Posted on 01/28/2010 11:47:09 AM PST by bs9021
Holden Caulfield Goes Home
Malcolm A. Kline, January 28, 2010
The writer who created the angst-ridden teenage hero of Catcher in the Rye has passed away at the age of 91. Teenagers in the six decades the novel has been in publication devoured the story, first as contraband, later as required reading.
None of his handful of books were filmed. The infamously reclusive Salinger resisted such offers from Hollywood producers and directors, many of whom he outlived....
(Excerpt) Read more at academia.org ...
No one to catch Phoebe.
Wherever he ends up, chances are he’ll think the others there are phonies.
People should read Catcher In The Rye when they’re 15 and still think angst is the sign of a sensitive genius and not a petulant brat. I tried it at 23, and it was already too late. Yawn.
How ironic that Accuracy in Academia fails to properly note that none of his handful of books was filmed.
Does anyone else think Salinger became a recluse because he got really, really lucky with a shallow novel that caused people to mistake him for a genius? Same reason Hemingway wrote all those stories about tough guys who don’t address their feelings. Because he was too superficial to draw full psychological portraits.
I had to read that stupid book in high school. The only thing noteworthy that I can recall is that it was sprinkled with the F-bomb. I guess some kids thought that was risque. Big deal.
Try again.
“Try again.”
What was noteworthy to you?
Hemmingway may not have had a broad emotional range, but he sure used the few he had. I think John Dos Passos said Heminway was the only man he’d met who truly hated his mother.
That f-word does appear in the book, and of course high school students seek it out to laugh about, but to say it's "sprinkled" implies it's all through the book, and wouldn't be right.
If that's all you got from the book, you probably should read it again or not comment on it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.