Banned Books: The Catcher in the Rye

I remember when I finished Paper Towns. It made me want to go on this spectacular road trip without my parents or friends, just all on my own. To look around in the world for a bit. Stir up something by running away. I know I could never do it, though. How could I make my parents worry or my brother? And it's not like my friends would embark on a crazy journey to find me or anything, let alone a boy who'd had his eyes on me forever.

I think Holden is a better version of Margot. He's adventurous like her, but he legitimately cares a great deal about everyone in his life. He pities practically everyone.

Justification: Not granted

Anthem: 21 Guns by Green Day OR Would It Matter by Skillet

Rating: ****?

Risk: X



Review: I didn't expect myself to like this book as much as I did, let alone to tear up reading it. I have been reading it since the start of this week, which was a shitty week thus far, which made this depressing read all the more fitting. J.D. Salinger creates one of the most broken and saddened characters I've ever read about, along with a beautiful brother-sister relationship.

I identified with Holden more than I should have. I didn't lose a sibling or dislike everything, but some of his sadness and coldness speaks to me. Above all, though, I adored the catcher in the rye metaphor. It might sound melancholic, but some people only feel at home when they're protecting people from walking off a cliff.

The following will contain spoilers for The Catcher in the Rye.

Offensive language

The language in general is unconventional in this book. The choice of words -- specifically the repetition of words -- makes The Catcher in the Rye sound like a first draft J.D. only fixed the spelling in. But in my opinion, that makes the book all the more beautiful. (Though the echoing of the words 'phony' and 'lousy' and 'and all' was trialling to say the least.) Without the authentic teenage dialog (yes, we some of us do think and speak this way), our look into Holden's mind wouldn't feel as real and uncensored. Curse words, I think, are allowed in a story as long as they serve a purpose.

Sexually explicit

Why? Yes, there's a adolescent prostitute, nudity, and lots of sex talks, but nothing actually happens. Listen, every teenager thinks about or contemplates sex. I imagine guys thinking more 'in the now' and girls considering the intricacies of wedding nights, but we've all thought and talked about it. Even if we were forced into it in sex ed, we all have ideas about all things related to sex, from rape to abstinance. And that's normal. Healthy, even. And it is insanely pretentious and wrong to pretend we don't. We break this down.

Prostitution: This is a perfect book to teach in schools. Did I mean to type this behind each other? Yes, because thanks to online p0rn0gr@phy, the exploitation of minors in the western world has increased. So it would seem appropriate to talk about this in schools, wouldn't it?
The hysterical thing is, though, that the only time we talked about this was when my religion teacher decided our sexual education was more important than our curriculum.

Nudity: I know how a human body looks. Everyone does.

Sex talk: How do you think we get our information? From books?! Who reads those word boxes anymore?

Unsuited for age group

I would recommend this book for ages from twelve and up.
*numerous mothers shriek in the background*
*men in tweed jackets let out muffled gasps*
For a book almost best known for its middle school uproar, this is a relatively mild read. No drugs, no severe racism (which is impressive in a book published before the 1960s), and no descriptive sex scenes. I'd almost utter the novel's age works to its advantage. Back in the day, I'm sure it unsettled many a household and unlit many a book bonfire. Now, I feel there are much more controversial books going around in our book shops.