Tragically Hipster
Title: “The Catcher in the Rye”
Author: J.D. Salinger
Rank: 35
Blurb: “Holden’s voice is the most eloquent of all. Transcending his own vernacular, yet remaining marvelously faithful to it, he issues a perfectly articulated cry of mixed pain and pleasure. However, like most lovers and clowns and poets of the higher orders, he keeps most of the pain to, and for, himself. The pleasure he gives away, or sets aside, with all his heart. It is there for the reader who can handle it to keep.”
Review: “Holden Caulfield is one of the most pathetic and self-deluded characters in English-language fiction. He is, in his own wrecked way, as much a phony as any of the other characters upon whom he appends that label. Holden is everything he despises, despite his limited recognition of his own failings. For any reader to make the choice to happily identify with Holden Caulfield is to embrace in oneself the personification of foolishness. It is nothing less than gleefully claiming to be a phony.”
Customers Also Bought: Three dozen other books on their high school summer reading lists, and ten books about Jesus.
Footnote: Among Holden Caulfield’s more notable fans is Mark David Chapman, who was carrying a copy — inscribed “This is my statement” — when he shot John Lennon.
The Catcher in the Rye [Amazon]
Buy or Die [Stinque@Amazon Kickback Link]
Then we grow the fuck up.
As long as we leave some of the 12 year old alive so that we are able to sneak into Archie McPhee’s and get a six pack of Nunzillas™ for friends.
Cheers, weej
Aw, Manchu, I’m fond of Holden.
Then we threw the fuck up. I think that’s the first school book I read that had cursing (OMG!!) in it.
I have no idea what Franny and Zoey is about. Boring.
@Tommmcatt Can’t Believe He Ate The Whole Thing:
Holden is charming when one relives memories of childhood/teen years. It’s much less charming when you’re stuck living with a more immature Holden like my unlamented dipshit former housemate.
The one thing that Catcher in the Rye is correct about is that adulthood can be pretty shitty sometimes.
@Tommmcatt Can’t Believe He Ate The Whole Thing: Darling, no. You fondled Holden. Salinger wished he had.
@JNOV: They take a bath. Ew.
@ManchuCandidate: Classic closet case. See above.
@Benedick: By that logic I also fondled Pip from Great Expectations. I love me some Pip. I read it every year, always want things to turn out better for them both, and my heart is always broken.
“The thing is, it’s really hard to be roommates with people if your suitcases are much better than theirs – if yours are really good ones and theirs aren’t. You think if they’re intelligent and all, the other person, and have a good sense of humor, that they don’t give a damn whose suitcases are better, but they do. They really do. It’s one of the reasons why I roomed with a stupid bastard like Stradlater. At least his suitcases were as good as mine.”
The Catcher in the Rye
Holden Caulfield in Chapter 15
NOJO • TRUMP TARIFFS UNLEASHING FURY OF CANADIANS - AND THEIR LEGENDARY SNIPERS! @ManchuCandidate: So, can you guys annex us now?
MANCHUCANDIDATE • TRUMP TARIFFS UNLEASHING FURY OF CANADIANS - AND THEIR LEGENDARY SNIPERS! PP is done. 51st state, my ass.
NOJO • TRUMP TARIFFS UNLEASHING FURY OF CANADIANS - AND THEIR LEGENDARY SNIPERS! @FlyingChainSaw: No, but my government was.
FLYINGCHAINSAW • TRUMP TARIFFS UNLEASHING FURY OF CANADIANS - AND THEIR LEGENDARY SNIPERS! @nojo: Were you kidnapped?
NOJO • TRUMP TARIFFS UNLEASHING FURY OF CANADIANS - AND THEIR LEGENDARY SNIPERS! @FlyingChainSaw: I’ve spent the past five weeks looking like Astronaut Dave going through the…
FLYINGCHAINSAW • TRUMP TARIFFS UNLEASHING FURY OF CANADIANS - AND THEIR LEGENDARY SNIPERS! NOJO - HOW COME WE'RE NOT COVERING KRASNOV?
NOJO • The Reckoning Four years later: Uhhh, how’d that work out?
JNOV • Hanging by a Thread @nojo: yeah. I had a feeling you’d say that.
NOJO • Hanging by a Thread @JNOV: Haven’t touched a thing — checked it the other day, worked from here. But that’s my…
JNOV • Hanging by a Thread Oh! My edits worked! Praise nojo!