I have a SERIOUS QUESTION.

[Jamastiene]

Ok, the Lounge is the LAST place I want to ask a serious question, but still I want to know.

Why is Catcher In The Rye considered THE FAVORITE BOOK of serial killers, assassins, nuts, etc. by so many people?

I read it once in high school and I'm re-reading it now. I STILL don't see what's so wrong with it. Holden Caufield is just a typical teenage kid from that era. There's nothing sinister about it. Or am I so criminally insane that I'm the only one who cannot see it?

What gives? :shrug:

[Drunken Irishman]

1. You're criminally insane.

[LeftyFingerPop]

2. Holden Caufield is a lounge bully. n/t

[billyoc]

3. Nice post, Dexter.

[flvegan]

4. Vote 2 for you being criminally insane.

[Crabby Appleton]

5. Vote 3 for you being criminally insane.

[ghostsofgiants]

6. I've actually wondered that myself.

Weird.

[Jamastiene]

7. It's odd to me too.

It seems like some people know, but no one has ever explained it. I think they are bluffing. They don't know either. Right? :shrug:

[Tuesday Afternoon]

8. They relate to Holden's cynicism....perhaps

:shrug:

[Mutley]

9. Maybe because he seems to have slight sociopathic tendencies

Obviously he doesn't kill anyone, but everything in the story is all about him. He constantly fails out of school, and not because he isn't smart, but he's bored. He is critical of everyone he sees. He sleeps with random women. He never really feels anything throughout the entire book. Not really.

[Mutley]

10. dupe

[Mutley]

11. I just love defcon 3

[LostinVA]

12. I personally think it's really overrated

But then, I majored in English Lit, with a focus on Victorian Lit.

Holden is a two-bit sociopath, but not any more so than Bucky Covington fans.

Read "Oliver Twist," instead: Bill Sykes is a full-blown sociopath.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

13. I believe that reading Catcher in the Rye

was the very first exposure many, many people had to "alternative lifestyles" or any kind of insight into a mind that was not like their own.
Got to remember when it came out, yes, there was radio and TV, but not like we know it now. Even news was not like that, and lots of people did not have a daily paper to read.
When they saw what their kids were assigned to read, they were shocked.

Now. Heh. Who cares?

[LiberalHeart]

14. It's all about the feeling of alienation.

[DarkTirade]

15. I had to read it for high school too.

I found it to be rather unimpressive. On any front.

Not downright bad, like A Seperate Peace, which I had to read the year before. But just unimpressive.

[rug]

16. If you read it twice you will be on an FBI file.

[lost-in-nj]

17. Why is FREEBIRD the song of choice

for people who insist on taking people and places hostage?????

usually radio stations???

I think they want to look

"smart"


:rofl:


lost

[MilesColtrane]

18. You talkin' to me?

You talkin' to ME!!??

[snailly]

19. I know. It's a generational thing.

BTW I'm late 30's.