The
majority of us have read it or at least heard of it. Perfect for
someone who loves to read but finds themselves with little time on
their hands, due to spending all hours of the day (and night)
committed to that assignment you despised from the word go.
The
novel has sentiments that, despite being ancient and written in 1951,
echo the problems that follow coming of age for us today. For
instance; we all frequently hate the world as the transformation of
teenager to adult is such a torturous experience, particularly
because of the numerous responsibilities to cope with when we'd
rather just be playing Pokémon.
The
Catcher is a good book to read for essay-writing masochists as it's
around 200 pages long, with small chapters that make it easy to put
down and pick up again, especially if the flat upstairs decides to
turn it up to 11, disturbing mentality to the point of no recovery.
The book
is set over 2 days in New York, in which a lot of cash gets blown,
mainly on alcohol and cigarettes, hotel rooms, ice-skating, the
cinema and a hell of a lot of taxis. It also deals with themes such
as depression. If anyone knows about depression, it's students.
Deadlines and the pressures of whether to go out or not are enough to
make anyone contemplate their own existence. The protagonist, Holden
Caulfield, suffers with the disorder. He narrates the story, looking
back on his time before he becomes 'ill'. The trigger could be the
fact that he's failing at his fourth college. He contradicts himself
a lot, just like the rest of us, changing our minds like British
weather. His behaviour is inconsistent and he refers to several
people as a 'phoney', finding faults in everyone he meets, which is
too easy when people are complete morons, right?
Holden
Caulfield recalls things from his childhood, like the ducks in the
park, always wondering where they go in the winter when the lake
freezes over. When he visits the museum, he's pleased that it never
changes, the exhibits remain the same. He doesn't, however, like the
fact he's changed so much every time he visits. He just wants to be a
kid again, which don't we all? A time when you don't have to worry
about when your rent money is due, you didn't have to make sure
you're eating habits are relatively normal and that you don't look
too much like a zombie from next to no sleep night after night.
Does any
of this ring true? If you wish you were a kid again and you'd rather
not have to face the challenges of adulthood just yet, or you're an
insomniac, maybe this is the book for you. It's also a good read
because it's very American and there's a bit of swearing every now
and then. It might give you some inspiration and get you motivated
for that 50 million word dissertation that's right on your doorstep.
- Emz
