Re: the lurkers

erespess@nji.com
Thu, 30 Dec 1999 01:50:55 -0500 

>As to the crap about Holden having "serious psychological issues" I 
>think Salinger's >point is missed if his audience cannot understand 
>his main character.. You see, >Holden's(or Salinger's) is the only 
>voice that really cuts through the crap that post-war >america piled 
>on higher and deeper in the nineteen fifties.

First let me say that I probably have way more serious psychological 
issues than Holden does, so in no way was I trying to put him down by 
agreeing that he has a few of his own.

>Holden is about as honest as we got in this century, without 
>fighting any political >battles or even having a steady job.

Our dear US President is a fine example that political battles and a 
steady job do not equal honesty.  But I digress.  My next thought is 
that seeing things honestly does not mean Holden is honest in his own 
life.  Maybe I have completely lost my mind, but doesn't Holden 
himself admit to being a compulsive liar?  I don't have a copy of 
CITR with me at the moment so I am relying solely on my exhausted 
brain's memory, which is frequently a mistake.  But until I'm able to 
clear this up, my assumption is that he did say that.

>There really is a fine line between insanity and genius and holden 
>walks it with ease, if >not being so careful as to keep himself from 
>leering to either side every once and >awhile.

I don't think there is a line between genius and insanity at all.  I 
think they are completely different characteristics that may or may 
not occur in the same person.  But I never said that I thought Holden 
was insane.  I wouldn't say that at all.  Mostly he's just a confused 
teenager.  We all have "issues" to deal with, that doesn't make us 
insane.  As for my preference of Zooey over Holden, that is just a 
personal thing.  Zooey's got his own issues - He's a complete 
asshole.  For me, though, assholes are more attractive than liars. 
That's just me.  Not bad boy assholes, however.  only good boy 
asssholes.  8)

As for Tim's comments about "bad boy" fascinations, I've seen it a 
million times, and I'm sure I've done it myself.  However, guys are 
JUST as guilty of this as girls are.  I do not care to count how many 
times I've been told "I'm sorry, Beth, I do love you, but I love you 
like a sister, and I wouldn't want to ruin our friendship." 
BULLSHIT.  They didn't mind ruining the friendships they had with 
girls who treated them like garbage (the bad girls).  Oh, but wait, I 
guess that isn't really a friendship, right?

As fresh as this is on my mind at the moment, I basically haven't 
been in one of these scenarios in years, thank God.

>    Did anyone by any chance see the movie Pleasantville?  The most powerful
>part of the movie I thought was when he was explaining catcher in the rye to
>the naive teenagers in the burger joint.  I enjoyed the movie but I guess
>that part was what made it personal.

I loved the movie.  The scenes with Joan Allen putting on the black 
and white makeup were so powerful.  I saw my mother in those scenes, 
trying to hide her personality in order not to make waves, and then 
watching the chaos that ensued once she chose to actually be present. 
Really beautiful.

Elizabeth