0 reactions
Catcher in the Rye: Reflection, and Reading List for Holden
Based on the little public consciousness I had seen and heard about this book and Holden (mind you, not on this sub, which consistently discusses the merits of art that the general populace might not apply the necessary nuance to), I think I was expecting a different kind of book. Im pleasantly surprised about it.
Holden’s a bit of a twerp (don’t worry: empathy later). I found the first half of the book quite difficult to get through just because he was so irritating and repetitive in his tone and style of speaking — this did not suit my personal taste despite the benefit of it being so natural, so teenaged. The negativity stuck out as well. I didn’t hang my hat at that point, because I figured, this is a 16 year old boy: not someone a 26 year old lady naturally wants to hang out with, and also teenagers (16 year olds in particular I STG) are people that I’d generally be happy to avoid, and not because I think they’re terrible people but because that’s a HARD age. I hated myself at 16 and I was not kind to myself or others at 16 and I’m so glad I’m not who I was then — it’s inherently transient, at least, for most people.
Themes began to come together for me around halfway through. Holden’s negativity being one, his sensitivity being another, and the way they relate to each other being a third. Finally, this “fall” Mr. Antolini so wisely labelled later in the book.
Holden is not doing so well. That would be due to a combo of his being, again, a 16 year old, who are generally not good with either logical or emotional reasoning or understanding, along with the persistent wound of the death of his 11 year old brother, all made more profound with Holden’s sensitive temperament.
The sensitivity is something that really stuck out to me, and something I can relate to. I really think it’s what did him in, got him falling, and what’s done me in in the times where I felt the world was so worthless that I didn’t know what to do with myself. Holden feels things for others. I know he goes on and on about NOT feeling for quite a portion, but I think that’s evidently untrue. He feels for the underdogs, he notices the anxiety, the trembling lips and stuttering of the people around him, he understands people’s thoughts, he just chooses not to apply this understanding and empathy to situations he feels are “phoney,” which frankly are unnecessary anyways, at least sometimes, like the shows.
His fixation on “phoneys” was fascinating to me because I don’t think he’s wrong. He’s being annoying as hell frankly when he doesn’t shut up about the phoneys and how much they bug him, but he’s probably pretty accurate. I DO think people are mostly phoney, but I DON’T think that that’s an inherently bad thing: no body knows anything, and unfortunately, Holden is astute enough to notice that.
No body knows anything about themselves, how to behave, about other people, about the world, what to do about it. We’re ALL phoney, most of the time, and then you get those wonderful, earnest shining lights of genuine feeling and expression, like Phoebe, and I think we can all BE Phoebe at times, but I do think phoney-ness is baseline and expected. I think that’s the nature of humans and an uncertain, ridiculous life.
I understand why this phoney-ness weighs so heavily on Holden. Again, as Mr. Antolini pointed out, Holden has so much to learn about himself and the world. I can recall myself as a teenager (as if I don’t feel this way sometimes now) feeling so endlessly disgusted with the world and its people, so horrified at what we’ve done. So disgusted by the lies, hurt, anger, phoney-ness. Again, I still feel this sometimes, but now I have the benefit of 10 more years or experience. I read, I learned, I met folks of all types of backgrounds, I grew up, and I continue to try to be nuanced and balanced. People and the world are awful and also they are wonderful and that’s just the way it is and actually, you can choose what to focus on and what to allow to weigh you down.
When Holden focuses on the good, he is so sweet to listen to. The way Phoebe and Allie “just kill” him is so sweet. His voice changes when he talks about them.
If I take Mr. Antolini’s advice and run with it, here’s a reading list that I would suggest for Holden:
1. Behave: non-fiction, if Holden ends up being the type to like to read about neuroscience and evolution, this gives concrete context to why people act the way they do, and have, forever.
2. The Plague, Albert Camus: devastating, sad book. So much darkness. So much sadness. And also, light, and human connection and spirit and love. And darkness again, and then life goes on.
3. The Stranger, Albert Camus: can you guess my philosophic bias yet? When there’s no visible point and everything is stupid, keep going anyway, and find a way to make it not stupid to you.
4. Against Everything: Essays, Mark Greif: being honest in dishonest times.
5. Villette or Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë, OR Agnes Grey, Anne Brontë: any of these books that demonstrate painful life circumstances and PERSISTENCE and kindness.
6. Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoevsky: the folly of roiling in your suffering, feeling yourself special for feeling the terrible things you feel.
7. The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath: feeling lost and empty and useless happens. You’re never the only one.
8. Taras Bulba, Nikolai Gogol: there are hardly any phoneys here: instead, the brutality of genuine and vehement belief in a cause.
He could probably use some therapy too, though he mentioned a psychoanalyst a few times so hopefully that’s in order.
Coming back to transience: I think Holden needs to grow older and spend more time in the world, allowing attention on the beautiful parts of life just as much as the ugly. Hopefully with loving support, mind-enriching education, and connection with history and literature of the past that demonstrate the persistence of discomfort, this really will be just a phase.
What other books would you recommend for someone like Holden?
#entertainment
source
Based on the little public consciousness I had seen and heard about this book and Holden (mind you, not on this sub, which consistently discusses the merits of art that the general populace might not apply the necessary nuance to), I think I was expecting a different kind of book. Im pleasantly surprised about it.
Holden’s a bit of a twerp (don’t worry: empathy later). I found the first half of the book quite difficult to get through just because he was so irritating and repetitive in his tone and style of speaking — this did not suit my personal taste despite the benefit of it being so natural, so teenaged. The negativity stuck out as well. I didn’t hang my hat at that point, because I figured, this is a 16 year old boy: not someone a 26 year old lady naturally wants to hang out with, and also teenagers (16 year olds in particular I STG) are people that I’d generally be happy to avoid, and not because I think they’re terrible people but because that’s a HARD age. I hated myself at 16 and I was not kind to myself or others at 16 and I’m so glad I’m not who I was then — it’s inherently transient, at least, for most people.
Themes began to come together for me around halfway through. Holden’s negativity being one, his sensitivity being another, and the way they relate to each other being a third. Finally, this “fall” Mr. Antolini so wisely labelled later in the book.
Holden is not doing so well. That would be due to a combo of his being, again, a 16 year old, who are generally not good with either logical or emotional reasoning or understanding, along with the persistent wound of the death of his 11 year old brother, all made more profound with Holden’s sensitive temperament.
The sensitivity is something that really stuck out to me, and something I can relate to. I really think it’s what did him in, got him falling, and what’s done me in in the times where I felt the world was so worthless that I didn’t know what to do with myself. Holden feels things for others. I know he goes on and on about NOT feeling for quite a portion, but I think that’s evidently untrue. He feels for the underdogs, he notices the anxiety, the trembling lips and stuttering of the people around him, he understands people’s thoughts, he just chooses not to apply this understanding and empathy to situations he feels are “phoney,” which frankly are unnecessary anyways, at least sometimes, like the shows.
His fixation on “phoneys” was fascinating to me because I don’t think he’s wrong. He’s being annoying as hell frankly when he doesn’t shut up about the phoneys and how much they bug him, but he’s probably pretty accurate. I DO think people are mostly phoney, but I DON’T think that that’s an inherently bad thing: no body knows anything, and unfortunately, Holden is astute enough to notice that.
No body knows anything about themselves, how to behave, about other people, about the world, what to do about it. We’re ALL phoney, most of the time, and then you get those wonderful, earnest shining lights of genuine feeling and expression, like Phoebe, and I think we can all BE Phoebe at times, but I do think phoney-ness is baseline and expected. I think that’s the nature of humans and an uncertain, ridiculous life.
I understand why this phoney-ness weighs so heavily on Holden. Again, as Mr. Antolini pointed out, Holden has so much to learn about himself and the world. I can recall myself as a teenager (as if I don’t feel this way sometimes now) feeling so endlessly disgusted with the world and its people, so horrified at what we’ve done. So disgusted by the lies, hurt, anger, phoney-ness. Again, I still feel this sometimes, but now I have the benefit of 10 more years or experience. I read, I learned, I met folks of all types of backgrounds, I grew up, and I continue to try to be nuanced and balanced. People and the world are awful and also they are wonderful and that’s just the way it is and actually, you can choose what to focus on and what to allow to weigh you down.
When Holden focuses on the good, he is so sweet to listen to. The way Phoebe and Allie “just kill” him is so sweet. His voice changes when he talks about them.
If I take Mr. Antolini’s advice and run with it, here’s a reading list that I would suggest for Holden:
1. Behave: non-fiction, if Holden ends up being the type to like to read about neuroscience and evolution, this gives concrete context to why people act the way they do, and have, forever.
2. The Plague, Albert Camus: devastating, sad book. So much darkness. So much sadness. And also, light, and human connection and spirit and love. And darkness again, and then life goes on.
3. The Stranger, Albert Camus: can you guess my philosophic bias yet? When there’s no visible point and everything is stupid, keep going anyway, and find a way to make it not stupid to you.
4. Against Everything: Essays, Mark Greif: being honest in dishonest times.
5. Villette or Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë, OR Agnes Grey, Anne Brontë: any of these books that demonstrate painful life circumstances and PERSISTENCE and kindness.
6. Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoevsky: the folly of roiling in your suffering, feeling yourself special for feeling the terrible things you feel.
7. The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath: feeling lost and empty and useless happens. You’re never the only one.
8. Taras Bulba, Nikolai Gogol: there are hardly any phoneys here: instead, the brutality of genuine and vehement belief in a cause.
He could probably use some therapy too, though he mentioned a psychoanalyst a few times so hopefully that’s in order.
Coming back to transience: I think Holden needs to grow older and spend more time in the world, allowing attention on the beautiful parts of life just as much as the ugly. Hopefully with loving support, mind-enriching education, and connection with history and literature of the past that demonstrate the persistence of discomfort, this really will be just a phase.
What other books would you recommend for someone like Holden?
#entertainment
source
| 13,000 mlx | |
| 20 | |
| 0 |