What Are You Reading?

**Shin Johnpv** · 05 Jul 2016, 09:59 PM

I read it as a teenager for school, it was a terrible book when I was young. I re-read it a couple of years ago and it was still a terrible book.

**Cowutopia** · 08 Jul 2016, 10:33 PM

I really can't disagree more. It's a short, fast read, and it holds your attention. It's a different structure than a lot of books you read, and reminds me a lot of Vonnegut's work. The idea that the narrative is being delivered by an unreliable narrator is very interesting. I hadn't read anything like that at the time, in 10th grade. Holden has trouble figuring out his own identity and lies to the reader and to himself throughout the book as he struggles to figure out what he is all about.

He is bitter, he is cynical, but he is still naive. The terminology is dated but it was current at the time, so whatever. That's always a barrier to enjoying fiction.

I'm not sure why so many of you don't like it. Is it because it doesn't have a "normal" narrative structure? Is it because existentialism is a waste of time to you guys?

Catch-22 is my favorite book of all time.
Something Happened, also by Joseph Heller, is pretty interesting also. It's kind of like Catcher on steroids. It's a near-impossible read though, because it makes you feel crazy. It's uncomfortable when you can't trust the narrator, and often frustrating, but that's kind of the key to the whole thing. It's a much more interactive reading experience when you have to parse what's actually happening by reading between what's being given to you. It also kind of mirror's your own internal monologue, where you have to determine what is true for yourself over and over every day.

As a teenager you're still developing your convictions, and it's a pretty chaotic time. I don't know man, I think Catcher does a pretty good job. If you're a guy with strong convictions and world experience you probably don't have any time for a story about a mopey teen who feels sorry for himself, but I'm sure a lot of people went through a period like that at some point in their lives and can relate.

**Cowutopia** · 08 Jul 2016, 11:04 PM

Has anyone else even tried to read something happened?

**Doc Holliday** · 08 Jul 2016, 11:08 PM

No, but considering you liked the same things I like about Catcher, I'll pick it up next. But, I got to read Blood Meridian now.

**Cowutopia** · 08 Jul 2016, 11:13 PM

Something happened is a brutal, brutal, pessimistic trudge of a read. It's more brutal than Requiem.

**icarusfall** · 09 Jul 2016, 12:12 AM

Jesus...

**Shin Johnpv** · 09 Jul 2016, 12:52 AM

Originally Posted by Cowutopia

I really can't disagree more. It's a short, fast read, and it holds your attention. It's a different structure than a lot of books you read, and reminds me a lot of Vonnegut's work. The idea that the narrative is being delivered by an unreliable narrator is very interesting. I hadn't read anything like that at the time, in 10th grade. Holden has trouble figuring out his own identity and lies to the reader and to himself throughout the book as he struggles to figure out what he is all about.

He is bitter, he is cynical, but he is still naive. The terminology is dated but it was current at the time, so whatever. That's always a barrier to enjoying fiction.

I'm not sure why so many of you don't like it. Is it because it doesn't have a "normal" narrative structure? Is it because existentialism is a waste of time to you guys?

Catch-22 is my favorite book of all time.
Something Happened, also by Joseph Heller, is pretty interesting also. It's kind of like Catcher on steroids. It's a near-impossible read though, because it makes you feel crazy. It's uncomfortable when you can't trust the narrator, and often frustrating, but that's kind of the key to the whole thing. It's a much more interactive reading experience when you have to parse what's actually happening by reading between what's being given to you. It also kind of mirror's your own internal monologue, where you have to determine what is true for yourself over and over every day.

As a teenager you're still developing your convictions, and it's a pretty chaotic time. I don't know man, I think Catcher does a pretty good job. If you're a guy with strong convictions and world experience you probably don't have any time for a story about a mopey teen who feels sorry for himself, but I'm sure a lot of people went through a period like that at some point in their lives and can relate.

I don't mind different narrative structures, nothing wrong with that. The problem is with the story and the main character. Neither of which were likable at all to me. Nor was it unique, IMHO. It didn't have anything new, or interesting to say about that time period as a teenager when you're finding yourself. The story piddles along with Holden just being a douche. It's a short read and it bored the shit out of me both times I read it. For me it felt like the book went out of it's way to make me dislike Holden, to the point where I'm hoping he gets hit by a train. Compare that to Crime and Punishment, where you have Raskolnikov who does this HORRIBLE act, just one of the worst things a person can do. By all rights you should be wishing for him to get caught and just hung, and yet by the end of the book you're rooting for his redemption, you want him to come out ahead and as a better person. I come out of Catcher in the Rye hoping someone stabs Holden in the neck. I just really did not like the character at all.