J.D. Who?

[Sparky Kronkite]

Catcher In The Rye?

The Shebabe just finished it. She said it was a huge struggle. And she's the real writer in our partnership - Terp J School grad an all. She said at one point, "Fuck, this guy takes 15 fucking pages to describe a 10 minute walk down a New York street."

She did also say that the main character was a lot like me. Hmmmmmm?

Tonight I will try to read a few pages of it - right from in the middle - simply to access this fellow's writing abilities, which I'm sure are great. Hey, they must be - he's so lauded and all.

But my prejudice has formed - I will probably not like the idea of tackling this thing.

I guess that even though I'm at mid-life - I think like a younger, cable ready, 8 second soundbite, surfing the web dude. I'm spoiled.

And regarding this particular book, I doubt I will find anything to hold my interest for very long.

Literary feats of eloquent gymnastics - as beautiful as they may be so some or even to me - must hold "my attention." And if they can't - they can't. They are then worthless "to me." Let others who might appreciate such things - have them.

J.D. who?

Ah well - back to my Maxim magazine.

Any thoughts on this?

 

[Ambrosious]

Sparky

Maxim'x ok, Stuff is pretty cool. Penthouse and Hustler now show insertion. Woman's Day is for faggots, and women, of course. Cosmo give you insight to how a woman's mind works (mind you, I'm on the end of a 10 year subscription, and I still haven't learned anything).

What?

 

[Sparky Kronkite]

I'm really surprised that some of the Lit-heads....

have not tried to sway me on this.

I am swayable. Maybe they can point out - just how I might find this thing interesting.

Quick description: A head-case teenage kid - incarcerated in a nut house - flashes-back on an NYC binge, after he washes out of school and being to embarrassed to go home and face the music of his folks. He loves his sister though and he dreams of a non-real life saving kids from falling over a cliff.

There - the whole book in an under 50 word paragraph.

This dude Salinger - he must've been as nuts as the kid. So why is an eloquent nut so freaking great?

Because he nuts that's why.

 

[Purple Haze]

Ok, I'll bite.

Fiction bores me, I'll admit it. Of course it's forced on you in school and it should be. I lost interest in most books after two or three chapters. My mind wanders too much and next thing I know, I haven't absorbed the last three pages, because my own imagination has taken me away. I'll read anything else but Stephen King's two-page descriptions of a fingernail, thank you very much. Of course a well written erotic story holds my interest, but that's because I'm horny and perverted.

On the other hand, biographies, reference books, historical accounts, books about anything non-fictional, I can look at them all day. I love books.

I am obviously no expert on fiction or literature, but "The Catcher in the Rye" held my attention all the way through. It must be the narrative way it's written, but I highly recommend it.

Anybody actually read "Moby Dick" here?

 

[Pyper]

I have, I have! I love Herman Melville, but I could really do without the chapters full of detailed descriptions of spermiceti. I prefer his short stories like "Benito Cereno" and "Bartleby the Scrivener".

But back to "Catcher in the Rye". I read it when I was in junior high, and I'll just say this: Holden Caulfield needs to get a life! He is possibly one of the most annoying characters in literature. What a whiner. I am not at all saying that it is a bad book, however. It's the grandfather of teenage angst.

 

[CelestialBody]