The Catcher in the Rye

Tonight there were seven of us present at the meeting to discuss our thoughts of “The Catcher in the Rye”.

With an average rating of 5/10, it wasn’t particularly a novel that anyone would include in their favourite reading lists!

I personally was slightly shocked at this, as I found that I quite liked the story and liked the character of Holden, yet I seemed to be the only person who thought this!

Much of the discussion related to Holden’s thoughts and perceptions that he expressed relating to others (primarily adults) – often referring to them as “phony”. We queried whether this was his genuine opinion of others, or whether it was a reflection of his deteriorating mental state as it became more common as the book progressed. The general thoughts of the group were that he held this view of adults, especially when he was observing the interactions between men and women – perhaps to represent the difficulties that he was experiencing as a teenager coming to terms with adulthood. Dismissing people as being “phony” revoked the need for him to explore or contemplate this further.

Holden seeks to maintain the idea that children are innocent throughout the book, however this begs the question as to why he doesn’t seem to worry as much about his own? We established that this was just one of many contradictions that Salinger has included.

Something that cannot be ignored is the title that Salinger has chosen – taken from Robert Burns’ poem “Comin’ Thro’ the Rye”. It is of great significance that Holden gets the poem wrong, and that around the beginning of the novel, he hears a child singing this poem, which cheers him up. Holden believes the poem is about childhood innocence, even stating that he would like to be the “catcher” – until he is told by his sister Phoebe that it is not about childhood innocence at all – it is quite the contrary. Whilst potentially representing Holden’s innocence, it could also show his ignorance.

The book ends with, “Don’t ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody.”. When I was researching discussion topics, this ending seemed poignant. People seemed undecided as to whether this was meant to be interpreted in a positive or negative light.

The Catcher in the Rye certainly provided the group with many discussion points – there were more than I have included but I thought I would highlight just a few! Unfortunately, this was not loved by many, only averaging 5/10, and the general consensus was that it is an overrated novel. Despite this, people are still glad that they have read it (and in many cases, re-read it since they were a child!).

We also picked out the books that we will be reading for the next few months. I have updated the section on this page which details the books that we will be reading for the next six months.

See you all on 25/11/2014 to discuss “Nights at the Circus”.

Rachael 🙂

And….we’re off!

Last night saw the first book club meeting, and what a success it was!

There were ten of us altogether (including our lovely host who kept our drinks topped up and provided us with the most delicious cake).

After initial introductions, we began discussing how we would like future meetings to be held and whether we think there should be any particular rules outlined. This is what we decided:

• There will be no page limit to the books we choose – it would be a shame to exclude some brilliant books simply because they are a little on the long side.
• Any genre and any format is welcome – many people have joined the club to expand their reading; pushing beyond those normal comfort zones may mean you discover a whole new genre that you wouldn’t have tried before.
• The person who chose the book that we have read that month will prepare discussion points to bring with them to the meeting.
• Future meetings will be on the fourth Tuesday of each month from 7-9, and there will be an optional social meeting on the second Tuesday of each month – this gives people the opportunity to get involved with the current month’s read if they were unable to make the previous meeting; get to know each other better; discuss how they are getting on with the book so far, and enjoy more cake!!

 

This week in the book world it is Banned Book Week:

 Celebrating the freedom to read

This is happening primarily in America but I decided to adopt this theme to decide upon our first read.

I did some research around the subject of banned books and was surprised to discover how often books are being challenged due to their content, even in the modern day. The reasons for being challenged range from there being sexist content, to conflicting religious views. Interestingly, The Wizard of Oz was challenged in one state in America for it’s “ungodly influence” and, “depicting women in strong leadership roles”…oh dear!

I discovered that many of my favourite books have either been challenged or banned at some point, and provided a choice between two books to be this month’s read.

My first choice was “In Cold Blood” by Truman Capote, which was banned in Georgia for sex, violence and profanity. It follows Truman investigating the murders of the Clutter family in Kansas in 1959 – the murderers, (Hickock and Smith) were put on death row for five years, and the book was published after their execution. Unfortunately, this book was not selected, but I most certainly recommend it if anybody has time this month to read another book, and I would love to hear other people’s views on it.

My second choice was “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D Salinger. There are still frequent challenges about this novel, and it has been banned in various states in America on numerous occasions due to the content being anti-white, pre-marital sex, alcohol abuse, and profanity. The book gained even more notoriety in 1981 when Mark Chapman produced The Catcher in the Rye from his pocket after shooting John Lennon.

This book was selected by the group to be our first read – many have already read the book (some way back at school) and wanted to re-read it to see if their thoughts differed.

 

The book club ran till about quarter to nine, which was great, especially since we did not have a book to discuss. There was plenty of conversation, including Harry Potter conspiracy theories (yes, really) and people’s favourite books and authors. I have no concerns that there will be awkward silences in future meetings as we all appear to love talking!!

I have requested that people think of two or three books that they would like to select for when it is their turn to choose a book. For those that will be attending the social (Tuesday 14th October, 7pm at Wagon’s), please try and have your selection ready for then, and those that are unable, either contact me separately or comment on this post if you are able to do so.

Thank you for reading, and it was lovely chatting to you all last night! If anybody knows anyone that couldn’t make it last night but would like to join, please bring them along to the social, or the next main meeting – new people are always welcome.

Rachael 🙂