The Catcher of the READ
Posted: Thursday, October 13, 2011
by Tex Norman
As a child I was slow to read and horrible at writing. My spelling was, and is terrible. School and reading were not really that important at home. My parents thought I could draw and paint pretty good, but they thought I was stupid in every other area, especially reading. I remember once watching a lawyer show on TV. I was maybe 11 or 12 years old. I told my dad, “I think I’d like to be a lawyer.” He said, “You can’t be a lawyer. Lawyers have to read stuff all the time. You hate reading.”
End of the sentence...............................“Rich-
ard.”
I was 8 years old. Oh, yeah, my birth name was Richard. When I didn’t recognize my own name I got “the belt.” The belt pounded the message into my mind: I was dumb. I was stupid. I was not a good reader.”
So at 16, non reader that I was, when girl I was “attracted to” suggested that I read, The Catcher In the Rye, well, I wasn’t interested in the book, but I was interested in her.
I know it is corny picking The Catcher in the Rye as my favorite book, but I have to pick it. The book changed me. I would be a different person today had I never read that book.
Like ever adolescent in America, I identified with Holden Caulfield. His struggle with innocence and loss of innocence was my struggle. His love hate feelings toward his parents was like mine. The book shook me.
What I did next is read Nine Stories, and then the novellas Frannyand Zooey, andRaise High the Roof Beam, Carpentersand Seymour: An Introduction.
This girl was not just sexy, she was a voracious reader and her suggestions to me were always right on: The short stories of Ernest Hemmingway, and The Old Man and the Sea, In Cold Blood. That year I am not sure how many books I read but it was at least a couple of dozen, and the reading continues.
I also kept going back to The Cather in the Rye. I started to pick up symbols in the work. When Holden’s little sister is on the merry-go-round and she is reaching for the brass ring, in the beginning Holden’s fear is she would fall. I started to see that when a good writer has someone fall in a book, it is more than a tumble. Holden’s fear that his sister would fall was a fear she would fall from innocence. At the end of the book Holden goes into a museum and is in the tomb exhibit where Egyptian mummies are kept. Holden passes out. It was a kind of death. He is in a grave. He passes out – a sort of death. He comes to – a sort of resurrection to new life. After that, when Holden sees Phoebe reaching for the brass ring he saysif she falls he falls.
The title of the book becomes a summary of the book. Holden imagines children playing red-rover in a rye field with a cliff at one end. Holden wants to be the catcher in the Rye field, the one who catches innocence before it falls over the edge of the cliff.
The more I read the more I wanted to read. The more I read the more I wanted to write.
I’ve read a lot of great books. And maybe I have read a lot of better books. Nevertheless, there is no doubt in my mind that The Catcher in the Rye is my favorite book. It turned me into a reader.
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Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)I really liked your story, Tex. I hated to read as a kid and because I couldn't say my "r"s, I hated to be called on for anything! I have never read The Catcher in the Rye, but now I just might have to. After your review, I get the title. Thanks for sharing.I sure know the pain of being on the spot in class and feeling less than able. Being the target of redicule. If only children could believe they have the ability to learn and they could do anything if they wanted it bad enough to work for it, there is no telling what wonderful things could happen in their lives. Peace and thanks for reading, tex
many English teachers claim it is the most affective book of the last century, has influenced many young people.I was in high school back in the 1960s and most schools wouldn't even allow the book in the library, much less the classroom. Interestingly, if you look at how Holden talks, when he is narrating he used goddamn a lot, but when he get really angry at someone he calls them names, but he doesn't cuss at all. Hm. I hope high schols are encouraging kids to read it. Thanks for reading my stuff. Peace. tex
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