DS despises Catcher In The Rye. So proud of him.

[ReanimatedSGB]

I'm also rather surprised that this tedious wank is still being pushed on schoolkids as Great Literature. I hated it when I read it in my teens and am very glad to find that DS is as unimpressesd as I was - it's just one long white-boy whine, isn't it?

Oh ffs stop celebrating ignorance.

Thank God someone else hates it!

I thought it was self-indulgent, boring drivel. Yet others seem to rave about it. Why?

Hollowtalk - to come to one's own conclusion about a piece of literature, when that conclusion differs from the consensus, shows individual thought and discernment. The opposite of ignorance.

I love it.

I hated it too - so far into pretentious wankery that I kept reading it just to make sure it really was that tedious. I didn't read it through school I read it myself. I remember being so disappointed - it held that particular place in my heart until the Goldfinch - that has become the Catcher in the Rye of my 40s

It's not my cup of tea anymore but when I first read it aged around 12 I thought it was incredible. It changed my perception of literature and sent me in the direction of my English Lit degree, which wasn't the direction I was heading in at the time.
I couldn't read it again now though.

I'm surprised - I think it's an amazing book.

I'm not sure that having the same opinion on a book is a cause for a major celebration.

It's the opposite of ignorance to dislike an overrated book - it means you've read enough to form your own conclusions. DS is a fairly avid reader, which I'm also proud of.

(And I really am a bit surprised that the school assigned it. I honestly thought that type of white-male-tears fiction had gone completely out of fashion.)

Loved it when I read it as a young'un but couldn't read it now.
I also hate Shakespeare - not the man - just everything he may or may not have written.

Thank God it's not just me! Holden Caulfield was a spoilt brat who needed a boot up his bum to be told to get over himself.

The only reason it's such a bit deal is because Salinger never wrote again and refused interviews. It created this mystique that CinR is more than it actually is.

Yabu for calling it a white-boy whine. If that was said about a black author/subject it wouldn't be acceptable.

Utterly boring, self important drivel. I read it about a year ago and hated it.

If he loved it, would you have posted? I bought it for a teen and they still loved it. Congratulations on bringing up someone who agrees with you.

Massive respect to your DS

It is a highly overrated poorly written load of old rubbish with an intensely dislikeable lead.

Ignore the pompous.

I loved it at 16 for very different reasons to those I appreciated it at 36.
Isn’t that the point the novel is trying to make? That the main character is a privileged, spoilt brat with lofty ideals that most people will empathise with as an idealistic, lost teen. But when you return to it 20 years later you see the kid acting out for what it is? The point sorely missed by the likes of the crazed...such as MDC

@HollowTalk how is it ignorant to dislike a book that if you read it as an adult is shite?

I read it but don't remember a damn thing about it tbh.

I would imagine DS heard your strong opinion about the book when you found out it had been assigned to read.

There is plenty of classic literature I've read that I didn't care for but liking it or not wasn't the point of being assigned to read them.

I cringe at your use of white-boy whine. It is ok to be white ya know. That book was published in 1951 and is a reflection of the times in which it was written.

That said, the part where YABU is not keeping your opinions to yourself until after your DS has read a book. He might have just said he hated it because he knows you hate it.

White boy whine ? White Male tears ? Wow :( This is the sort of thing you say to your DS ? Shame on you.

Hi! I'm new here.

Had to comment on this, because I loathed Catcher in the Rye! I didn't read it until I was at university it was nothing to do with my degree, and I still cannot believe that I wasted my time voluntarily and couldn't believe that it was so well regarded. I remember not being very far into it before I wanted to give Holden Caulfield a good thumping.

Friends of mine who loved it had read it when they were at school, in their teens, and we came to the conclusion that perhaps there's a peak time for reading it, and a time when you'll be too old (read: cynical) for it.

My brother, not knowing that I'd read it, bought it for me as a birthday once. Having a very honest relationship with my brother, I had to confess to (1) having already read it, and (2) not really enjoying it, which was somewhat unfortunate. But a few days later J.D. Salinger died, which both my brother and I put down to my recent evaluation!

It certainly spoke to me when I read it as a teen. I haven't read it for many years but I certainly loved it at the time of reading. I'm very surprised to so many people saying they didn't enjoy it, I thought it universally loved by teens.

Thank God someone else hates it!

I find comments like these so odd. Surely no one thinks they can be the only person to dislike 'insert name of hugely well known person/play/book/band'. It's really not an unusual take.

celebrating your son dislikes a book and your proud of him for doing so is a cause for celebration?! And what the hell is 'white-boy whine' - would you say black-boy tears OP? No? - because you will be taken apart for being racist. I hope your son doesn't use language like you do. Awful.

There’s a hell of a lot more to it than just a ‘white boy whine’ (which I think is a pretty reductive way to describe any novel, to be honest).

I haven’t read it for years and years but from memory; his love for and protection of his little sister, and the way he obviously misses those innocent early childhood years - something I could relate to massively as a teen. His desire to protect children from the misery he’s suffering.

Various depictions of adults (who do not come off all that well) and how adulthood scares him. Abuse (his friend’s stepfather) and possible sexual abuse (his former teacher).

Also the ending of the book is quietly optimistic about his future, which is quite brave considering his parents have obviously sent him off to the hospital or whatever the facility is where he’s recovering.

But yes YABVU to post smugly about your son agreeing with you, regardless of my feelings on the novel.

I think the reason it’s still a GCSE text (I think ) is that when you’re a teenage a massive teenage whine is a brilliant book. I re-read it at 22 and hated every blood word. It’s a terrible book and I don’t think it’s very well written.

The same goes for the Great Gatsby though that is well written. Every single time I see a Gatsby themed party it makes me die inside for many reasons, but mainly because clearly people haven’t actually read it or did and didn’t get it. I’m more of a cheerleader for the former though.

I quite liked it, in fact it led me to do English at university (massive mistake in itself). But in my defence I was only about 15 at the time.
I even read Franny and Zooey. Impenetrable.