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Life Saab Itch
Original Poster
34,076 posts
57 months
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Sooo...... Possibly THE marmite book. Personally, I think it's a book about a whiney little b  h being a whiney little b h, getting told he's a whiney little b hby people that are annoyed that he is being a whiney little b h, until he's told to stop being a whiney little b h by his Dad who sent him to a military school. What makes this book a life-changing book for some people? Why the high regard? I didn't even think it was particularly well written (once I'd gotten over how crap the main character is). Your thoughts...please.
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coppice
618 posts
13 months
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Bit like The Smiths- you felt this book was about you- or if not you personally then somebody you were at school with.
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K12beano
14,389 posts
144 months
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Yup. Thought it would be a book I'd really like... Up there with Kerouac and Pirsig maybe. But just a pile of utter tosh. Just made me cross when Humphrys championed it as a "classic" the other year in one of those fairly pointless lists of best books....
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Ayahuasca
16,059 posts
148 months
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It achieved notoriety when the guy who murdered John lennon claimed that it was his inspiration.
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davepoth
19,925 posts
68 months
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If you read it at 18, it works much better. I think that was kind of the idea.
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AM04ARO
2,718 posts
84 months
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I think it is a good book. A bit like being anti establishment for a year or two with the main character doing what you could do if you have the guts.
I thought I would read this and 'To kill a mockingbird' which was the better book.
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rehab71
1,081 posts
59 months
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I couldn't stand Holdan, he's f king annoying. Love The Smiths though ;o)
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KaraK
10,616 posts
78 months
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I'm with LSI.. I thought it was dire.
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TwigtheWonderkid
6,065 posts
19 months
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knotweed
1,502 posts
45 months
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Worst book I've ever read.
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Justin Cyder
6,143 posts
18 months
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I couldn't see what would inspire someone to murder because of it. Didn't the guy who shot Reagan cite it as well?
TKAMB is a far superior work of art. That book shone a light on a persistent injustice. CITR is essentially a rite of passage pulpy load of old rot that I gather rather reflects it's author.
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davepoth
19,925 posts
68 months
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Justin Cyder said: TKAMB is a far superior work of art. That book shone a light on a persistent injustice. CITR is essentially a rite of passage pulpy load of old rot that I gather rather reflects it's author. I looked at it from a step back. I wonder whether the very self absorption and obnoxiousness of youth to adults is the point of the novel that Salinger was trying to get across. If you are 18 you have a completely different experience with the book than if you are 28; he spends the whole book whining about how nobody understands him. A late teen reader says "I totally get that", an adult throws the book across the room and screams "MTFU you pathetic little git". It's been a while since I've read it though, and I'm loathe to give it another go as I'm too old to like it now. 
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Justin Cyder
6,143 posts
18 months
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Well, I did read it when I was 20. To be honest, that was more than twenty years ago now. I've never felt the desire to go back to it, but I have re read TKAMB twice since then. Although the perspective of age is a fair point Dave.
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blueg33
10,730 posts
93 months
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I like it. One of my favourite books of all time.
At first it does seem like whiney drivel, but when you look into it you see the complexities in the character caused by the events in his life, and can get a feel for how he becomes self destructive and why others relate to him in the way they do.
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KaraK
10,616 posts
78 months
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Justin Cyder said: I couldn't see what would inspire someone to murder because of it. Didn't the guy who shot Reagan cite it as well?
TKAMB is a far superior work of art. That book shone a light on a persistent injustice. CITR is essentially a rite of passage pulpy load of old rot that I gather rather reflects it's author. To be fair after reading it I was feeling pretty homicidal as well  Characters that you don't like can make good reading but they need to be well written and IMO Holden isn't. Were it not for all the controversy around the book in the early 60s I doubt anyone would give a flying fig about it now. It's become one of those books that a lot of people say is great because they think they are expected to.
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blueg33
10,730 posts
93 months
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KaraK said: To be fair after reading it I was feeling pretty homicidal as well Characters that you don't like can make good reading but they need to be well written and IMO Holden isn't. Were it not for all the controversy around the book in the early 60s I doubt anyone would give a flying fig about it now. It's become one of those books that a lot of people say is great because they think they are expected to. Blue junior (age 17) is very much into literature, reading etc. He had never heard of Catcher in the Rye, he found it on my bookshelf and read it with no prompting from anyone. He really rates it, its up there with his favourites: The Hunger Artist - Kafka and 1984 - Orwell.
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HRL
126 posts
88 months
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I made a point of reading it last year because I had a copy of it and never had.
Utter drivel as far as I'm concerned, though I have just turned nearer 40 than 30. To Kill A Mocking Bird is on my Todo list still.
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TwigtheWonderkid
6,065 posts
19 months
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knotweed said: Worst book I've ever read. Try Turn Of The Screw, that's far worse.
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KaraK
10,616 posts
78 months
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blueg33 said: KaraK said: To be fair after reading it I was feeling pretty homicidal as well Characters that you don't like can make good reading but they need to be well written and IMO Holden isn't. Were it not for all the controversy around the book in the early 60s I doubt anyone would give a flying fig about it now. It's become one of those books that a lot of people say is great because they think they are expected to. Blue junior (age 17) is very much into literature, reading etc. He had never heard of Catcher in the Rye, he found it on my bookshelf and read it with no prompting from anyone. He really rates it, its up there with his favourites: The Hunger Artist - Kafka and 1984 - Orwell. Life would be boring if we all liked the same things  I suppose what really gets me about Catcher is the sacred cow status it has in some quarters. I've been been accused of trolling elsewhere for daring to express a low opinion of it.
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SpeckledJim
6,397 posts
122 months
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AM04ARO said: I think it is a good book. A bit like being anti establishment for a year or two with the main character doing what you could do if you have the guts.
I thought I would read this and 'To kill a mockingbird' which was the better book. I hated it, but love TKAM. "What would Atticus do?" is a good rule for life.
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