This is the first of my book reviews in which I've attempted to tackle not only a non-Christian book, but a modern day classic in it's own right. That said, I'm getting in deeper than I have any business getting, so do grant me grace.
The Cather in the Rye was recommended to me by a friend Steve Miller many months back. Having absolutely nothing but time on my hands these days, I opted to give it a read, knowing nothing about the book other than that it was a classic of sorts. Now, having read the book, I have learned a whole lot about it.
It was written in the late 40's, early 50's, and it's simply the story of a teen on his journey from being kicked out of prep school to home. The colloquial language used by Salinger is pretty in-your-face if you will, even today, which makes it hard for me to imagine how it was received at the time of publication.
All throughout the book the protagonist, Holden Caulfield, shares his brutally honest thoughts on events and people in which he comes in contact as he goes through his day. I was able to really identify with Holden in a lot of ways (and not at all in others). He, like me, is extremely opinionated, critical, unconventional, and sometimes hypocritical in his thought. He despises the "phoniness" he sees all around him that, as far as he can tell, goes unnoticed by everyone else.
Holden (hopefully unlike me) comes across as very negative, seemingly hating everything. However when you "get to know him" better (if you can do that with a fictional character), you realize that there are plenty of simple pleasures in which he takes great delight. He genuine loves his sister and his late brother. He enjoys the innocence of children, good books, and honesty in any way that it chooses to display itself.
Essentially, Holden is a kid who would normally get written off without second thought by most people, but because he shares his story with us in a very popular book, people are given the chance to look deeper into him as a person than what they see on the surface, which is always a good thing to do.
There you go. My first, and quite possibly last, review of a modern day classic.
9.20.2006
book review vol. five
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6 comments:
derrick,
you will not believe this, okay you will. somehow i stumbled upon your blog from india. that's where i live now. i am so busy that my blog sucks, but i have high hopes of improving it. so here is the deal, facebook and blogspot are taking over the freakin world! i was on facebook, saw you in a picture at A & M and the next click you know, i am reading your blog. weird huh? well i hope that you are doing great. I'm an "M" I have been here for a year and will be back in A-town in the summer of 07. so there you go. grace to you!
I always think of The Catcher in the Rye whenever I see the f word written in public places, like the ground, wall, park bench, etc.
I was also thinking about it, though it's been a while since I read it, how the roommate is really polished on the outside, but is really dirty and nasty when you see the "real" him in his room. The same is true for us and our sin. We can scrub it up, but without Jesus, we are Filthy McNasty on the inside. Just some thoughts.
i am so proud. The classics are great, I'm glad you ventured into a new genre. Besides, they are classics, they have to be good. People say so.
I have to read this book. I still haven't...even though after watching Conspiracy Theory, I swore to read it the very next day. That was about 7 years ago. Man I'm not good on the follow through.
i wish i had more to say about the book, but my roomate took it back after i hadnt finished it after months of borrowing it. i'm an english major who sometimes sucks at reading. but what i did get to was great. go figure. thanks for the comment on the photo. it made me laugh, cuz i'm pretty sure you worded it differently when commenting to laura. anyway. i appreciate your friendship and encouragement to my dear piso-mate while we're over here in espana.
dang it. discount the part about what you said to laura. i got you confused with another person who commented to her about the people's butts. clearly you have a much more developed artistic taste :)
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