The FBG Top 300 Books of All Time (fiction edition) | #7 The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger | Running list in posts #3 and #4 (19 Viewers)

[shuke]

Not sure how this missed my list. I read it so long ago maybe I forgot about it.

 

[Don Quixote]

Not sure how this missed my list. I read it so long ago maybe I forgot about it.

I think the same applied for me. I think I read it around when I was in college. Remember loving it then and still have it on my bookshelf. But I think it had been so long that it did not come to mind when I was pulling together list.

 

[scoobus]

I read it in high school and remember generally liking it, should probably read it again though.

 

[Ilov80s]

I read it in high school and remember generally liking it, should probably read it again though.

Same. Was good, no idea what I would think now.

 

[Dr_Zaius]

I read it in high school and remember generally liking it, should probably read it again though.

Same. Was good, no idea what I would think now.

I reread it during covid when my daughter had to read it for high school and I think it holds up very well. Even though I enjoyed it when I first read it I actually thought I got more out of it as an older adult.

 

[Chaos34]

It's prophecy if we're lucky. I need to stay away from an extended write-up.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

Never read it.

 

[kupcho1]

I'm quite illiterate, but I read a lot.

7

The Catcher in the Rye

J.D. Salinger

guru_007, Dr. Octopus, ilov80s, Frostillicus, KeithR, rockaction, Long Ball Larry

7. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

guru_007: #2
Frostillicus: #2
Dr. Octopus: #6
Long Ball Larry: #6
rockaction: #25
KeithR: #34
ilov80s: #41
Total points: 614
Average: 87.7

I knew this book (spoiler: the highest ranking YA novel) would make the top 300, but 4 top 10s and a #7 ranking?

My reaction

 

[Ilov80s]

Never read it.

Worth a read. It’s super quick.

 

[Ilov80s]

I'm quite illiterate, but I read a lot.

7

The Catcher in the Rye

J.D. Salinger

guru_007, Dr. Octopus, ilov80s, Frostillicus, KeithR, rockaction, Long Ball Larry

7. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

guru_007: #2
Frostillicus: #2
Dr. Octopus: #6
Long Ball Larry: #6
rockaction: #25
KeithR: #34
ilov80s: #41
Total points: 614
Average: 87.7

I knew this book (spoiler: the highest ranking YA novel) would make the top 300, but 4 top 10s and a #7 ranking?

My reaction

I am surprised it was so high since it’s a very polarizing book. I read it at the right time in life, I think freshman year of college so it worked for me. However, I can see how just a few years later it might have been annoying and a huge miss.

 

[guru_007]

Sometimes you just read a book and it sticks with you through the years. As a human being, there is a definitive transition between childhood and adulthood and sometimes that's difficult. There is a certain innocence of being a child, an inherent unstained trait, whereas when you transition to adulthood you see the harsh realities of life and the struggles that one must face, oftentimes on a daily basis. When you reach adulthood, you look back at childhood and have memories, some are fond, some not so fond. But I think what you forget is what it was like to be a child and the transition you went through to become an adult. Painting with broad strokes here, sure and sometimes there is an underlying factor or experience which thrusts you into adulthood faster than you anticipated or in an unexpected manner. It’s like the old ‘60’s adage, don’t trust anyone over 30. Well, that is until it’s the ‘70’s and ‘80’s and now you’re the person over 30 and you have children that rely upon you. It’s tough when you’re younger and sometimes all you see is phoniness, be it a pretentious poster that feels a need to read every Pulitzer prize winner because someone else’s judgments on books/authors means something. But man, when you’re younger, sometimes you want to hold onto that innocence for so long as you can. And once it’s gone, you can’t get it back. Obviously if you read it when you are younger it will have more impact on you, whereas if you’re a bit older before introduced to it, you’ve already had the curtain pulled back a bit on life and well, you forget what it was like beforehand. Sure, I’ve known people that love this book, generally good looking, intelligent, successful people. And I’ve known people with an unnatural disdain towards this book, like my wife because this was also Winona Ryder’s favorite book and someone may or may not have had a major crush on her while they were younger, so right off the bat there is a prejudice there. But if a book hits you at just the right time, you can remember a bit how things were and put you in a frame of mind that sets you at peace (Siddhartha) with how life will flow along. I’ll end with just saying that the line where the book gets it’s title really sealed the deal for me. Just someone trying to protect the innocent(s). I’m not a very good writer at all, so this was probably a pretty poor summary, but I do enjoy reading. I should have one more super pretentious writeup forthcoming as well, so be forewarned.

 

[kupcho1]

Sometimes you just read a book and it sticks with you through the years. As a human being, there is a definitive transition between childhood and adulthood and sometimes that's difficult. There is a certain innocence of being a child, an inherent unstained trait, whereas when you transition to adulthood you see the harsh realities of life and the struggles that one must face, oftentimes on a daily basis. When you reach adulthood, you look back at childhood and have memories, some are fond, some not so fond. But I think what you forget is what it was like to be a child and the transition you went through to become an adult. Painting with broad strokes here, sure and sometimes there is an underlying factor or experience which thrusts you into adulthood faster than you anticipated or in an unexpected manner. It’s like the old ‘60’s adage, don’t trust anyone over 30. Well, that is until it’s the ‘70’s and ‘80’s and now you’re the person over 30 and you have children that rely upon you. It’s tough when you’re younger and sometimes all you see is phoniness, be it a pretentious poster that feels a need to read every Pulitzer prize winner because someone else’s judgments on books/authors means something. But man, when you’re younger, sometimes you want to hold onto that innocence for so long as you can. And once it’s gone, you can’t get it back. Obviously if you read it when you are younger it will have more impact on you, whereas if you’re a bit older before introduced to it, you’ve already had the curtain pulled back a bit on life and well, you forget what it was like beforehand. Sure, I’ve known people that love this book, generally good looking, intelligent, successful people. And I’ve known people with an unnatural disdain towards this book, like my wife because this was also Winona Ryder’s favorite book and someone may or may not have had a major crush on her while they were younger, so right off the bat there is a prejudice there. But if a book hits you at just the right time, you can remember a bit how things were and put you in a frame of mind that sets you at peace (Siddhartha) with how life will flow along. I’ll end with just saying that the line where the book gets it’s title really sealed the deal for me. Just someone trying to protect the innocent(s). I’m not a very good writer at all, so this was probably a pretty poor summary, but I do enjoy reading. I should have one more super pretentious writeup forthcoming as well, so be forewarned.

Ouch

ETA: said the guy that listed the author of Lord of the Flies as Sir William Golding on his list.

 

[Don Quixote]

I'm quite illiterate, but I read a lot.

7

The Catcher in the Rye

J.D. Salinger

guru_007, Dr. Octopus, ilov80s, Frostillicus, KeithR, rockaction, Long Ball Larry

7. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

guru_007: #2
Frostillicus: #2
Dr. Octopus: #6
Long Ball Larry: #6
rockaction: #25
KeithR: #34
ilov80s: #41
Total points: 614
Average: 87.7

I knew this book (spoiler: the highest ranking YA novel) would make the top 300, but 4 top 10s and a #7 ranking?

My reaction

I am surprised it was so high since it’s a very polarizing book. I read it at the right time in life, I think freshman year of college so it worked for me. However, I can see how just a few years later it might have been annoying and a huge miss.

Yeah, I read it later and did not really resonate with me. I liked Frannie and Zooey better, but did not rank that one either ultimately. I appreciated Salinger’s writing in The Catcher in the Rye more after reading Frannie and Zooey though, as understood a bit better that it was intentionally annoying.

 

[Frostillicus]

I had Catcher in the Rye as my #2. I read it either late in college or just out of college for the first time, and it was also one of the first "literary" works I read as I was just discovering there was more than Stephen King and John Grisham out there.

Holden really resonated with me. Just a few quotes:

“I don't exactly know what I mean by that, but I mean it.”

“People are always ruining things for you.”

“All morons hate it when you call them a moron.”

“Make sure you marry someone who laughs at the same things you do.”

“The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one.”

“Among other things, you'll find that you're not the first person who was ever confused and frightened and even sickened by human behavior. You're by no means alone on that score, you'll be excited and stimulated to know. Many, many men have been just as troubled morally and spiritually as you are right now. Happily, some of them kept records of their troubles. You'll learn from them—if you want to. Just as someday, if you have something to offer, someone will learn something from you. It's a beautiful reciprocal arrangement. And it isn't education. It's history. It's poetry.”


I'm older now. Probably a little wiser. So I don't know that this book would hit me as it did back in the day. I can read some of these quotes now and there is a little bit of the rolling of my eyes going on, but they were true to the character and they rang true to me when I read it. I though this book was absolutely ground-breaking, eye opening, world shifting, and everything esle you can imagine. If you didn't think so you're probably just a phony.

 

[Dr_Zaius]

Yeah, I read it later and did not really resonate with me.

I read it in high school and was lukewarm on it, then read it in my 30s in response to wife's friend gushing about it as her favorite book. I liked it a little more the second time (probably because I was spending less time judging Holden than 14 year old me did), but it's still not really my thing. But there's no doubt that it really resonates with a lot of people, so that certainly says something positive about it.

 

[dgreen]

Until a few years ago, I almost never read books. I could count on one hand the number of complete books I read by the time I graduated college and probably only added about 10 (mostly econ-related since I was an Econ major - think Freakonomics and the like) to that list through my 20s and 30s. My last semester of college, I didn't even buy textbooks because I knew I wasn't going to read them. I don't remember the name of it, but I read one assigned novel in one of my college Lit classes. I think I was determined to read it since it's something I just didn't do. I would describe that experience as brutal. It was really hard to finish it, but I finished it.

Probably a few years after graduating college, my wife suggested that I try Catcher in the Rye. To my surprise, it kept my attention. It wasn't a chore to read. I literally LOLed a few times. I liked it. I'm pretty sure Catcher in the Rye and whatever book I read in that college lit class are the only two novels I've read, so I guess Catcher in the Rye is my #1.

 

[Barry2]

Read Catcher in high school and liked it. When discussing it a girl in my class argued with the teacher that Phoebe was pronounced Pho bee.

 

[kupcho1]

OK, so I picked up James this morning and I'm halfway through it already, so I'm going to put some hold requests in at the library. As mentioned previously, I'll be reading (at least) one book from the submitted lists. First up (I'm picking based on the order lists were received) are

@timschochet - #3 The Winds of War by Herman Wouk (skipping over #2 as that is the sequel to this one)
@turnjose7 - #11 The Aeneid by Virgil
@guru_007 - #1 Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse

I'll typically take the highest ranked book I've not yet read unless something else catches my eye. For example, I'm not diving into turnjose7's Star Wars expaned universe and reading The Aenid instead.

I think a lot of people would probably recommend the Fagles translation of The Aeneid. I personally like the Fitzgerald translation because I think the language is beautiful, though it is a more challenging version.

Well, I ended up with the Bartsch version as that was what the library had on hand. I have no idea if the language is more or less beautiful than the Fitzgerald translation. In any event, it certainly was challenging!

I get why The Aeneid is an important work. Whether it is truly a Roman origin story, whether it is propaganda in favor of Augustus or critical of him, it almost beside the point. It's a fascinating look into an empire that is far back in history. The Aeneid makes Beowulf seem like a recent sensation. The fact that scholars are still arguing and interpreting the work speaks volumes.

Ain't gonna lie, though, it dragged at times. Often it was a laundry list of people, some of which were never before or again mentioned. And the list of kills. Yikes. Here's a taste from Book 10:

Caedicus killed Alcathous, Sacrator
killed Hydaspes, Rapo killed Parthenius
and strong Orses. Messapus killed Clonius
and Erichaetes, one thrown from his bareback horse,
one on foot. Lycian Agis came up just to
fall to Valerus, brave as his ancestors.
Salius killed Thronius, but Nealces
got him. His stealthy long-range arrows were well-known.'

Mind you, that's just a small portion of the action.

All in all, I'm glad I read it, but will almost certainly not be re-reading it.

The Winds of War and Siddhartha are in and I'll pick those up tomorrow.

 

[Eephus]

Caedicus killed Alcathous, Sacrator
killed Hydaspes, Rapo killed Parthenius
and strong Orses. Messapus killed Clonius
and Erichaetes, one thrown from his bareback horse,
one on foot. Lycian Agis came up just to
fall to Valerus, brave as his ancestors.
Salius killed Thronius, but Nealces
got him. His stealthy long-range arrows were well-known.'

Straight up Gangsta ####

 

[Dennis Castro]

Interesting fact: Aldous Huxley died on November 22, 1963….the same day as John F. Kennedy and CS Lewis.

 

[Eephus]

Interesting fact: Aldous Huxley died on November 22, 1963….the same day as John F. Kennedy and CS Lewis.

Did Huxley or Lewis have a secretary named Lincoln?

 

[scoobus]

I read it in high school and remember thinking meh, didn't hate it, didn't love it.

 

[ConstruxBoy]

Interesting fact: Aldous Huxley died on November 22, 1963….the same day as John F. Kennedy and CS Lewis.

Three dreamers...

 

[krista4]

I considered The Catcher in the Rye for my list. Ultimately, like some cited "time and place" as why they included it, I thought of "time and place" as why I didn't. I really enjoyed reading it, but upon later reflection I just wasn't so enamored. With this demographic (and relatedly at what age people might have read it), I am not surprised that it rated very well.

 

[Long Ball Larry]

I think I read catcher in the rye in high school. It just all made sense to me. I don’t know how “good” it is overall and maybe I should read it again to just see how it hits now.

 

[Eephus]

Another one I didn't read. If I were to go back in time to meet teenage Eephus, I'd definitely have some literary advice for that little twit.