For what kind of reasons do people here not like Catcher in The Rye?
Is it just because Holden is a whiny shit?
>For what kind of reasons do people here not like Catcher in The Rye?
I'm curious where you got this conception because every time the book is discussed, this viewpoint gets lambasted as reddit
>Is it just because Holden is a whiny shit?
Yes, redditors cannot understand a protagonist who they aren't supposed to fully relate to/support
Also the most important part is when he rapes his sister, Phoebe
>>7418225
I got a boner when he raped his sister...
Am I pedo now?
>>7418200
I dont dislike it but i dont find it a good book.
>>7418225
I really liked it actually, but not everyone here likes it. Plus, and this isn't necessarily a bad thing, it is only a few steps away from YA Fiction.
Just curious to see what aspects of it people dislike.
>>7418235
Nope. Just patrician
>>7418225
>>7418235
>raped his sister
When the hell did this ever happen?
>>7418338
Seek out the Pinecone.
>>7418338
It's just a stupid meme.
It's not funny. It's not smart.
It's justforced
>>7418378
Feel left out? Can't understand? Goo goo ba ba? Wookie woo woo?
>>7418338
>Not reading the 1967 Corgi Unabridged version.
Maximum pleb.
>>7418378
>the 'he rapes his sister is just a meme' meme
I'm getting tired of posting the links to disprove this nonsense
>>7418386
>Wookie woo woo
what the shit
>>7418200
Yeah. Pretty much.
This book was the most YAest book of all time. Literally.
>>7418448
A highly leanéd allusion to the Wuwo zizaniae strain of yeast that is thought to be the cause of Down Syndrome.
>>7418425
>The 'he rapes his sister is just a meme, meme' meme
Does anyone actually believe this shit?
>>7418225
>a protagonist who they aren't supposed to fully relate to/support
this, really. most readers are introduced to this book either through school or as a teenager. this is likely the first book therefore that features a problematic or otherwise unrelatable protagonist for many of them, and surface-level literary critique taught by schools has bulldozed over the book's ability to have a reputation of its own.
by being part of the highschool canon (see also, of mice and men, to kill a mockingbird etc), there are simply too many people with opinions who have a voice in discussions such as this when they really should not.
holden is divisive because the majority of the people who read the book have been taught to trust the reliable narrator, identify with them, feel empathy and self-insert.
>>7418497
Do you know why it's a meme? There's an actual reason. An anon pointed out a shit ton of things that point to Holden raping Phoebe. It's not as insane as it sounds, stop being so butthurt. Look at the first line of chapter 3.
>>7418200
Because he's psychologically damaged? Which is the entire point of the damned thing?
>>7418512
He's also pretty funny, to be honest.
>>7418507
>Look at the first line of chapter 3.
>trying to trick me into reading CITR
nice try, senpai
>>7418499
This is bs, tho.
I read the book, maybe, half a dozen times before I turned 17, because I WAS a 'Le edgy 15 year old' and most of the people I've spoken to have the same view. To me Holden perfectly fit in with my worldview as a misunderstood upper middleclass teenager; in that everything around me was fake, and that growing up was life's shittest practice joke. Regardless of a shared warped worldview, Holden is still a relatable character. You can see his vonrablility and you can for sure tell that underneath it all, he's a good kid, who's heart is defiantly in the right place
>>7418527
Or he's a liar, which he tells us he is, says he is the best liar you'll ever lay eyes on. OR DID YOU FORGET.
>>7418527
you see, that's what i mean, you're like a sucker in an abusive relationship - you identify so strongly with this character that you have removed yourself from a position of critical authority. holden is a wonderful and complex character, but any proper discussion of citr is impossible because of this adolescent/highschool crossover.
(its okay i feel the same way anon)
>>7418507
This. Here are the links I usually post, one to the original discussion that started the 'meme' and another to an article that, despite some weird conspiracy theory motives, outlines all the sexualized imagery in the book wrt Phoebe and Holden
http://warosu.org/lit/thread/S4528424
http://postflaviana.org/a-pedophile-fantasy-in-the-rye/
>>7418527
The thing about the book is that it has an arc of reception:
>Patrician: Generally enjoys the book, as he understands Salinger's goals and doesn't think a protagonist must be relatable
>Pleb: Generally hates the book because he thinks Holden is 'the real phony' and 'an edgelord'
>Turbopleb: Generally enjoys the book, as he is so edgy he actually relates to Holden unironically
>>7418536
>tells people he's a compulsive liar
>expects people to believe him
>>7418558
Oh yeah thanks for that. That takes the thread I linked and turns it into a coherent 'interview'
>not ironically relating to Holden
>>7418549
>>implying every 15 year old isn't a turbo-pleb by default.
>>7418569
Or rape-y. Holden is proto Patrick Bateman.
>>7418536
What if lying (about shit that doesn't matter... which is what he actually says he does at the beginning of chapter 3) is a defense mechanism and Holden is extremely vulnerable? Does it not logically follow that a person who suffered a complete mental breakdown and required hospitalization after a series of menial failures might be vulnerable?
Holden Caufield =/= Patrick Bateman
>>7418715
'I'm the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life. It's awful.' And he gives the opera example and about the gym. Ok. Do you have any liars in your life? The kind that lie about shit that doesn't matter? They also lie about shit that DOES matter. And in my own experience, they are either Patrick Bateman-y OR actually went through a Patrick Bateman phase where they watched the movie a dozen times and missed the joke.I like the book AP as much as Catcher & I like them both a ton.
Anyway, his lying about 'shit that doesn't matter' doesn't mean it's a defense mechanism. At best he's an asshole. Poke around in the DSMV, it might give you another angle on this.
