The Catcher in the Rye

[Iris]

I'm about to finish Salinger's iconic novel (it's the second time I read it) and I still don't get what all the fuss is about.
Two American friends saw me reading it some days ago and when they heard my opinion one of them said I didn't understand the real value of the book because I was not American and I didn't have it in my blood. The other one agreed with me. She said The Catcher in the Rye was overrated and simply because the author was a friend of Kennedy's. What do you think? or

[canyonff]

i've never read it, so i couldn't say. However, this reminds me of an article I wrote for my website a few years back about another "great" story. Personally, I've never read the War of the Worlds, but i found what I consider a MAJOR flaw in the movie version the second time I watched it. And basically... it ruined the movie for me.

If you've seen it, or want to check it out, the sceen inwhich Tim Robbins is droning on about the invasion and sort of narrates what has happened, is the main scene in question. Basically he states that the aliens "ride the lightning down to machines" "machines that were buried a million years ago." That right there made me think this: Why the hell would this vastly superior race of beings, in urgent need of a new home planet take the time to set up a military invasion then just stop and wait for 1,10,100,1000 or a million years? To me it's just stupid. It's like saying... "hey we need to conquer that unihabited land over there, let's put tanks, planes, guns, ships etc in place, then, when we're done, we'll do NOTHING, wait for some species to populate it, then start our war! All the while managing to avoid the same bacteria that will eventually kill us anyway! mwhahahaha"

Can you see the stupidity in that? Anyway, like I said, I never read the book, but if it's the same backstory, I don't want to either and can't see why anyone would make a big deal about a crappy story. Much like how you are with catcher in the rye.

[Elaina]

Well.......Catcher in the Rye - I don't know why but it is considered one of, I don't know how many, the best Novels ever written. It is reflective of the time and mostly deals with a young man and the troubles he gets into, and the people he meets..... I also do not see what the fuss is all about. We may be missing something.

As far as the War of the Worlds......don't get me started.

I always thought it was me, that I wasn't grasping the true meaning but it is nice to see/hear that I am not the only one.

Read on!!

Elaina

[Jane]

Like Elaina said... dont anyone get `us´ started...
I didn´t see The War of the Worlds movie but I can undersatnad why Canyonff found "a MAJOR flaw" in it. For me the novel was one of the novels I speed-read through without finding too many pages where I´m tempted to slow down.
I´m sure there might be people who will disagree with our view of the book but you know what they say " We are all entitled to our opinions". Right?
By the way, maybe I should read The Catcher In The Rye, I might get lucky and see what the " fuss is all about ".

[poli]

I think "Catcher in the Rye" is special. In order to understand it best you need to pay attention to the year it was written. I believe it was 1947.Prior to this book, the difficulties of growing up weren't often treated
in a serious manner.

Holden Caulfield was the disaffected youth trying to make sense of the
of his parent's world. He was a James Dean person before James Dean had a career. He was the long distance runner, the Billy Liar,The Rebel without a Cause, The Graduate. He was beat as in the beat generation even though he was not a beatnik. He was a prototype.

The author J.D. Salinger is of no relation to Pierre Salinger who was an
associate of John F. Kennedy. J.D. Salinger's fame predates Kennedy's
by about a decade. J. D. Salinger was reclusive and to my knowledge
did not have much dealings with politicos.

Poli

[Iris]

Wow! Your answer is inspiring! It almost makes one like the book...

[poli]

Iris,
It may not be the greatest American novel, but it's an important
timepiece. I think it underscores the enormous change that post-
ww2 western civilization experienced. History students should read it
at least in my very opinionated opinion.

Poli

[Elaina]

In that aspect, I agree. It is a classic and an important timepiece. And like I said before, it is a novel reflective of the time it was written.

It's interesting to see the different degrees of "trouble" a teen can get into and what the consequences were and are now. If anything it makes for good discussion.

Elaina

[Iris]

Thanks everybody for your input. So what would you say is the "greatest American novel" or "the greatest novel in the English language"?
I guess that's a tough one, but I'm looking forward to your answers.

[Elaina]

War & Peace?

Elaina

[Elaina]

Moby Dick?

David Copperfield?

Huckleberry Finn?

Little Women?

There are just too many to chose from. I am sure we all have our favorites.

Religious people may say its the Bible period!! Atheists will disagree.

Elaina

[sosia]

Pride & Prejudice!! (ops, it's english)
Tom Sawyer!!

[Iris]

I don't care if it's English. I love Pride and Prejudice. Good for you!

[poli]

Here's a way of making a methodical choice.
Review novels by decade. For example:
1910's/20's Magnificent Ambersons
20's 30's Great Gatsby
30's 40's For Whom the Bell Tolls
40's 50's Catcher and the Rye/On the Road
50's 60's Breakfast at Tiffany's
60's 70's Slaugherhouse Five
70's 80's Bright Lights Big City
80's 90's Bonfire of the Vanities
etc etc
Then do the same for British novels. From there you can compare and
contrast and come up with a personal favorite. No group of people will ever agree on what's the best--nor should they.

[Iris]

Great suggestion. I'll be reading The Great Gastby in May with my students. Next month it is East Wind, West Wind : one of my personal favourites.

[poli]

East Wind West Wind I never heard of it. What decade? Is it British or
American?

[Iris]

American. Written by Pearl S. Buck in 1930. Definitely worth reading.

[sosia]

I will try with East Wind West Wind, in spanish if posible.
Last time I read "De ratones y hombres"/"Of Mice and Men" (John Steinbeck)
and it was not bad, and short.
saludos

[Iris]

Tell me what you think once you've read it.

[canyonff]

just so you know War and Peace is a Russian novel, not American. Also it's actually two different books, although they are similar. The original story was altered after the first few years of publication by the author because he was unhappy with the ending. So he then reworked the story over three years and re-released it under the same name. The second version being translated into many languages.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_and_Peace