Subject: hello
From: Kelly, Maura (kellym@washpost.com)
Date: Wed Mar 05 1997 - 15:14:00 GMT
Like many young Americans who spent early adolescence in the 80s, I read
"Catcher in the Rye" sometime around 8th or 9th grade and just thought
Holden was right on: everyone was phony and you really couldn't trust
anyone to be virtuous or honest. The outlook was sort of bleak but the
connection with Holden provided hope. Reading Holden's thoughts, I had
my first "conversation" in which I had responded "Yes, exactly! I know
exactly what you mean!"
I went through high school and college (a Psych major) and was busy
trying to read all the literature ever published. (I quickly realized,
crestfallen, that such a task was very similar to trying to be the same
age as your parents: no matter how many birthdays, or books, it never
happens.) I read "Franny and Zooey" after finding it amongst my mom's
old books. I didn't even feel like I read it, I felt I had been a part
of it happening-maybe just a fly on the wall.
Then I graduated from college, and read "9 Stories" during the driving
parts of a x-country road trip. I didn't understand everything, but I
was intrigued. Shortly thereafter-as I stepped into the workforce--I
began to think about self-honesty, about responsibility to personal
morality, about what makes life meaningful. You know, these are things
you think about when the corporate world appears at your doorstep like
the Big Bad Wolf.
Anyway, then one day I had a real-life "Yes, exactly!" conversation
during which "Catcher" was discussed. I decided to read it again and
realized that there was a lot going on that I had missed during my first
reading. Then I realized that I had know read 3 of Salinger's works and
that they topped the list of my favorites. Hmmm. I took some books of
criticism out of the library, and was particularly affected by a book of
essays edited by Harold Bloom. The stuff Salinger was thinking about ...
the language, so engaging and funny, deceptively casual ... the idea that
he never really sold out. Hmmm.
Basically, long story short, I felt like I related. And I feel like
Salinger might be one of the Last American Role Models. So I want to
know more
m
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