Holden Caulfield was no Huck Finn
January 29th, 2010 by John Mansfield
Yesterday I heard that J.D. Salinger finally died, and was told by a radio announcer once again that all adolescents identify with Salinger’s creation, Holden Caulfield. You could probably find dozens of writers today claiming the same thing. I can’t think of a single teenager I’ve known who reminds me of that self-absorbed, vulgar whiner. Apparently, though, journalism is teeming such people. When we were assigned the book in high school, I remember mostly mocking all around of the character and his oh-so-authentic speech patterns.
Comments (4)
Filed under: We transcend your bourgeois categories | No Tag
Filed under: We transcend your bourgeois categories | No Tag
January 29th, 2010 07:37:24
Wm Morris
January 29, 2010
I’ve never read Catcher in the Rye. My first horrible (as in poorly written) song lyric (the first of many), on the other hand, was written when I was 9 or 10 and had something to with Huckleberry Finn and George Washington (my two heroes at the time) floating down the river together on a raft.
Catcher in the Rye also seems to be a favorite of actors and musicians.
Man SL
January 29, 2010
Huckleberry Finn and George Washington floating down the river together on a raft.
Wow. The neutron bomb of awesome.
Ben Pratt
January 29, 2010
Never read it. Having never taken high school English, I’m terrifically “uncultured.”
Vader
January 29, 2010
I have 21 years of formal education under my belt, yet I’ve managed to avoid reading “Catcher in the Rye” and “Lord of the Flies.”
I did not manage to avoid reading “Huckleberry Finn”, “J.B.”, or “Moby-dick”, however.
Deep dark secret:
I liked “Moby-dick”.