Catcher in the Rye -- Yeah It's a Classic but ...

My current Great Course is Great American Bestsellers: The Books that Shaped America.  It's been very interesting, and when I complete it, I will discuss the course in its entirety, but for today I just wanted to discuss one of the books it covers.

Title: The Catcher in the Rye
Author: JD Salinger

A few years ago, when I was in a mood to read "classics" or "important books" I picked up The Catcher in the Rye and got through it.

I didn't like it.

I knew I was supposed to think it was a great piece of literature.  But honestly, I was more than a little bored.  I was extremely frustrated with the Holden Caulfield character.  And since the story was entirely about Caulfield, since I was placed by the first-person narrative into the mind of this whiny, presumptuous, ungrateful teenager, I just didn't get the point.

Hey, I know people who don't think Shakespeare was all that good a writer.  They are wrong.  So I "knew" I was wrong about Catcher.  But I still didn't like it.


In Dr. Conn's lecture on the book, I gained an appreciation for what Salinger was trying to do.  This is why studying literature can be such a good thing.  I can see how, especially if I had been steeped in the culture of the time, I would have recognized its contents as "shocking."  I can now picture Holden Caulfield as a metaphoric figure for that stage many young people go through, when they are not certain what they want, but they don't think the adult world is very honest, and they'd rather stay a child, but they can't.

I am glad I was able to think more deeply, with more context, about this story.  It made me appreciate it more.  Thinking back, I recognize the excellent writing in those pages, and I see the messages I missed when I was reading it.

But honestly, I still don't think I liked it.

Appreciation does not equal affection, I guess.