Glossary entry for
Catcher in the Rye
The Catcher in the Rye is a wonderful "must read" novel by J. D.
Salinger (1919- ). This book has been steeped in controversy since it was banned in America
after its first publication (1951). Superficially the story of a young
man's expulsion from yet another school, The Catcher in the Rye is in fact
a perceptive study of one individual's understanding of his human
condition. Holden Caulfield, a teenager growing up in 1950s New York, has
been expelled from school for poor achievement once again. In an attempt to
deal with this he leaves school a few days prior to the end of term, and
goes to New York to 'take a vacation' before returning to his parents'
inevitable wrath. Told as a monologue, the book describes Holden's thoughts
and activities over these few days, during which he describes a developing
nervous breakdown, symptomised by his bouts of unexplained depression,
impulsive spending and generally odd, erratic behaviour, prior to his
eventual nervous collapse.
The famous "title sequence" of the novel runs like this (Holden speaking):
"Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in
this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's
around - nobody big, I mean - except me. And I'm standing on the edge of
some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they
start to go over the cliff - I mean if they're running and they don't
look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and CATCH
them. That's all I'd do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye, and
all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd really like to be.
I know it's crazy."
The author, J. D. Salinger, is so publicity shy that he refuses to give
interviews or make public appearences. He even tried to stop the publication of a
recent biography and sued the author, Ian Hamilton. (This grouchy persona might remind many a
reader of these pages of Van's behaviour in the media spotlight).
Contributed by Bent Sorensen
More information available at:
Van references in:
Part of the van-the-man.info unofficial website
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