JD Salinger dead at 91

[invncble]

Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger is one of the best books anyone will read. I had to read this book in the summer before my Junior year in high school. After finishing the book, I threw it against the wall of my bedroom.

But it wasn't because I didn't like the book or saw "fuck for the first time in a book for an English class.

It was because the main character was a teenager named Holden Caulfield who made you think about what was real and phony during your teenage life. You start to reflect at all the dreams and facts that you accept without even blinking. You begin to realize how many lies were told to you.

Holden just wavers at adult-type decisions. He can't choose. He can't become an adult. That's what frustrated me.

I always thought it was easy to make "the right choice" but that was because it was always fed to me as a teenager. I thought that it should be easy for Holden to make these decisions. But I quickly realized through him that its not always easy to make such adult decisions. The world was more complicated than I realized. I had been fooled by others. That's what upset me.

It's not easy being a teenager. But some how most of us get through it. We learn to move on.


Oddly, such a comment seems appropriate for some furries out there. It's not easy growing up and leaving the comfort of the warm, safe, and fuzzy furry fandom. But you have to make those decisions. You have to grow up. Don't be a Holden Caulfield.

Comments

[snickershusky.livejournal.com]

Wow... I will definitely look into reading this book.

[earendil31.livejournal.com]

In my English class we got a choice.... coming-of-age (Catcher in the Rye) or mid-life crisis (The Great Gatsby). We chose mid-life crisis heh

[invncble.livejournal.com]

Gatsby is another classic. That'll be for all the graymuzzles. :)

[pounce-de-leon.livejournal.com]

Heh, I was always upset that our English class wouldn't recommend it. Still, as a librarian, I felt compelled to read it on my own. Plus, seeing "I thought what'd I'd do was become one of those deaf mutes." on the Laughing Man logo always made me curious. :-P

Haha, we should talk more often. I agree entirely about your last comment concerning the fandom. There is no positive from a life without growth and advancement.

[invncble.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, I've been lacking in my reading over the past 10 years or so. Luckily, I did fill up on the "classics" including modern ones during HS and college.

[tekfox.livejournal.com]

Wait, paper had been invented when you were in high school?

[direwolf23.livejournal.com]

I grew up while not doing so. Something else worth learning is the fallacy of false dichotomy. ;P

[abehusky.livejournal.com]

Never read it either. :p

I probably wouldn't have appreciated it at the time anyway. I'd usually just read the SparkNotes. XD