It was for the sake of our monthly book discussion club at High Park Library in Toronto, that I read this old chestnut. I can’t say I would have pulled it off the shelf, by just reading the back or the inside of the book jacket. Stories that have to do with the lives of young boys just don’t do anything for me - I don’t identify, I guess.
I’m no prude; I can’t say I was shocked at the language. The language that was used, depicted that of any young man in that era. The author over-used the God-damns and shits and pisses, I found, but I had to keep reminding myself that Holden was just that kind of kid.
He’s a character that a reader doesn’t forget in a long time. As the pages are turned, the reader can’t help but think - what makes this kid tick? He’s got a home, a family that seem to look after him by seeing that he gets good schooling. He has money; there’s the mention of the expensive coat that was stolen in the beginning of the story.
Holden is the kind of young person that the reader is so exasperated with, that more pages are turned in the hope that he might straighten out.
I particularly admired the way Salinger handled that story; the way he managed to show some kind sides to Holden’s nature, by way of thought and dialogue when he met with the two nuns and how he treated his kid sister. He managed to show how disillusioned Holden was with his life and it was only just starting.
Something else I admired about the way the author told the story, was that he did not dwell on the way Holden ended up in the hospital and he never did let the reader know why he was in there. The reader is left to assume that Holden made himself sick, by doing all that running around or that the boy simply cracked up.
I’ve seen the book described as one of the world’s best; I wouldn’t agree with that. I don’t think it’s the best thing ever written, but I do think it’s a good one. It’s one that I would recommend to an adult reader.
Young people? I frankly don’t think today’s young people would really identify with Holden. The hi-jinx that Holden gets up to in the story are nothing compared with what goes on today.
I tend to think that middle-aged people would enjoy the story more.
It’s a book that I’d read again.
Carly Svamvour:-)