Ew, Holden
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It used to be that Catcher in the Rye was revered by everyone – professors, parents, friends, you.
But the office is still talking about a recent article in the NY Times – called “Get a Life, Holden” – wondering if the book about adolescent angst is no longer relevant to our times, and our problems.
In the article, modern youth refer to Holden as a whiner, a wimp, and also, just really boring.
“We all hated Holden in my class,” says one young woman. “We wanted to tell him, ‘Oh, just shut up and take your Prozac.’”
And about half the NYLON staff agrees. The other half still clings to the book as if it were a favorite pair of shoes during a messy closet cleanout.
So I promised I’d ask the blog:
What do you think?
August 14th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
That book is amazing. Only creative people ever identify with him, otherwise it is just lost. F*ck NY Times.
August 14th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
I read Catcher in The Rye when I was a Junior in HS. I’m now going to be a sophomore in college and it’s my favorite book. Plus, I think Holden is more of a Zoloft kind of guy anyways.
August 14th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
No matter how old the book gets people will still find the character and his feeling relatable. I read it in high school and I still consider it to be one of my favorite books.
August 14th, 2009 at 5:06 pm
i think if the book was written today, I Holden would be much more rebellious. An emo kid of the sorts, none the less the book was fundamental for its times. and was groundbreaking in the sense that it exposed teenagers as people and not just, we’ll only hear you when you need to be the trophy kid. It did it job. and Honestly i don’t think J.D Salinger was ever all that impressed with his most famous book, reclusive, is an understatement, being that we still don’t know his real name or wether or not the man is still living…
August 14th, 2009 at 5:20 pm
I think every one portrays their own personal Holden and that our generation is so restless and has the impression that we should all live reality-tv-star lives, yet the best times we have are the ones you lay down on the grass, fuck what you have been told and breath in the fresh air and the impressions around you!
August 14th, 2009 at 5:33 pm
I hear from a lot of people that it’s a terrible book because he whines the whole time.
but Don’t we all?…I liked it because it was relate able and it still is.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:31 pm
I am naming my first boy Holden. like Lauren B said..only creative people can identify [that's very true]. It just shows whats wrong with the world today.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:42 pm
I first read it when I was 14. I’m 26 now, still love it and read it at least once a year!
August 14th, 2009 at 9:57 pm
This book is so relatable, if you have any sort of intelligence that is. And like someone above mentioned we all whine, complain, and have some sort of angst or problems in our lives. I believe the only people who wouldn’t enjoy this book are ones who don’t love literature to begin with, so they shouldn’t even complain.
August 15th, 2009 at 9:46 am
I read it when I was 16 and thought it was incredibly boring. But yeah, it’s relateable I guess, but nothing really exciting happens in it.
August 15th, 2009 at 5:18 pm
I love Holden Caulfield
August 15th, 2009 at 5:50 pm
The fact that the girl commented that Holden should take a Prozac and shut up is exactly why many kids from this generation won’t understand a book about the angst and turmoil of discovering who you are since it seems most teenagers today discover themselves whoever the latest IT girl is and if they have a bad few weeks decide that life is too hard and unnecessarily go on antidepressants, suppressing their feelings and life experiences. Catcher in the Rye and all of JD Salinger’s writings are some of my very favorite things to read, so I guess i’m biased.
August 15th, 2009 at 7:18 pm
Now I really wish I had actually read this book freshman year instead of just skimming the sparknotes…
Although at my school, its mostly the “emo” kids who truly appreciate it.
August 15th, 2009 at 10:42 pm
oh man, i didn’t finish the book(due to adhd)…but i do remember thinking… ‘what is he going on about?’
August 15th, 2009 at 11:34 pm
my class was very split about the book. I know I hated the book and I thought it soooo very irrelevant!
August 16th, 2009 at 12:20 am
I read the book quite a few years ago, but I still LOVE it. I don’t know if it’s still relevant anymore, but I think that’s more because teenagers are over-medicated now. You’re either naturally happy or you’re straight up drained of emotions. Also, concerning the girl who said “Just take a Prozac,” I feel that that’s a huge problem with so many people. Being depressed is no longer considered a problem; it’s just being “emo.” And it’s not. It’s a lot more complex than that. It seems that now, so many people just expect to see your happy side, and if you’re not always happy, you’re a “whiner” or a “wimp.”
August 16th, 2009 at 3:17 am
I think that even Holden may be out-of-age, it does not necessarily mean that his problems don’t correspond to our youth’s problems. I think Salinger made a point on many “global” or “universally valid” issues in which still young people today can reflect themselves and their concerns. I think that this book will maybe still be actual when tiny green man have overtaken our lovely planet, maybe Salinger will become their God. Who knows.
August 16th, 2009 at 9:46 am
I love to hate Holden, and his character will always be relevant, personalities don’t change with time – only their names and names of the drugs they take do.
August 16th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
I was supposed to read this book for my English class but never got the chance but now because of this, I’m inclined to read it…..or maybe not.
August 16th, 2009 at 5:06 pm
absolutely loved that book.
August 16th, 2009 at 5:35 pm
I’ve never felt so compelled to comment on one of your blog posts before. I’m seventeen tommrow and going to be a senior in high school and love that book and really like Holden. He’s relatable. I’m my summer journalism class we talked about J.D. Salinger (because I brough him up) and everyone hated Catcher and Holden. It took everything for me not to yell at them for not understanding the book.
August 16th, 2009 at 9:49 pm
I’ve never read this book – but I think a book shouldn’t be considered irrelevant to an adolescents life. The book was written to inform, entertain or whatever not to guide or give them morals. But let the record state- i’m nineteen and never read this book!
August 17th, 2009 at 12:42 pm
Holden is a character for all generations. Yes, we may not relate to his leaving bording school, going to NYC and meeting up with his prostitute friend, but did people of the “Catcher” generation relate to that? No. They related to the journey of self-understanding, self-loathing, and general growing up that Holden goes through. Those are experiences any teenager of any time goes through. From Hamlet to Holden to Harry Potter…teen angst happens and teenagers never stop whining. Heck, we NEVER stop whining.
August 17th, 2009 at 12:52 pm
Oh, one more thing. High School students don’t HATE Holden, they hate the experience of Catcher in the Rye because of how they read it. In high school reading is instructed and has too many time constraints. Certain readers need more time and most need to understand the story themselves, without being asked what the red hunters’ cap symbolises. Yes, those things are important to the english major (like myself) but not many high school students become english majors. I think Catcher will have more resonance with a student if they read it on their own time and form their own opinions.
Basically, screw the new york times. Sure, that may be the popular idea, but not on the Nylon Blogs, that’s for sure.
August 17th, 2009 at 1:19 pm
i thought it was fricking amazing
August 17th, 2009 at 1:30 pm
Oh I’m so very torn on the subject…Way back in high school Holden was all things cool. Literary girls swooned over him, my best friend even named her hamster after the sullen boy. However, looking back, I can definitely see where the character can come off pathetic and self loathing. I think maybe I need to go back and reread it…..
August 17th, 2009 at 2:32 pm
i read the book when i was a freshman in highschool, and i completely and utterly fell in love with it. it changed my perspective, my attitude, everything. i wasn’t the happiest camper in my highschool years either; i was bitter, sarcastic, and frustrated with the pointlessness of the things every one else held dear. the book was like my thoughts translated perfectly. I think to a degree, Lauren B. is right; it’s mostly the ‘creative’ people that identify it. todays society is a lot different than it was back in 1951. the kids reading the book today, i think, have a very closed mindset regarding the book. i still love reading, and re reading it, even years later.
August 18th, 2009 at 12:17 am
I think by todays standards Holden might be a ‘whiner’, todays standards on anything however has to take into account the many distractions we live with making most youths the very opposite of this quite ‘passive’ character. Does Holden need to be on prozac um no, but contemporary adolescence who update their facebooks and twitters whilst sending a text, eating lunch, checking school, work and personal emails, watching TV, downloading songs and i guess reading books, might need that extra kick to stay focussed.
August 18th, 2009 at 5:10 pm
Catcher in the Rye has helped me understand other people so much better, and as an adolescent, understand life better. As cheesy as that line sounds, it’s a handbag staple for me. When I’m on the bus or train, I’ll whip it out and take long drags of the lengthly paragraphs and sharp dialogue. The sadness i felt at the end when he stopped being the catcher in the rye was the most affect a book has had on me emotionally.
Of course it is relevant to our times. The people who deny its relevancy to today, they are being small-minded and quite the typical know-it-all teenager. Just like Holden. Mmm.
August 21st, 2009 at 11:11 pm
It is still relevant. Anyone who has ever been to new york, or have fallen into a depression of any kind would know that.
August 25th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
I read Catcher for the first time last year and fell in love with Holden. Sure, he was whiny, but he acted like a lot of people I know. I found that 60% of my class liked him, but the rest thought he was a baby, but if your brother died when you were young, how cheery would you be? Besides, people whine all the time.