The Catcher In The Rye
I couldn't sleep last night: this is despite the fact that I went to bed earlier than I have in years (since High School at least), and so, after tossing around for about an hour, giving up at 1.00AM when I realised I was irrevocably wide awake, I got to work reading a copy of The Catcher In The Rye that I had bought on Saturday afternoon.
Now, I studied English Literature at Uni and to everyone's chagrin (well, to Erin's anyway) I somehow managed to get through the degree without reading anything by Salinger. I did read a lot of Faulkner, however, if that is any consolation. But, I think my 'modern lit' Prof must have had a prejudice against Salinger. He really wanted everything modern to be postmodern, I think. At least, in hindsight, I recognise that all of the literature of the so-called modern period that he had us reading, was really stuff that was only marginally modernist, and by that I mean he had a penchant for the strange, the bizarre, the stuff that was pure stream of consciousness and non-linear. I think one of his favourite novels was Nightwood, for example. Some would argue that that kind of stuff is the best example of Modern lit., but what would I know, it's 6.30am for goodness sake.
Besides, we're all a bunch of snobs in Australia and really try very hard not to read anything written by Americans. Unless it is British, or Colonial (and yes, that includes Canada), or European, we look down our noses at it. Having said that, Faulkner is excused, and some of us will even allow Moby Dick to make it onto a list of 'Classics'. I think it one of the best novels ever written (far better than Eliot's Middlemarch which I have heard described more than once as the 'best example of the novel ever composed in the English language'. I think they only say that because it was written by a woman pretending to be a man, back in the day when women weren't supposed to do things like write.)
All that to say, I started reading The Catcher at 1am, and at 5am when I had finished it, I closed the book and I wondered what all the fuss was about. I then figured that 5am was not the time to make any kind of literary judgments.
***
It's now 7am, I have had a cup of coffee and have firmly decided that I prefer Franny and Zoey, which Erin loaned to me a few months back. Ever since then I have been madly reciting the Jesus Prayer.
What do you lurkers think? Which of Salinger's novels do you prefer?
Now, I studied English Literature at Uni and to everyone's chagrin (well, to Erin's anyway) I somehow managed to get through the degree without reading anything by Salinger. I did read a lot of Faulkner, however, if that is any consolation. But, I think my 'modern lit' Prof must have had a prejudice against Salinger. He really wanted everything modern to be postmodern, I think. At least, in hindsight, I recognise that all of the literature of the so-called modern period that he had us reading, was really stuff that was only marginally modernist, and by that I mean he had a penchant for the strange, the bizarre, the stuff that was pure stream of consciousness and non-linear. I think one of his favourite novels was Nightwood, for example. Some would argue that that kind of stuff is the best example of Modern lit., but what would I know, it's 6.30am for goodness sake.
Besides, we're all a bunch of snobs in Australia and really try very hard not to read anything written by Americans. Unless it is British, or Colonial (and yes, that includes Canada), or European, we look down our noses at it. Having said that, Faulkner is excused, and some of us will even allow Moby Dick to make it onto a list of 'Classics'. I think it one of the best novels ever written (far better than Eliot's Middlemarch which I have heard described more than once as the 'best example of the novel ever composed in the English language'. I think they only say that because it was written by a woman pretending to be a man, back in the day when women weren't supposed to do things like write.)
All that to say, I started reading The Catcher at 1am, and at 5am when I had finished it, I closed the book and I wondered what all the fuss was about. I then figured that 5am was not the time to make any kind of literary judgments.
***
It's now 7am, I have had a cup of coffee and have firmly decided that I prefer Franny and Zoey, which Erin loaned to me a few months back. Ever since then I have been madly reciting the Jesus Prayer.
What do you lurkers think? Which of Salinger's novels do you prefer?
4 Comments:
I couldn't agree more about Moby Dick -- I reckon you could make a good case for saying that it's the best novel ever written. It's definitely my own favourite novel.
I am totally not a lit major. I didn't even know that Salinger had other novels. I read Catcher in the Rye back in high school, and never thought it was anything incredible.
Somehow I made it through high school without ever reading Lord of the Flies - I caught up on that by reading it during one of my more boring lectures at UBC.
Another exapmle of a woman putting her in the place of a man would be My antonia which like you said was odd for women to write in that time soo they make it more "manly"
Catcher in the rye is an excellent example of the troubled teen today. I absolutely loved how salinger wrote how he spoke. It makes so much more sence
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