This was the June book selection and yes, I’m quite behind in my blog posting. Let’s just say, I’ve taken a little vacation this summer. J But I promise to catch up with all that I’ve been reading if you’ll but be a little patient. J
I read The Catcher in the Rye back in high school. Grade 10 to be exact. And I fondly remember it as “that banned book” our rebel of a teacher had us read. I still remember that day Mr. Dempsey walked into class with a ratty box of books tucked under one arm. The book was not on our prescribed reading list, and so it felt very sinful to pick out a tattered copy from the box. Lord knows from where he scrounged together a class set of mismatched copies, but read them we did, and I found myself very disappointed. A few swearwords peppered the book, but frankly, I’d read much worse by that age, so why was this book on the banned list?
Anyway, maybe I fondly remember the book so much because it was given to us by Mr. Dempsey, a crazy old bird who used to call all the boys “cretinous cretins” and nearly had a fit when he asked one boy to shut a window who responded with “that there window?” His rants about sports player interviews and their atrocious grammar still echo in my head to this day. But the greatest influence he had on me was helping me understand that crazy language used by William Shakespeare. It is with thanks to Mr. Dempsey that I can read and enjoy a Shakespearian play without stumbling through the antiquated language. So yes, you could say he is a little bit of a hero as many of my English teachers were in those days, and so I think I loved The Catcher in the Rye just because I read it in his class.
Fast forward about 15 years, and you find me a young woman branching out into different reading territory. I’d read romance novels since my early teens, when suddenly I felt like rediscovering the classics of my youth, and revisiting novels read in high school, among them The Catcher in the Rye. I have to confess, after a second reading I still didn’t “get it.” The book was good, but not earthshattering.
Move forward a few more years, and this book popped up on my book club reading list. Always game to re-read a classic, and still looking for the brilliance behind the designation, I once again idled away a few summer days with Holden Caulfield. Finally though, I was seeing the light. Holden wasn’t just a typical bratty teenager, but a deeply disturbed young man, ignored by his parents, and grieving over the loss of a younger brother. Suffering a psychological breakdown, he runs away from his boarding school and spends a few days in New York City, experimenting and growing up, and ultimately reconnecting with his little sister and finding the help he needs. It’s a good book, and definitely one worth reading, although you’ll get the most out of it if you can take the time to peel back the surface layers.
What my fellow book clubbers had to say: I wish I could tell you, but unfortunately I missed the June meeting. If any of them are reading this blog post, I encourage you to please leave a comment about your thoughts on the book or what was discussed at the meeting.
Till next time, happy reading!
L 
No comments:
Post a Comment