The Catcher in the Rye

[CrabHelmet]

Awful book is awful.

 

I'd sooner read the bible for a sense of realism than this book.

 

It isn't about the real world' date=' no. It's about the world viewed through Holden's lens.

[/quote']

 

Most people who "like" this book think that Holden was a realist and perceive him as a true seer or a genius.

 

I'm just showing my condolences for such ignorance. Holden was a blind fool at best.

 

Wait, what? It's made painfully obvious from the start that Holden is at best an incredibly unreliable narrator and at worst an absolute lunatic. In one breath, he jumps from explaining to the reader how he likes lying to people and how good he is at lying to explaining how everyone else is just phony - and proceeds to tell the most pathetic lies I've ever seen. Pretty much the only way to think Holden is some sort of seer is to take everything he says at face value without considering the implications or consistency of any of it, and the only way to do that is to assume from the start that he's a seer, making the "logic" circular.

[CeDeFiA]

I'm just shocked you read a book.

 

o.o

[Willieh]

Awful book is awful.

 

I'd sooner read the bible for a sense of realism than this book.

 

Who said the book had a sense of "realism?"

 

It's just an interesting book. It doesn't have to be absolutely completely realistic.

---

Awful book is awful.

 

I'd sooner read the bible for a sense of realism than this book.

 

It isn't about the real world' date=' no. It's about the world viewed through Holden's lens.

[/quote']

 

Most people who "like" this book think that Holden was a realist and perceive him as a true seer or a genius.

 

I'm just showing my condolences for such ignorance. Holden was a blind fool at best.

 

Most people who "like" this book understand that Holden's personality isn't actually the topic of this book.

[Tabris]

Most people who "like" this book understand that Holden's personality isn't actually the topic of this book.

 

It is, actually.

[Willieh]

Most people who "like" this book understand that Holden's personality isn't actually the topic of this book.

 

It is' date=' actually.

[/quote']

 

It is. But not directly.

[Tabris]

The way these peepin'-eyes see it, it's all about Holden's worldview - how the world's so funked-up, about his sister, about him blah blah blah. How could it be that Holden's personality takes a backseat to some other machination?

 

And what exactly is the main topic?

[Willieh]

The way these peepin'-eyes see it' date=' it's all about Holden's worldview - how the world's so f***ed-up, about his sister, about him blah blah blah. How could it be that Holden's personality takes a backseat to some other machination?

 

And what exactly is the main topic?

[/quote']

 

It's hard to explain. But it's kind of more about his attempts to get people to interact with him than his overall personality.

 

The red hunter cap he wears is a kind of ... symbol of protection from society. If you notice he always puts it on whenever he goes out in public and says "I didn't care what they thought..." or something to that effect. Overall, the message I received was that he just wants human interaction of some sort.

 

I guess you could tie that into his personality, but I don't think it is.