty.

[CBeasy]

It's supposed to seem immature because Holden Caulfield is immature. This is a novel of someone caught between milk and meat, as my grandparents would have said. It's a better novel for adults than for the young. It does speak to the young and angsty, I think, but it's main purpose is to make the older generation understand the young and angsty.
Well put.

[scarletpeaches]

Catcher in the Rye. . "When a body catch a body coming through the rye. . ." Holden wants to be the catcher that saves children from falling over the cliff after they emerge from the rye field.

The song's actually calling "Comin' through the rye," and the lyrics are "...meets a body." (Rabbie Burns). The whole catcher thing comes from Holden's dream, not a song.

[rosemarykenndal]

I've recently read this. I'm actually reading it again, because I'm trying to decide if I like it.

So far I feel Holden is Bi-polar and possibly has A.D.D. Which explains his imaturity. I don't think J.D. wrote it as a way for adults to gain some nostolgia. I think it's meant to make teens think about their lives, because the later teen years are rather crucial.

Holden on a whim, goes to New York because he realizes that he's a failiure and needs to figure out what he's like outside of prep schools. To put it simply, the book is about adolesent soul searching. In those three days in the city Holden tries to find himself. Salinger is elusive on whether whether or not he succeeds. He leaves it open to inturpetation, in order to trigger the thinking process so that the induvigual reading starts to reflect on their own lives.

That's what I got out of it, anyway.

[tenpenynail]

I read it 1st at age 18. And I didn't like the book. Well, it was more than that--I was afraid of the book. I couldn't take it in because a large part of me felt like Holden--and yet I was in the "committed to normal" phase of my life.

I had an awful childhood and a lot of unfelt feeling--and so couldn't take the book.

Then I read it in my 30's, when I was beginning to let of of 'trying to be normal,' realizing that yes my childhood impacted my now, and making peace with who I am. I liked Holden a lot better this time around. I wasn't afraid of his angst and anger.

I love it when Holden watches his sister on the carousel--watching her reach for the brass ring. "All the kids kept trying to grab for the gold ring, and so was old Phoebe, and I was sort of afraid she'd fall off the goddam horse, but I didn't say anything or do anything. The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything. If they fall off, they fall off, but it's bad if you say anything to them."

Like Holden, I had finally grown up and realized I couldn't control everything. I finally knew that life was 10% what I make it and 90% how I take it.

[martand]

the questin is would this book be publised in 2006 and become a best seller
I think it will. It is the perfect book for existentialistic kind of people. And you can find a lot more Holdens now, than you'd have found then.

[gingerwoman]

There is something about Holden that makes him the saddest character in all of fictiondom. His realization that everything is a gimmick...that everybody is out for themselves and greed rules the world. He is a boy on the cusp of entering the world of adulthood...a world he loathes because he sees how fake everybody becomes.
But it's so tiring now. It seems every young person these days thinks like that and EVERYTHING isn't fake, that's what annoys me. I vaugely remember some female character in the book tries to show him a bit of affection and it "oh yuck she's fake"...well how does he KNOW.
The book annoyed me and all the young people I have met on the internet who are so cynical annoy me because...yes a lot of things are fake but that's not a reason to close your heart off to EVERYONE.

[nerds]

A few points made in the Catcher in the Rye thread, about its being a better read for some when they were younger and not so much later on, made me think of the inverse - books we like to return to at least once if not more.

Rye didn't hold up for me when I read it a second time around age 30. And yet, two of Salinger's other books, Roof Beam and Franny and Zooey, are the only two books I make a point to re-read annually.

Sometimes I'll revisit a book because it's an old favorite, (all the time with old mysteries) but often it's to see if I will get more or different things from it with a different (older) mindset.

Does anyone have cherished favorites they return to from time to time? Or maybe a book that wasn't a favorite the first time around but was a better read when given a second shot?

:)

[Gaia]

I agree that everything isn't fake but there is a point in life - between childhood and adulthood - where all the illusions of childhood are broken down so everything seems fake. That's how teenagers feel. And to me Holden is just a typical teenager trying to figure life out and he's scared as hell. I love this book because it describes so well how teenagers act and think - one minute they're absolute jerks, the next minute they're brimming with goodness because they trying to find their own identity and trying to break free of peer pressure and their parents and all of that junk.

And I love the "plotlessness" too btw. If the character can carry the story and the change in the character is strong enough then I don't need a bigger plot than that. But that's maybe because I love diving into the human mind.

[General Joy]

I absolutely loved Catcher in the Rye... I've never read a modern book that resembled it in the least. The only book that reminded me of it (which I recommend for fellow Catcher fans) is Knut Hamsun's Hunger.

[gerrydodge]

I am really learning to hate this book, but I have to teach it every year for the past fifteen years or so--which means I have to read it every year again. But yes, groundbreaking because I think mostly it was the first voice in American fiction--who came from privilege--who was going against the "establishment" (government, church, privileged classes). Holden sees everyone as a phony because everyone is looking for what they can get without any real human investment of their own. I always love the part where Holden doesn't make it with Sunny the prostitute because he sees her going in and buying a dress and that the people in the store only see her as a fellow human and not someone selling their body. Those parts of the novel are groundbreaking and very poignant.

Funny though, I've been teaching THE GREAT GATSBY for as many years and I never get tired of that novel. Now that is a masterpiece!

[James81]

Anybody else read this book? (From what I hear some high school English classes make you read it, but mine never did)

I just finished it and I loved it.

It's one of the few books I've read that actually had me cracking up and laughing out loud in some spots. Holden's attitude was hilarious in some spots.

But for the most part it was just a very entertaining book about nothing. lol

[alleycat]

We were just talking about Catcher on the sister site (not) Written in Stone the other day. You might like posting your question there as well.

[Stew21]

When I read Catcher for the first time (many years ago), I read it in one night. I loved it.

[James81]

When I read Catcher for the first time (many years ago), I read it in one night. I loved it.

Yeah, I read it in one sitting. About 4 hours.

[Jersey Chick]

I read it for the first time my senior year in high school. And it's one of my absolute favorites - read about once a year now.

[Mr. Fix]

We acted out many of the chapters in my acting class when I was young. It works amazingly well on stage as a 'spoken book.' I still look back fondly, and occationally reread, the book.:Thumbs:

[Shadow_Ferret]

It was one of those books I was forced to read in High School and I loathed it. Have never attempted a re-read.

I did read Catcher in the Wry by Bob Uecker. Very funny.

[akiwiguy]

You might like Vernon God Little, by DBC Pierre. It controversially won a Booker a few years ago, generally well received by the British but slammed by a lot of Americans as being typical anti-American satire by someone who's never even been there.

All that aside, I liked it, and point being that its characterisation has drawn a lot of comparisons with Catcher, for obvious reasons once you read it.

[Myasandar]

I got a discount on this book because the guy in the bookshop thought it was so crap no one should have to pay full price. He just went: "Oh, you must be a student? That's such a terrible book, you can get a student discount on all text books" I'm not sure that actually extended to fiction books, even classics. I was a student, but not in English. He didn't even ask me to show my card as he would usually have done...

Still ain't got around to reading it. He made me so paranoid!

[James81]

I got a discount on this book because the guy in the bookshop thought it was so crap no one should have to pay full price. He just went: "Oh, you must be a student? That's such a terrible book, you can get a student discount on all text books" I'm not sure that actually extended to fiction books, even classics. I was a student, but not in English. He didn't even ask me to show my card as he would usually have done...

Still ain't got around to reading it. He made me so paranoid!

What a shit head. (the guy, not you)

[Shadow_Ferret]

Why? He gave out a discount he probably didn't have to. Sounds like a decent guy to me.

[James81]

Why? He gave out a discount he probably didn't have to. Sounds like a decent guy to me.

Influencing people to not read things isn't very good business practice if you are in the business of selling books. lol

[Shadow_Ferret]

I guess I assumed it was a campus bookstore and the clerk was just a student who worked there part-time.

Maybe I infered too much?

[mab]

Myasandar- doubtless that bloke was forced to read it at school and still resents the fact. I read it for pleasure as a teen and loved it, I've read it a few times now, still do, its a good depiction of adolescence, and sort of wrapped up with my teenage memories in my mind. Some people hate the old-fashioned slang, or the (privileged but unhappy) MC...you might go either way but its definitely worth reading!

[Williebee]

I read it the first time when I was about 13-14. Really enjoyed it.
Read it again a couple years ago. Had a completely opposite experience. Holden's a whiny, worthless brat. (Lord, help me. I've become "the man".)

[vixey]

Funny you mention this book. I read it for the first time around Easter (Spring break for the kids). I loved it! And while I agree much of it was hilarious, I found most of the situations Holden gravitated to disturbing. Maybe it's because I have an eighteen year old son (?).

Anyway, I'm on a mission to pick up the old classics in my house and read them. That same week I read House of the Seven Gables. I found that oddly funny, too! To Kill a Mockingbird is next . . .

[vixey]

I read it the first time when I was about 13-14. Really enjoyed it.
Read it again a couple years ago. Had a completely opposite experience. Holden's a whiny, worthless brat. (Lord, help me. I've become "the man".)
Don't you think he's deeply disturbed by his brother's death?

[Shadow_Ferret]

Yeah...if I owned or worked in a bookstore, I'd still sell James Frey's Million Crappy Pieces. I wouldn't wipe my ass with it, but I wouldn't try to influence customers away from it.
Guess I have more of a conscious. If a book is crap, I wouldn't recommend it and might even actively recommend against it.

I'd probably even display it in such a way that it would make it difficult to find.

[vixey]

**Breathes a sigh of relief that KTC has changed his avatar**

[James81]

Yeah...if I owned or worked in a bookstore, I'd still sell James Frey's Million Crappy Pieces. I wouldn't wipe my ass with it, but I wouldn't try to influence customers away from it.

I'd love to display Frey's book inside a toilet in the front window.

Ha ha, I think you are just trying to get a rise out of me. :tongue

[Shadow_Ferret]

I'd love to display Frey's book inside a toilet in the front window.
What a great window display! All the crap books are displayed surrounding a toilet, strung with what looks like used toilet paper, with brown spots smeared on the book jackets, maybe some fake water, so it looks like the toilet backed up and these came out.

[James81]

Oh Christ! You're not THAT James, are you????!!!

:roll:

Ha ha, hell no.