“The Catcher in The Rye”
January 28, 2010
Hands down, “The Catcher in the Rye” is my favorite novel of all time.
It is the book that a special someone mailed to me from upper state New York so I could read it for the first time because he knew I’d love it. I loved it. I kept the copy safe and told everyone about it that would listen to my rambles. It is the book I loaned my boyfriend-at-the-time with the hopes that it’d touch him the way it touched me. And it is the book we had a HUGE fight over because, when things were said and done, he wouldn’t give it back to me. It is the book I had to replace. It is the book that made me smile when my sister told me she was naming her son “Holden.” It is the book that made me wonder how people could associate it with so many horrific things. It’s the book that made me really think outside of the box for the first time.
When the world would be changing in front of me and behind me and around me, I’d remember Holden talking about the museum and saying, “Certain things they should stay the way they are. You ought to be able to stick them in one of those big glass cases and just leave them alone. I know that’s impossible, but it’s too bad anyway.” I remember agreeing with him. I remember wanting to stick feelings and people and moments into those big glass cases.
I remember meeting certain people and thinking as Holden did: “I’m always saying ‘Glad to’ve met you’ to someone I’m not at all glad I met. If you want to stay alive, you have to say that stuff, though.” I remember smiling and saying “It’s so nice to meet you!” anyway.
But, it’s when Holden said, “What really knocks me out is a book, when you’re all done reading it, you wished the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it.“ Yeah, that’s when I knew that this book would always be on my bookshelf. No matter how many times I had to replace it.
Rest in Peace, J.D. Salinger. Thank you for Holden Caulfield and the 48 hours you let us look into the life that you created.
January 28, 2010 at 3:13 pm
“It’s the book that made me really think outside of the box for the first time.”
For me that was _The Stranger_ by Camus. I am fond of Salinger, though. I liked his short stories.
February 3, 2010 at 1:45 pm
I’ve read it a bunch of times, too. I love it more each time.