Brian’s Comments (group member since Oct 21, 2016)

Brian’s comments from the Arters AP Literature 2016-17 group.

One of the most popular novels of all time is “The Catcher in the Rye”, in fact, annually over 250,000 copies are sold. Many would say this is the book that turned J.D. Salinger into a very well known author. At the time of it’s release, the novel was very different and unique while at the same time being very controversial. The novel contained a strong theme of innocence in children while also containing vulgar language, sexual content, under-aged activities, and violence. The main character, Holden, was major figure and icon to many teenagers at the time. Many thought that this portrayed a poor image of America’s youth. This caused the novel to be looked down upon by many and also to be banned and challenged in many schools across the U.S. Today, the novel is still a controversial topic among ,however, many have started to recognize its literary importance and have started to accept it.
The novel is about a teenage boy named Holden whos mental state is deteriorating and his journey from his boarding school to New York City. Holden is the complete opposite of what any parent would want their child to be. He is a very rebellious, egotistic teenager who has psychological problems. No one in the book other than his family family and his childhood love, Jane, meets his expectations of what he thinks a human being should be. Throughout Holden’s journey, he gets into many situations that aren’t typical for teenagers to encounter including getting beat up by hookers and raped by his teacher. He also partakes in many disgraceful activities teenagers that are typically looked down up like under-aged drinking and smoking. His journey overall was something really something unique and unexpected at the time.
Overall I personally thought this novel did not even come close to the expectations. It contained a really tasteless plot and also an easily dis-likable protagonist. While I was reading the novel, there was just a feeling of oblivion. The plot went nowhere and each new scene was just small interactions between Holden and characters that would never be mentioned in the book later on.The small interactions also did not help build the plot at all, many of these interactions felt really insignificant to the novel. I really had a strong dislike towards the beginning of the novel, when Holden was being developed. To me, he just comes off as a rich and snobby kid who was handed everything on a silver platter that just doesn’t care. He is the epitome of a brat. Whenever something doesn’t go his way, he throws a fit and runs away. As the novel went on, I was able to tolerate more and more because he ended up being an exceptional brother towards his sister, but overall I just had a strong feeling of dislike towards him. I personally would never recommend this book for anyone unless that person enjoyed books with tasteless plots and un-admirable characters.

Vinh wrote: "Alex wrote: "Vinh wrote: "Alex wrote: "Mr Antolini just tried to rape Holden, I wonder how this is going to impact Holden's sanity."

Mr. Antolini is super sus. If I was Holden, I would not be stay..."

I agree, I was really confused about the ending. So it just completely ends at him watching over his sister on the carousel? The ending doesn't really help with plot, there is no indication at all on how he became "sick".

Vinh wrote: "I read farther into the book and it seems that Holden really cares for Jane. I wonder if he will ever try to reunite with her or not. Holden seems to become more unstable as the book progresses."
Throughout the book it seems that Jane is the only girl that he really only cares about. I can see Holden finding a way to reunite with her towards the end of the book since shes been the girl that hes been thinking about during this whole trip to New York.

Vinh wrote: "Alex wrote: "Brian wrote: "Alex wrote: "Brian wrote: "So far the book's plot has just been really really slow. I'm kind of confused on what the plot really is. There has only been small interaction..."
I wasn't really suprised by that at all. Things were heating between them. I saw it coming right when Holden tore up the essay he wrote for Stradtler.

Vinh wrote: "Holden smokes cigs so that's cool of him to do."
Hes like a really weird guy but that wasn't really a wierd thing to do back then. The story took place in like the 40's and smoking was kind of a common thing.

Alex wrote: "Brian wrote: "So far the book's plot has just been really really slow. I'm kind of confused on what the plot really is. There has only been small interactions with groups of characters and individu..."
Im kind of curious too. I feel like its going to be one of those situations where we find out that Jane is Houlden's long time crush since like childhood. This could potentially cause some beef between bros.

So far the book's plot has just been really really slow. I'm kind of confused on what the plot really is. There has only been small interactions with groups of characters and individual characters.

So far i've read up to page 9. We find out the narrator's name is Houlden Caulfield and we a lot about him. He hates everything, including movies. That seems kind of weird. He also seems kind of arrogant because he sort of looked down to everyone in his old school, that he left. He doesn't seem like the funnest guy to be around.

Alex wrote: "Catcher in the rye"

I am also reading this book.

Im currently on page 30 of Death of a Salesman. So far this book has been just lots of background information and really nothing about the plot. I learned that the two sons, Biff and Happy are like 30 years old and they still depend on their parents. Neither of them enjoy their jobs nor can they maintain a job. They seem like they're rednecks because they would rather work on a farm than an office job. The two brothers also have fantasies of moving into a ranch together and raise cattle. They're the complete opposite of their father, Willy who is a business man.

So far i'v read up to page 16 of Death of a Salesman. The books starts out really weird. It is revealed that Willy, who seems to be the main character, had leave his business trip early because he kept falling asleep on the wheel. Willy also has been talking to imaginative figures. This causes him to take a local job and stop traveling. So far nothing really interesting has happened, just a lot of background information.

The Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller