Lunchtime read: The Catcher in the Rye

Bearing in mind the lonely existence that is going from bar to bar and movie theatre to park it is no wonder that finally Holden decides to head for home. With the temperature dropping and the willingness of others to be friendly towards him disappearing he runs out of options.

Highlights from chapters 19, 19 and 20

* Walking round living through his memories, mainly of Jane and his brother Allie, he reminisces about literature and girls but he still needs the companionship of a living person so phones up someone he actually doesn’t like that much

* The old prefect, who used to lecture Holden and his classmates about sex, arrives in a plush bar and is irritated by Holden prying into his relationship with a Chinese sculptress and in the end leaves him at the bar on his way to getting drunk

* At a loose end Holden phones Sally while quite clearly drunk and promises he will come over and help her trim the Christmas Tree but then he leaves the warmth of the phone booth and ends up in a very cold Central Park

* As thoughts of pneumonia sweep his mind he decides it might not be woo wise an idea to stay out all night and so with a yearning to see his kid sister he decides to sneak back home

The final few chapters tomorrow…