March 28, 2009

on revisiting books

Dear 15-year-old-self,

The Catcher in the Rye does not "suck." Trust me.

Love,
S.

7 comments:

Teri said...

Ha! This is what I would say: "Dear 15 year-old-self, no, Holden Caulfield would NOT make a good boyfriend."

saleema said...

Hah!! Really? It was my intense dislike of Holden at that age that turned me off the whole book. I thought he was an intolerable whiner.

(Now I just want to cuddle him and tell him everything will be all right.)

Anonymous said...

I felt the same way about that book both when I was 15, and later! I disliked it, then liked it. I wonder if maybe they make us read it too early?

saleema said...

maybe they did! or maybe they needed to start on us on more challenging literature earlier, so that we'd be ready?

Jonathan Ball said...

I always liked Catcher in the Rye, but had the same series of reactions with The Great Gatsby.

Anonymous said...

I read it last year. I guess the plot never appealed to me. We'll see in a few years. :)

saleema said...

Jonathan - I never had a strong reaction to The Great Gatsby at all. It just kind of left me cold. Another one to reread, I guess!

Ronald - I always find it interesting to revisit books -- even ones I loved the first time around, to see if I still like them later. I'm curious what you'll think! Then again, there's so much out there still to read, I worry about spending time rereading..