Catcher in the Rye not aging so well

[il Padrino Ute]

Is this someone I whose face or name I should be familiar with?

[beelzebabette]

Is this someone I whose face or name I should be familiar with?

IMO, no.

[creekster]

Backing up for a second here, I was just discussing with a friend in a grocery line over the weekend my complete disbelief of the whole Robert Pattinson thing. (He was on People's cover. Now love for Chace Crawford I can get on board with, but Robert Pattinson? I see nothing attractive there.

but he's so dreammy!

My daughter finds him quiiittttee attractive (She's 17). No offense, or anything, but maybe you are too, ummm, 'mature' to get his appeal?

[Babs]

No offense, or anything, but maybe you are too, ummm, 'mature' to get his appeal?

Well, I think it's increasingly clear that us women are indeed the mature ones around here.

[il Padrino Ute]

IMO, no.

Works for me.

My 16 year old daughter immediately recognized him when she saw the pic.

[RockyBalboa]

I don't understand why it's considered a classic to begin with.

I read it last Summer and with apologies to those who love it....sorry but that book was pure shit.

Many books that are classics I understand it and it makes sense.

I've read better stuff from a 8 year old dyslexic.

[il Padrino Ute]

I don't understand why it's considered a classic to begin with.

I read it last Summer and with apologies to those who love it....sorry but that book was pure shit.

Many books that are classics I understand it and it makes sense.

I've read better stuff from a 8 year old dyslexic.

I like the book, but I liked it a lot more when I first read it when I was in 9th grade.

[cowboy]

I don't understand why it's considered a classic to begin with.

I read it last Summer and with apologies to those who love it....sorry but that book was pure shit.

Many books that are classics I understand it and it makes sense.

I've read better stuff from a 8 year old dyslexic.

I'm with you there. I hated the book and I found it dark and depressing.

I'm the first to admit I'm an intellectual lightweight. I watch movies and read books to be entertained. I'm not opposed to a classic now and again, but I usually choose the ones with a happy ending. Tale of Two Cities and Grapes of Wrath are notable exceptions to my happy endings rule because I found both of those books fascinating from an historical perspective.

[Babs]

I'm with you there. I hated the book and I found it dark and depressing.

Wasn't *everything* they made us read in high school dark and depressing?

[Tim]

I found it dark and depressing.

Mission accomplished for the author.

[TripletDaddy]

There were many parts of TCITR that made me laugh out loud. I thought it was a really entertaining book. Although I agree with cowboy that it was a dark story.....it is a story of a disenfranchised, coming-of-age teen struggling to come to terms with his impending adulthood in a world that he doesn't understand....and btw, he is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. So yeah, there are going to be some dark themes there. But I found Holden's observations to be very funny.

[il Padrino Ute]

Wasn't *everything* they made us read in high school dark and depressing?

Pretty much so, with the exception being The Count of Monte Cristo. I really enjoyed the revenge aspect, though I would have had a few more fires.

[RockyBalboa]

I'm with you there. I hated the book and I found it dark and depressing.

I'm the first to admit I'm an intellectual lightweight. I watch movies and read books to be entertained. I'm not opposed to a classic now and again, but I usually choose the ones with a happy ending. Tale of Two Cities and Grapes of Wrath are notable exceptions to my happy endings rule because I found both of those books fascinating from an historical perspective.

I don't mind that's it dark and depressing, but I just didn't like it.

[wuapinmon]

I don't mind that's it dark and depressing, but I just didn't like it.

Rocky,

I understand where you're coming from.......whenever something exists that finds a wide audience, I'll ask myself why it's so popular. There are tons of reasons, though some are inexplicable (e.g., Pet Rock). The Catcher in the Rye was so popular because the author was able to encapsulate that feeling on angst that so many of us felt as Angry Young Men in a voice that was unique and poetic and damned-near lovable. The book was a touchstone with young people because of its message, and it was a hit with critics (and still is) because of the quality way the message was transmitted. So many novels make you feel nothing.....love it or hate it TCITR made you feel something, and that's more than we get from a lot of the stuff we read.

I read this book right before my mission and I was offended and disgusted, but the story has come back to me many times since, in ways that other books seldom do.

I was cracking up a couple of weeks ago when DDD totally had Hallelujah hooked that he was a blaspheming apostate because he was direct-quoting TCITR to him and Hallie had no idea, didn't catch on, and apparently wasn't curious enough to wonder how DDD was sending him such rapid responses, clearly not in his normal voice and tone.

http://www.cougaruteforum.com/showthread.php?t=5929

[SeattleUte]

None of us are aging that well, you big phony.

Speak for yourself. I'm in my prime, and I intend to remain there.