book: catcher in the rye

I read this one last Saturday night instead of going to sleep, which I really should of done, because we began 8:30am church the next day. (You read that right - 8:30AM!)

I kept telling myself, one more chapter, then stop, especially since I still had to write in my journal, read my scriptures and all those good things.

I've never really had much self control when it comes to reading. The only divisions in books that I'll possibly respect are books within the book, or the last page.

I had never read this book before, though I did recognize the title as a book that I probably should read at least once in my life. I think, having read it, I would like to reread it at some laster date, so perhaps I can find what the book was really all about.

But, there were some themes that I could definitely relate to, the biggest of which was to not be a phony.

It would be an interesting exercise to count the number of times Holden Caulfield says the word phony.

He has a good point, though. But there are times when we are all phonies, but if we could limit the time when acting so, life we would be much more pleasant and enjoyable.

Also, I really really dislike swearing. I've been inundated by foul language from every quarter, and nothing's Sacred. I was grateful that Holden at least didn't use F***. He had at least some class, going even so far as to remove it from walls at his old/his sister's current school.

I loved how the book didn't try to tie everything up - sometimes I like the neat tidy endings, but I think in this case it didn't need one. We know he has learned a lot about the world, and we know that he could very easily succeed in whatever he put his mind to - the question is if he will allow himself to do that, to begin to live again. I hope he does, for Allie's sake, and for his sake.

You know that for as messed up and depressed as he is, all he really wants to do is to help others. We learn this through his misquoting of the Burn's Poem. I read the Burns poem and didn't see what it had to do with the narrative, and I'm thinking nothing - it was the visual image he liked. Standing on the edge of a cliff, ready to catch any poor kid who come charging through the rye, not knowing about the cliff.

I read some wiki analyses of the book, and how at times he was the catcher, but he and his sister change roles, etc etc. I don't know if I agree with them, but I can't really remember what I thought, knowing that is was influenced by the other perspective as soon as I read it. Silly wikipedia. I really should stay away sometimes.