Lunchtime read: The Catcher in the Rye

Apologies for the delay there have been Internet problems at work today.


Stepping into the world of Holden Caulfield is a little bit like stepping back in time to that moment when you were in trouble at school but never too it so far you ended up being expelled. It’s a bit like telling a film lover you have never watched Pulp Fiction admitting that Catcher in the Rye has slipped under your reading radar, but it has so it seems a good time to put that right.

Highlights from the first couple of chapters

* You are introduced to world of a teenager who has just flunked out of his third school and appears not to care less about it sneering at his classmates who ‘play the game’ and do what they are told will make them successful

* Before he leaves he goes to visit his history teacher who warns him that bad things lie ahead for him unless he snaps out of his attitude and starts to get involved with the system more – words that have no impact on Holden who walks out on his way back to New York

You can instantly see why this is seen as such an inspirational book by teenagers happy to have found someone who seems to think in the same way they do describing people as ‘phonies’ and not seeming to care about the consequences of his actions. Quite what the results of that policy will be will come clear in the next few days reading…