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/lit/ - Literature

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File: 46 KB, 395x600, catcher-in-the-rye1.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
1328087 No.1328087 [Reply] [Original]

In the simplest possible terms, please explain to me why this book is so popular and important?

I've read it 3 times and I still don't get it.

>> No.1328098

Nobody really thinks it's all that good, but they have to act like it because everyone else does. They're all a bunch of goddamn phonies.

>> No.1328105

>>1328098
lol

>> No.1328111

It's entertaining and well-written. That's about it...

>> No.1328123

it's hilarious & pretty emotional. i cried reading it.

let's put it this way - its better than dorian gray & other overrated books.

Also Holden is a such a bro even though he kisses girls & drinks & smokes.

>> No.1328136

>>1328123

>Am I trolling yet, guys?

>> No.1328144
File: 25 KB, 343x420, salinger.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
1328144

I think the whole thing was a social experiment by Salinger.
He was trying to make an utterly pointless novel which people would read way too deeply into and praise for its ingenuity when it's boring and Holden is unlikeable in most every respect.
The only reason I think people like it is because it's a picture of teenage angst in a psuedo elegant (read: vintage) frame that's easy to read and thus easily relateable.
I don't like it very much at all.

>> No.1328147

>>1328144

Nah. Salinger thinks he is awesome. He probably considered it the greatest thing man had every accomplished.

>> No.1328148

>>1328136
of course there's a minority on /lit/ that think holden is 'emo' & a 'hypocrite' yet can't back this up. i think it's just the insecurity that comes from seeing part of themselves in the 'phonies' Holden describes.

>> No.1328150

>>1328148

Fuckin' racist.

>> No.1328152

>>1328147
Salinger's dead and spent the majority of his life avoiding media attention and interviews. How would you know how he feels?

>> No.1328156

>>1328152
>spent the majority of his life avoiding media attention and interviews
avoiding 'phonies'???
i think it's very one-dimensional to dismiss holden as an 'emo' or 'whiny'.

>> No.1328159

>>1328152

He is the original hipster douche. You don't need an interview to know that someone is a self aggrandizing twat, more worried about his image, than art.

>"Oh, some people don't like my retarded faggot books, I'm going to hide in the woods the rest of my life, bahooohoooohoooooooo

>> No.1328160
File: 219 KB, 500x492, N_wat1.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
1328160

>>1328144
>most authors "subconscious" efforts

>> No.1328162

>>1328156

What do you view Holden as, then?

>> No.1328163

Of course, because unless a book is complex and incomprehensible you pricks can't prove to everyone how smart you are.

Clearly beauty in simplicity is lost on you.

>> No.1328168

>>1328144

nothing says 2deep4u like catcher in the rye haters

also, your theory is preposterous.

>> No.1328167

>>1328098
This. And the first person who was cool for liking it was J.D. Salinger himself

>> No.1328165

>>1328163

I can't tell if you are serious or not. If you are, you are beyond retarded if you think there is anything "beautiful" in this bullshit claptrap.

>> No.1328169

>>1328159
The entire time he was holed up in his cabin avoiding the world, he was writing purely for art's sake. He is the perfect writer: scribbling because he has a need to get stories, plots, and characters committed to paper. Salinger didn't want awards, accolades, or even a high-five. He just wanted to write without interruption and distraction.

>> No.1328170

>>1328168

>preposterous

Hipster talk. Nobody but a pretentious hipster would use a word like preposterous on 4chan.

>> No.1328174

>>1328169

Whilst getting all kinds of attention for being such a deep, sensitive soul, unlike all the other sellouts and phonies, right?

Hipster, emo trash.

>> No.1328176
File: 46 KB, 376x401, Holden.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
1328176

Look at this pic, imagine that one of the people in the pic is the main character of the book.

Done? Good, now you don't have to read the book. It's the way Holden things, just like it's the way every single angsty teenager thinks. That's why it's popular.

In short:
Omg Holden and I are liek soulmatezz xD Wake up SHEEPLE I'm the only one who's not a phony in this world xD

That's all there is to it.

>> No.1328177

>>1328156
Wait, you were actually serious with this:

>>1328123
???????????????????????????????????

>> No.1328180

>>1328162
idk i dont think he resembles any one thing in particular. he's funny but also sensitive i guess. but also he obviously deals with the death of his brother in an indirect way as he seems to have alot of anger at some things.

>> No.1328182

>>1328176
But Holden himself is the phoniest of all of them. He lies constantly and creates false identities for himself, also he winds up in an insane asylum at the end. Clearly Salinger was aware that Holden is an unreliable narrator.
The book, I think, is more self-concious then you get.
Perhaps, 2deep4u

>> No.1328185

>>1328174
Do you think he was sending orders to critics, universities, and media outlets saying, "Please don't tell anyone about this, but I am a deep sensitive soul and need people to know that. Write lots of articles about my brilliance."

No. He sat around his house and wrote, because that's what writers do. The rat race of publishing, criticism, press junkets and best-seller lists didn't interest him so he wrote for himself.

>> No.1328186

Has anyone read Salinger's short stories? I've heard they're good.

>> No.1328187

>>1328177
of course i was serious.

>>1328174
0/10.

>>1328176
no holden judges people for their 'phoniness'. that doesn't mean he doesnt think that he doesnt do any phony things, he admits that he does. just not as much & at times he does it just to go with the flow.

>> No.1328190

>>1328187
That doesn't change the fact he's an unreliable narrator and has psychological problems. In fact, in my analysis, I was defending Salinger as being aware of the protagonist's faults. I don't think you understand the concept of an unreliable narrator.

Mind you, Catcher in the Rye is far from my favorite book, but I don't side with people who dismiss it as trash, either.

>> No.1328191

>>1328187

shut the fuck up already

>> No.1328192

>>1328176

>mfw angsty teenagers attempt to distance themselves from and display their superiority to other angsty teenagers via edgy "down to earth"edness and holden caulfield hate while at the same time being fucking clueless naive little shits who completely miss the point of this book

>> No.1328195

>>1328186
Nine stories was good. "For Esme with Love and Squalor" impressed me and sort of depressed me. "The Laughing Man" ruined my day and I still think about it all the time.

Salinger was obsessed with children, childhood, innocence, and the moments that scar a young person forever. If you get a chance, find Nine Stories and give it a read.

>> No.1328196

>>1328187
Read that pic again and you might get my point.

He considers himself to have the moral higher ground and only doing phony things less often, but he's incorrect because he's a childish angsty emo prick who thinks he's more worth than all of the other phonies, despite having no right to claim such a thing.

So, to answer OP's question, the book is popular because the main character is an angsty emo prick who thinks he's better than everyone else. This is exactly what all immature angsty emo teenagers think, so it's popular because they can like SO TOTALLY relate to him xD eksDEE

>> No.1328199

>>1328196
There are two types of teenagers:

The first type identifies with Holden.

The second type feels morally superior to Holden. They are like Holden but do not recognize it.

>> No.1328200

>>1328192
1) The topic of the thread was why the book was popular. It's popular because angsty teenage faggots relate to Holden. Oh, and because it's old.

2) You have no way to objectively show that your interpretation of the book's point is the correct one, so your claim doesn't mean shit. :)

>> No.1328208

>>1328192

>mfw it is YOU who is the teenager angsting up the place.

>> No.1328211

>>1328195

Yeah, he was a pedophile. He kept himself hidden away so that people would not catch him as he raped and murdered children.

>> No.1328214

>>1328190
he is an unreliable narrator but i dont think you can use that as evidence that he is worse/less thoughtful/whatever than the people he complains about. also he's in no way 'emo' in fact he seems a bit reluctant to complain about his problems to people in the book.

>>1328196
>moral high ground
i dont think he ever considers this. his gripe is that in-genuine stuff fucking annoys him. i actually think he feels he is a bit worthless due to his school problems, so its that sort of stuff he would judge people's 'worth' on, not their phoniness. the phoniness thing is just something he wants to avoid in his personal relationships because he finds it annoying.

>> No.1328227

>>1328200

>he thinks he has original groundbreaking insight into psychology & catcher love via "glassy automations" pic and accusations of fellow 13 year olds' "angst" and "emo"ness

>talks about "subjectivity" like any1 even gives a shit

>> No.1328237

>>1328214

>also he's in no way 'emo' in fact he seems a bit reluctant to complain about his problems to people in the book

He does nothing but spend a couple hundred pages feeling sorry for himself and his OH SO TERRIBLE life while believing he is superior to all the phonies and automatons.

He is the definition of 'emo'

>> No.1328246

>>1328227

>types "any1" instead of just taking the extra millisecond it takes to hit two more keys that would make it an actual word.

We're not on fucking facebook, faggot. stop using text speech bullshit like some barely literate kid.

>> No.1328248
File: 22 KB, 281x280, 1290969620253.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
1328248

>Catcher in the Rye thread on /lit/
>always seems to invoke arguments
>OP is a faggot

everyonesgettingtrolled.png

>> No.1328249
File: 40 KB, 539x384, 1287796585013.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
1328249

>>1328191
>>1328192

I quite enjoy how /lit/ will turn to the pathetic responses common to crap like youtube when trying to retaliate or show their disagreement with someone else. It is quite the classy move to turn to derogatory words when there are no other words in your vocabulary capable of expressing your emotions (/sarcasm).

>> No.1328253

>>1328214
I never made the claim that he is:
> worse/less thoughtful/whatever than the people he complains about
or
> 'emo'

You started arguing with me even though I was defending the value of the book... I don't think you understand what I was responding to. Look at my original comment and who I was responding to.

>> No.1328254

>read CitR and related to the kid
>never was phony about anything, or at least tried my best not to be
>disovered that this resulted in FAR less pussy
>became a PUA
>mfw
>mfw I have no face

fuck that kid

>> No.1328255

>>1328227
I never claimed I had any original or groundbreaking idea regarding psychology, and even if I did me using that pic would remove any of the originality from the idea.

I just put it as simply as I could so that even someone like you would get what I was getting at, but I guess I underestimated your stupidity.


For the record, you're the one who brought up the subject of the book having a point, as in one single interpretation.

I pointed out that you're wrong. You probably should leave this board and spend some time improving your reading comprehension (and overall thinking).

>> No.1328258

The main message that I got out of the book was that Holden was looking for contact with the outside world, but that nobody wanted to talk with him. All he wanted and needed was a conversation, but he was hesitant to talk with the girl he was interested in, and everybody else expressed distaste at his ideas. A typical atypical teenager. I enjoyed reading the book.

>> No.1328266

>>1328249

>herpa derpa talk about classy on 4chan

You must be new around here. This is not a place for that shit. This is a place for people to engage in pure discussion, free from the pretensions and politeness that plague traditional discourse and get in the way of the effective communication of one's ideas.

>> No.1328271

>>1328237
>He does nothing but spend a couple hundred pages feeling sorry for himself
nope. he doesnt talk about his childhood & you dont find out about allie's death for a while into it.

he never complains to anyone in it, fact. he's even embarassed to cry with his little sister. he does complain about people that get on his nerves though, i dont see how thats emo.

he never says nor implies anyone resembles an 'automaton' you're projecting this emo thing onto him completely. the phonie thing he complains about is true though, despite the extent of his own phoniness being blurred by his inaccuracies in narrating. Because you would expect someone with issues like his to be more sensitive to being 'phony', wouldn't you?

I think Salinger's only obvious criticism of Holden is his hatred, as evidenced from when his sister asks him to name something he enjoys. he's too bothered by other's negativity to answer it.

>> No.1328275

The main character was an annoying piece of shit. Needs to stop complaining every three sentences.

>> No.1328276

>>1328271

You don't know what 'emo' means. stop trying.

Fucking retarded nigger.

>> No.1328283

>>1328275
You just wrote two sentences and both were complaints. You are, therefore, also a piece of shit who needs to stop complaining.

>> No.1328284

>>1328253
you're responding to me, where i am responding to someone saying that Holden thinks he is better than everyone, which is untrue from what i can see.

>> No.1328288

>>1328283

You just complained about him complaining. Therefore you, too, are a piece of shit that needs to stop complaining.

>> No.1328307

I thought Catcher in the Rye was just another coming of age novel. It's observing somebody going through a change, like The Bell Jar and shit like that.

>> No.1328308

>>1328087
mandatory school curriculum. /thread

>> No.1328314

I READ THIS WHEN I WAS 15 AND STILL THOUGHT IT WAS WHINY EMO BULLSHIT

>> No.1328319

>>1328308
Wuthering Heights is featured in the high school curriculum & it's one of the best english novels.

>> No.1328327

>>1328314
See >>1328199. You are type two.

>> No.1328333

>>1328199
>types of
what's wrong with identifying with him?

>> No.1328348

I kinda liked it. Not loved, but didn't hate it ether.

But it really isn't popular in Europe, nether concidered important, so I didn't have any preconcieved oppinons before reading it. I'd probably hate it if I read it in my teens for class or as an assignement for some collage paper.

>> No.1328367

>>1328333
There's nothing wrong with it. I'm just pointing out that type two's are Holden, but don't realize it. Type ones are also Holden, but do realize it.

All teenagers are, to some degree, Holden Caufield.