Lunchtime read: The Catcher in the Rye

The first mention of the Catcher in the rye occurs as Holden overhears a boy singing a song about it as he walks down the street. Apart from that it is a return to his lonely wanderings around New York looking for companionship before he faces the inevitable moment when he will have to go home and face the music.

Highlights from chapters 16 and 17

* Having arranged to meet with his friend Sally later that afternoon Holden decides to try and find his sister and give her a record he has found for her that he knows will make her laugh but she is not in her usual hangouts in the park

* Following the suggestion of another child in his sister’s school who he bumps into in the park he heads to the museum but once he arrives he doesn’t want to go in and heads back to meet Sally

* He takes her to the theatre but he doesn’t enjoy it and what makes matters worse is Sally meets a phoney in the interval and Holden is left watching them talk about places and people they know

* Finally he goes ice skating with Sally after having shrugged off the phoney but once there he makes the mistake of not only opening his heart to someone like her, who couldn’t understand, but then tells her she is a pain in the ass and ends up leaving her at the rink

More tomorrow…