I read this a few years back and was "yeah, alright" about it. Not a huge fan but not ripping the book in two either. Since teaching at my current school, I've taught it twice already and have developed a real admiration for Salinger's use of symbolism and characterisation. The book describes a sarcastic, alienated teenage boy and a weekend he spends in New York after being kicked out of his fourth private school. He's a loner who's desperate for human connection at the same time and the way Salinger traces his unravelling mental state is really really clever. There's more to find each time I read it and I love that.
I hate to say it, but I really disliked this book. I have no idea why it's considered such a classic, because all it did was annoy me no end. I know everyone has an opinion, and I'm obviously different to a lot of others, I just couldn't get into this and had no affinity for either the story or the characters. *sigh* I kept waiting for something to happen...
ReplyDeleteI think that's why it's such a classic with teenagers. :) On my first read, I was driven insane by Holden's narration too. It's really a classic because of its breaking of all the traditional narrative conventions and the way that it steered American literature away from the British norms. I can appreciate the symbolism and "cleverness" of the writing, but that said, I don't think it's one of those books you can love on first reading unless you can really identify with Holden in some way.
ReplyDeleteI do remember thinking that maybe teenagers would "get it" in a way that I didn't - I remember being repetitive back then *grin* I was more frustrated because of the stuff he left out - details about what was actually happening in the bigger picture!
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