Re: A bit of a problem.
cinnimon@vvm.com
Fri, 17 Jul 1998 14:06:01 +0000
Erin-
I, too, am a teenager and, obviously, like Salinger a great deal, however, I feel that
I know where to draw the line. One must understand that Salinger's characters are
just that-characters (although they are very well possibly underlying feelings in him,
but I won't get into that). They are fiction as far as you. You cannot completely
replace your peers or friends with those characters of Salinger, however you can
identify with them.
I was 14 when I first read _Catcher_. I felt that I could really identify with
Holden, for I had lost a brother, had an unattainable love (or so I thought),and felt
the world was full of phonies and that it was "alienating" me in a sense. But I made
a decision to learn from Holden and simply see our similarities instead of replacing
my friends with him simply because we had a lot in common.
I'm not saying that you have done this, nor that you should take what I'm saying to
heart, simply that this is what I have learned from my expierence, however little it
may be. You must separate fiction from reality.
Sarah