My stepson came to live with us when he was 15. He didn’t like to read. I gave him a copy (the first one with the red cover you held up, actually) of Catcher In The Rye. Well, he couldn’t put it down. Years later he told me, “Vick, I can’t believe you gave me that book to read!” I think he related to Holden in a way-he was a pretty sad teen who had to learn to live with us…I’m happy to say, he did great. We practically became the Waltons😂. I think meeting Holden helped. ❤️
I read “Catcher” at precisely the same time and at the same age as you. There’s magic in that book, and I think Holden became something of an anti-hero for our generation. I remember thoroughly enjoying the book, but after finishing it, never returned to it. However, as you recounted various events and themes, it came back to me as if I had read it just yesterday. I never realized how completely “Catcher” had attached itself to me, my thinking, and, dare I say, my soul. Although I never experienced a depression as deep as Holden’s, and thankfully was never hospitalized, I identified with his angst, as I suspect we all did. A wonderful and insightful post. Thanks, Pat.
Thank you, Bob, for this really thoughtful comment. I definitely identified with Holden's angst when I read this book for the first time at age 13. As I came back to the book over and over again at different ages and stages of my own life because I taught it for so long, it spoke to me in different ways. Having lost a brother in my early twenties, I understood Holden's grief in all new ways. Having a mother who, of course, could never get over the loss of her child, I understood Holden's view of his mother in a really profound way. Then, as a student of psychoanalysis in my 30's, I came to an entirely new understanding of Holden's profound depression. There are times in the book where he is very near psychosis--such as when he feels like he is disappearing or that he will never reach the other side of the street. He is having a complete mental breakdown. This is why I get so upset when someone who has never read the book makes a video about what an annoying character Holden Caulfield is. I can't tell you how many people totally misunderstand this book. And then there are those who talk about it without ever having read it! Please! Thank you for this comment, Bob.
@@BookChatWithPat8668You're welcome, of course. I think it's the mark of a true classic that one can return to it again and again throughout life and find something new and insightful each time, As far as people who condemn books they've never read: that's a pretty good description of the people who ban books, right?
You're such a treasure, Pat. I first read this book in 1975 at the age of 15. I wasn't assigned to read it, I was wandering around my high school library looking for something interesting to read and settled on this book. Like you, I couldn't put it down. It's too bad we never had to read it in class as I could have used some guidance and understanding. I think after nearly fifty years, it's time for a re-read...
@@annava7786 thank you. No, we didn’t read it in high school either in the 1970’s, but I’m so glad I found it when I did. And I taught it from 1982 on….
Hi, Pat. Thanks for your great video on The Catcher in the Rye. I am really enjoying "Books I Loved to Teach"! I want to tell you the kind of "peculiar" way I happened to read the book. I was in my early 20's, commuting into the city, to go to work. As usual, I was standing, holding onto a strap just under the ceiling of the bus. It may be a good thing, too, because chances are I would have missed another passenger, a seated one, a few rows away from where I was standing, with her nose in a book, laughing like crazy! Just shaking. Quietly, of course, but I remember her wiping her eyes from tears as she laughed. Well, I connoitered around so that I could see what novel she was reading.....and the rest is history. I, too, loved that book, Pat!
I read this quite a few times before you taught it to me, but you definitely endeared it to me forever. I still have my English class copy with my notes from your class. ❤
@@pastaacasa2520 oh my goodness! I’d love to see that copy! Thank you for this lovely comment! (I can’t tell from your name here who you are; was this at OKS?)
Your obvious passion for this novel is infectious! I need to find a copy now. I can see how this would connect with teenagers. I also love the descriptions of your students’ projects. They are so creative! Thank you for this enjoyable video and series, Pat!
Bravo Pat. This was fantastic. This series is my favorite on BookTube. Your take on these books you taught adds brevity and insights you don’t see anywhere else. So good! Thank you friend! ❤
Pat this was fantastic and I think you got the point and thread of the novel because of your experience teaching. You clearly taught it brilliantly but I think the students have you the insight to ve able to do that too - I am so much more aware of teenage depression and anxiety from my job aa a teacher.
@@bookssongsandothermagic absolutely, Gareth. Working with teenagers and young adults, we have to be tuned in to their emotional states. Thank you, Gareth, for this thoughtful response.
Salinger in general has never clicked for me, but I truly love how dear Catcher is to you. And I love that you were able to share something that's so special to you with so many students over the years, shepherding them through the novel with insight and understanding. Hearing all the creative ways the kids explored their own interpretations of the book was fantastic! 😊
Thanks, Patricia. I was always blown away by what my students were able to do at the end of units. I think most were able to demonstrate their understanding of the book in meaningful ways. I think that as I've grown older and as I studied psychoanalysis for so long, the book has taken on an even deeper meaning for me. I love all of Salinger's works, but this one is my favorite, as I guess I've made known--ad nauseam perhaps.
I have been waiting for this one, I knew it would come. That was brilliant and illuminating and now I want to read it, I last read it about 25 years ago. Thank you Pat, this was as wonderful as I knew it would be 😊
Thank you, dear Debs. I hope I didn't come off too defensively. I just think this is such an important book for so many young people, and it upsets me when people are dismissive of it out of hand--usually people who either haven't read it or haven't really understood it. Anyway, thank you so much for this lovely comment.
Yessssssssssss! I think this novel is one of the most frequently misunderstood. There's just so much, so many layers under that sarcastic narration. I love that we've been separately loving this book for decades, not realizing that our shared brain would eventually come together! 😄 I also love the student projects! .
@@readandre-read oh I love that we share this book too-and have been loving it all these years. And I agree that it is so misunderstood. You had to see me watching this video on “most annoying characters” made by the guy who stated outright he had never even opened the book. 😳
Wow hearing you talk about him and his grief actually got me emotional specifically the garage scene. I don’t know how I was able to miss this book. Why didn’t my teachers assign this ! I have to read it !
I never read it in school. I read it on my own when I was about 13. But by the time I started teaching, 8 years later, it was a pretty standard part of the English curriculum in many places. I just think that a lot of readers today miss the very central point that Holden tells us on page 1: that he is telling the story from a hospital. Readers who complain that he's just a whiny teenager seem to have missed that he has had a nervous breakdown and is retelling the events that have led up to that. He says it in several places that he is talking from a mental hospital, but I can't tell you how many readers totally miss that and think he's just a spoiled, whiny, rich kid. Talk about not reading with care! I think you would love the book, especially working in the mental health field.
I've been looking forward to this one! I picked up a copy last weekend and will be reading it soon. Perhaps I will change my mind about this book. I'm betting I will at least somewhat.
I read The Catcher in the Rye for the first time in Grade 10. I actually loved the book, and it was an eye-opener for me in the fact that I could enjoy a book that wasn't Fantasy, Sci-fi or pulp of some kind. I remember reading a chapter or two out loud in class, which I enjoyed doing. I've re-read it once since then. Good episode, Pat!
Thanks, Jim. I think sometimes it depends on how the book is presented to kids. It was almost universally loved by my students. I'm glad that it was a really positive experience for you too.
Oh, Pat, I hate to admit it but I missed the fact Holden was in a hospital and read the book as though Holden got it about the world surrounding him where everybody else was clueless. My copy is the one you have with Holden wearing the red hunting cap. I think I read it in about 1962 or 63 when I was 18 or 19. I don’t think any high school at that time was reading the book. I’m going to re read it now that I know what it’s really about. Thank you.
@@CionMohler my high school wasn’t teaching it yet when I was in school either. I just read it on my own. It’s easy to miss where he is when he’s telling his story. That’s why it actually helps to read it with a teacher who gets it. As he describes his three days in NY, Holden is getting closer and closer to a mental breakdown. There are a couple places in the book where he alludes to being in the hospital. But he does say it right on the first page. He does get things that everyone else is clueless about. That’s absolutely true. But he’s also heading toward a breakdown which ultimately lands him in the hospital…Thanks for watching and commenting. 😊
I love this video series, Pat! I discovered The Catcher in the Rye when I was a sophomore in high school and fell in love with it. I have the same vintage edition with Holden's illustration on the front :)
Thank you for sharing your experience of the novel. I'm glad that you read it in high school and loved it. Isn't that vintage cover incredible? I was really just thinking that I probably should buy a new edition just to have it in my collection, but I am very attached to these older copies. Thanks so much for watching and for commenting.
I read this book about 10 years ago because i had always heard about it being a great book and i never had to read it in English classes. I felt very let down.... so much praise for the book and i thought it a waste of time (i was a little dated...);I probably would have gotten more out of it had i read it as a teen. I found your review of it interesting, and i will probably reread it. I am sure your students will always remember you as the best teacher they had.
@@carolnash5617 you are very kind. Thank you. I guess there is a time and place for a book like this. It might have struck you differently if you had read it in school with a teacher who appreciated it. It’s hard to say. I just think it’s a frequently misunderstood book these days. Thanks for tuning in and commenting. 😊
I read Catcher in High School in the late 60s. It didn't seem removed then with everything that was going on. It is admirable that the Catholic HS I went to had Catcher in its reading list and I was taught during an English class by a Franciscan brother. Many great discussions came during our read of this book that you touched on here. One notable story of mine is of a parent coming to school to speak with the brother about how many GDs were in the book and she found that offensive. We continue to read the book and it continued to be on the list for years in the future. Yes, I checked back. I enjoyed hearing your thoughts on this one. I have my red HS copy on the shelf and it's looking at me. I think I will give it a reread.
I just wrote a whole response to you, and it disappeared! Frustrating. That is really impressive that you read it in a Franciscan high school in the 1960's. This was not in our curriculum in the 1970's, but I read it, as I said, on my own in the early 1970's. I don't think most people find the language to be too controversial these days, though it certainly has been challenged over the years in places where book banning is rampant. I think that people who object to its being read in schools really don't understand what it is about--a boy whose dream is to preserve the innocence of children! Thank you so much for sharing with me your experience of the novel in high school.
Thank you for explaining this book. I'd heard of Catcher in the Rye, but it wasn't assigned to me in my homeschool group. I didn't know anything about it until now. Hearing about it brings up an old desire. I wonder if there's a book out there about a teenage girl who is depressed but is too shut down, too scared to put a toe out of line? That would have been me. Most of the time when I see teens portrayed by adults, they're rebellious, at-risk youth. They're not the annoying nerdy kids from strict homes, that have ADHD, depression, and chronic fatigue, who wouldn't dare do anything seriously wrong, but who talk about books too much and love going to history sites on vacation. I never felt like I saw myself in teen related stories when I was growing up. It made me feel abnormal.
Oh Melissa, thank you for this thoughtful comment. You bring up an excellent point that I tried to address as a teacher--that most of our books featured male characters and that females were totally unrepresented. I think that this is still true but there are many more books being written now with young female protagonists. First, thank you for telling me so much about your background. I still think that Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye might be a character that you would appreciate, even if he is a 1950's male character. I think you would appreciate his struggles. That said, I can also try to recommend some books with young female protagonists who are also searching for their identity in a world where they don't feel as though they fit in. Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is set in Nigeria, but it features a teenaged girl who is feeling totally stifled by her fanatically religious father. Jaqueline Woodson has several books that feature teen girls. The House You Pass on the Way is one. Harbor Me is another. Brown Girl Dreaming is still another. She also wrote HUSH. She is a Newberry Award winning author. She tends to write about young girls of color, and she always deals with issues of identity, fitting in, family relationships. A student that I tutored twice a week one-on-one told me that the Cassandra Clare fantasy series, The Mortal Instruments, was what got her into reading. I had never heard of them, and I started to read them with her, starting with City of Bones. I really enjoyed them. I'm not coming up with titles that specifically address your situation, but these are all books that do feature adolescent girls who are all struggling with important issues. I'll keep thinking on this. But you are pointing out a really important issue that is one that concerns me as well. Oh, also--did you read the Hunger Games series? They certainly feature a female teen protagonist. The reason I think of them is that a former student of mine who is a book editor is the editor of Suzanne Collins, the author. In fact, my former student discovered Suzanne Collins. I have another former student who works in teen book-buying for The Strand, a giant NY City bookstore. Let me ask her what she recommends for teen girls. She has read everything in that age group. I will get back to you soon. Thank you for this thoughtful comment and question.
OK. I have some more suggestions for you from my former student, the book buyer: She recommends the following, and they all sound really good: Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson; Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli (2 part series, though might be a little bit young); The Extraordinaries by T.J. Klune; The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson; and Matched by Ally Condie, which is part of a series that also includes Crossed and Reached. Of this last series, she said it is a dystopian YA series and her co-worker, a former Mormon who left the church, said that it actually described for her very well what it is like to be a young girl in her church. I haven't read these, but they come highly recommended by someone who works specifically in YA books. Hope this helps.
@@BookChatWithPat8668 Thank you so much Pat! I will get my computer out and make a file of these books that were suggested just for my inner teen. Maybe I'll start with the one about the exmormon. I grew up Mormon too.
@@TimeTravelReads just to be clear: it isn’t about an ex-Mormon. But my former student told me her colleague, who was an ex-Mormon, said that this book described for her what it was like being a young girl in the Mormon community. I just wanted to clarify that; it isn’t specifically about Mormons. It’s about a fictional dystopian society….
This was not a required reading when I was in school, but listening to you talk about it really makes me wish it had been. I think I really would have enjoyed it and would’ve found it helpful. I wish I could convince my daughter to read it because I think she could relate to it. But she is snarky about anything she deems “too old” 😂
@@shalidarenee84 thank you for this lovely comment. It was already old when I read it 50 years ago, and it had a profound impact on me even then. Your daughter will assuredly grow up soon and realize that there are many wonderful books that were written before the 2020’s! 😊
Good discussion. I was one of those who missed the key detail on page 1. I didn’t recognize he was suffering from mental illness until the end of the book when he was in a mental institution. Overall I did enjoy the book though
@@stuartgriffin1001 it’s easy to miss when you’re starting to read the novel. But I think some readers never realize where he is when he’s telling the story, even after they finish it. I just had this conversation recently with a friend who said she never realized he was talking from the hospital. Thanks for your kind words, Stuart.
Sometimes our reaction might have to do with how a book is first presented. You might not like it on the second go-around either, but I think this book, in particular, could be presented better by teachers. Just my opinion...
@@Ali-AvidReader I just have to figure out the best medium for that where people can actually talk to one another. I'm thinking....Thanks for your support!
@@anotherbibliophilereads well, you know, I’d say you’re never too old. I think you’d appreciate Holden’s sense of humor and his irreverence. And I wouldn’t worry that you’d miss the point.
I hope you didn't hear the groan that I emitted when you told us what book you were going to talk about. After listening to all the hype about the book, I have really tried to like It. (I have read it 3 times) But asyou explained why you liked it I am certainly going to give it one more try. Thank you for a wonderful video. I really love all your content and I am always anxiously awaiting each new video.
Well, thank you for the lovely comment. I think sometimes this book really resonates with people at a certain time in their life and maybe not so much later on. With me, as I've revisited it many times throughout my life, I have found it has just grown in meaning for me. But I totally get that that isn't the case for everyone. As I've studied psychoanalysis and prepared for a second career, I began to see it even more than I had before as a powerful depiction of teen depression. I'm not so aware of hype around the book. Mostly, I've followed efforts to ban it from schools, which makes me really sick. Anyway, don't feel compelled to read it again on my account. If you've read it three times, and you still don't like it, my guess is it's not for you. Thank you for. the kind words about my channel. I really appreciate your watching and commenting.
@@JessBookgirlTV oh Jess, I love S. E. Hinton, especially The Outsiders and That Was Then, This Is Now, but I never taught them. This new series I’m doing is on books I taught. But I could definitely talk about them outside this series. I loved those books when I read them, maybe in junior high school? And I know that my students that I taught in high school also loved them when they read them. It’s been a long time since I’ve read them, but maybe I could re-read them sometime soon and do something with them. I remember absolutely falling in love with That Was Then…when I first read it. I think that was the first S. E. Hinton book I discovered. Let me think on this some more and see what I can do. Thanks for asking me.
I have a copy of _The Outsiders_ (which I haven’t revisited since it was presented in school) but _That Was Then_ is the one I’d really like to see again. I found that on my own at the public library.
@@davidnovakreadspoetry Same here. I read That Was Then first, and then I found The Outsiders. I loved That Was Then...and liked The Outsiders. I don't remember any strong feelings about the other two.
I have read the book and I did find him the most annoying character in literature, and one that has inspired countless further teen characters in various media. But maybe if you had taught it to me I would have liked it more - this video makes it sound much better than I remember.
Hi Tilly. Thanks for the comment. You may still have not enjoyed it even if you had read it with me, but I tended to find, with my students anyway, once they understood what Holden's real problem was, they responded to him with empathy and, for many, with a real sense of identification. But I am also a therapist, in addition to being an English teacher, so I look at this novel clinically as well. I could never see a teenaged boy in a mental hospital suffering from deep mourning and depression as annoying. But maybe the novel has seen its day if current readers and younger generations are not seeing it for what it is. Thanks for watching and commenting, Tilly. I appreciate your thoughts.
@tillysshelf it’s easy to miss. He comes back to it later, too, but it’s there on the first page. I just found, in teaching the novel, it helped kids to respond to the book if I pointed out certain things right at the outset. I think the novel has not been taught well in some classrooms, also. That’s not to say that I’m an authority on how to teach it. But I think my great love for the book had a lot to do with how I introduced it to kids. Believe me, it was tougher for me to teach books that I didn’t love! In this new series I’m doing, I’m just talking for now about books I loved to teach. Maybe I’ll eventually tackle the ones I wasn’t so crazy about. Thanks again for watching and discussing this with me, Tilly. 😊
I do remember a few years ago, there was this backlash against the character of Holden Caulfield. South Park lampooned the book as not really being vulgar by today's standard. People were saying that the book only got attention because there was some cursing in it. I guess they missed the point of the story and the character. I think these things come in cycles. One minute something is a classic and the next, it's overrated. Comics have the same problem, by the way. It comes and goes with each generation.
@@someothercharacter that’s very true. I’m reading a lot of currently banned books getting a lot of attention in some states where book banning is rampant. The Catcher in the Rye is hardly ever challenged anymore. I still think, though, it’s a frequently misunderstood book.
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My stepson came to live with us when he was 15. He didn’t like to read. I gave him a copy (the first one with the red cover you held up, actually) of Catcher In The Rye. Well, he couldn’t put it down. Years later he told me, “Vick, I can’t believe you gave me that book to read!” I think he related to Holden in a way-he was a pretty sad teen who had to learn to live with us…I’m happy to say, he did great. We practically became the Waltons😂. I think meeting Holden helped. ❤️
Oh my goodness, Vicki, I love this story. Thank you for telling me about your family!
I read “Catcher” at precisely the same time and at the same age as you. There’s magic in that book, and I think Holden became something of an anti-hero for our generation. I remember thoroughly enjoying the book, but after finishing it, never returned to it. However, as you recounted various events and themes, it came back to me as if I had read it just yesterday. I never realized how completely “Catcher” had attached itself to me, my thinking, and, dare I say, my soul. Although I never experienced a depression as deep as Holden’s, and thankfully was never hospitalized, I identified with his angst, as I suspect we all did. A wonderful and insightful post. Thanks, Pat.
Thank you, Bob, for this really thoughtful comment. I definitely identified with Holden's angst when I read this book for the first time at age 13. As I came back to the book over and over again at different ages and stages of my own life because I taught it for so long, it spoke to me in different ways. Having lost a brother in my early twenties, I understood Holden's grief in all new ways. Having a mother who, of course, could never get over the loss of her child, I understood Holden's view of his mother in a really profound way. Then, as a student of psychoanalysis in my 30's, I came to an entirely new understanding of Holden's profound depression. There are times in the book where he is very near psychosis--such as when he feels like he is disappearing or that he will never reach the other side of the street. He is having a complete mental breakdown. This is why I get so upset when someone who has never read the book makes a video about what an annoying character Holden Caulfield is. I can't tell you how many people totally misunderstand this book. And then there are those who talk about it without ever having read it! Please! Thank you for this comment, Bob.
@@BookChatWithPat8668You're welcome, of course. I think it's the mark of a true classic that one can return to it again and again throughout life and find something new and insightful each time, As far as people who condemn books they've never read: that's a pretty good description of the people who ban books, right?
@ it absolutely is!
You're such a treasure, Pat. I first read this book in 1975 at the age of 15. I wasn't assigned to read it, I was wandering around my high school library looking for something interesting to read and settled on this book. Like you, I couldn't put it down. It's too bad we never had to read it in class as I could have used some guidance and understanding. I think after nearly fifty years, it's time for a re-read...
@@annava7786 thank you. No, we didn’t read it in high school either in the 1970’s, but I’m so glad I found it when I did. And I taught it from 1982 on….
I read Catcher in the Rye last year and it took me by my throat. Thank you for this video, it has inflated my appreciation for this novel!
@@Imkate_sand thank you for telling me that.
Hi, Pat. Thanks for your great video on The Catcher in the Rye. I am really enjoying "Books I Loved to Teach"! I want to tell you the kind of "peculiar" way I happened to read the book. I was in my early 20's, commuting into the city, to go to work. As usual, I was standing, holding onto a strap just under the ceiling of the bus. It may be a good thing, too, because chances are I would have missed another passenger, a seated one, a few rows away from where I was standing, with her nose in a book, laughing like crazy! Just shaking. Quietly, of course, but I remember her wiping her eyes from tears as she laughed. Well, I connoitered around so that I could see what novel she was reading.....and the rest is history. I, too, loved that book, Pat!
Oh my goodness! Thank you so much for telling me this story! I love everything about this memory. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
I read this quite a few times before you taught it to me, but you definitely endeared it to me forever. I still have my English class copy with my notes from your class. ❤
@@pastaacasa2520 oh my goodness! I’d love to see that copy! Thank you for this lovely comment! (I can’t tell from your name here who you are; was this at OKS?)
Your obvious passion for this novel is infectious! I need to find a copy now. I can see how this would connect with teenagers.
I also love the descriptions of your students’ projects. They are so creative! Thank you for this enjoyable video and series, Pat!
@@joshuacreboreads thank you, Josh! It’s a very special book to me…
Bravo Pat. This was fantastic. This series is my favorite on BookTube. Your take on these books you taught adds brevity and insights you don’t see anywhere else. So good! Thank you friend! ❤
Thank you, Kevin! I hope you know how much I appreciate your support. ❤️
Pat this was fantastic and I think you got the point and thread of the novel because of your experience teaching. You clearly taught it brilliantly but I think the students have you the insight to ve able to do that too - I am so much more aware of teenage depression and anxiety from my job aa a teacher.
@@bookssongsandothermagic absolutely, Gareth. Working with teenagers and young adults, we have to be tuned in to their emotional states. Thank you, Gareth, for this thoughtful response.
Pat, this video is just the balm I needed this morning. I have yet to read The Catcher in the Rye, but I feel led to pick it up soon.
@@literarylove123 thank you, dear Jen. I’m heartbroken too…
Salinger in general has never clicked for me, but I truly love how dear Catcher is to you. And I love that you were able to share something that's so special to you with so many students over the years, shepherding them through the novel with insight and understanding. Hearing all the creative ways the kids explored their own interpretations of the book was fantastic! 😊
Thanks, Patricia. I was always blown away by what my students were able to do at the end of units. I think most were able to demonstrate their understanding of the book in meaningful ways. I think that as I've grown older and as I studied psychoanalysis for so long, the book has taken on an even deeper meaning for me. I love all of Salinger's works, but this one is my favorite, as I guess I've made known--ad nauseam perhaps.
I have been waiting for this one, I knew it would come. That was brilliant and illuminating and now I want to read it, I last read it about 25 years ago. Thank you Pat, this was as wonderful as I knew it would be 😊
Thank you, dear Debs. I hope I didn't come off too defensively. I just think this is such an important book for so many young people, and it upsets me when people are dismissive of it out of hand--usually people who either haven't read it or haven't really understood it. Anyway, thank you so much for this lovely comment.
Yessssssssssss!
I think this novel is one of the most frequently misunderstood. There's just so much, so many layers under that sarcastic narration. I love that we've been separately loving this book for decades, not realizing that our shared brain would eventually come together! 😄
I also love the student projects!
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@@readandre-read oh I love that we share this book too-and have been loving it all these years. And I agree that it is so misunderstood. You had to see me watching this video on “most annoying characters” made by the guy who stated outright he had never even opened the book. 😳
I’ve learned so much from your videos and I’m new to your channel.
Thanks for all the hard work.
Thank you so much! I’m so glad you found me. Thanks for this lovely comment.
Wow hearing you talk about him and his grief actually got me emotional specifically the garage scene. I don’t know how I was able to miss this book. Why didn’t my teachers assign this ! I have to read it !
I never read it in school. I read it on my own when I was about 13. But by the time I started teaching, 8 years later, it was a pretty standard part of the English curriculum in many places. I just think that a lot of readers today miss the very central point that Holden tells us on page 1: that he is telling the story from a hospital. Readers who complain that he's just a whiny teenager seem to have missed that he has had a nervous breakdown and is retelling the events that have led up to that. He says it in several places that he is talking from a mental hospital, but I can't tell you how many readers totally miss that and think he's just a spoiled, whiny, rich kid. Talk about not reading with care! I think you would love the book, especially working in the mental health field.
@ wow that seems like quite an important piece to miss. Not good. I def have to get to this one. Thx Pat!
I think you will definitely "get it" and appreciate it.
I've been looking forward to this one! I picked up a copy last weekend and will be reading it soon. Perhaps I will change my mind about this book. I'm betting I will at least somewhat.
@@KellyLovesBooksandMovies Hi Kelly. Let me know how it strikes you this time around.
She did it. She did it! Best wishes Pat!!!
@@ReadingIDEAS.-uz9xk well, it’s been important to me for most of my life, I guess. I hope you’re doing well, my friend! 😊
I continue to enjoy this series, Pat. Thank you!
Thank you so much for watching and commenting!
I read The Catcher in the Rye for the first time in Grade 10. I actually loved the book, and it was an eye-opener for me in the fact that I could enjoy a book that wasn't Fantasy, Sci-fi or pulp of some kind. I remember reading a chapter or two out loud in class, which I enjoyed doing. I've re-read it once since then. Good episode, Pat!
Thanks, Jim. I think sometimes it depends on how the book is presented to kids. It was almost universally loved by my students. I'm glad that it was a really positive experience for you too.
It was, without a doubt. Thanks for the trip down memory lane. ☺️
@@MysteryandMayhem-gr7nn so glad you enjoyed it!
Oh, Pat, I hate to admit it but I missed the fact Holden was in a hospital and read the book as though Holden got it about the world surrounding him where everybody else was clueless. My copy is the one you have with Holden wearing the red hunting cap. I think I read it in about 1962 or 63 when I was 18 or 19. I don’t think any high school at that time was reading the book. I’m going to re read it now that I know what it’s really about. Thank you.
@@CionMohler my high school wasn’t teaching it yet when I was in school either. I just read it on my own. It’s easy to miss where he is when he’s telling his story. That’s why it actually helps to read it with a teacher who gets it. As he describes his three days in NY, Holden is getting closer and closer to a mental breakdown. There are a couple places in the book where he alludes to being in the hospital. But he does say it right on the first page. He does get things that everyone else is clueless about. That’s absolutely true. But he’s also heading toward a breakdown which ultimately lands him in the hospital…Thanks for watching and commenting. 😊
I love this video series, Pat! I discovered The Catcher in the Rye when I was a sophomore in high school and fell in love with it. I have the same vintage edition with Holden's illustration on the front :)
Thank you for sharing your experience of the novel. I'm glad that you read it in high school and loved it. Isn't that vintage cover incredible? I was really just thinking that I probably should buy a new edition just to have it in my collection, but I am very attached to these older copies. Thanks so much for watching and for commenting.
I read this book about 10 years ago because i had always heard about it being a great book and i never had to read it in English classes. I felt very let down.... so much praise for the book and i thought it a waste of time (i was a little dated...);I probably would have gotten more out of it had i read it as a teen. I found your review of it interesting, and i will probably reread it. I am sure your students will always remember you as the best teacher they had.
@@carolnash5617 you are very kind. Thank you. I guess there is a time and place for a book like this. It might have struck you differently if you had read it in school with a teacher who appreciated it. It’s hard to say. I just think it’s a frequently misunderstood book these days. Thanks for tuning in and commenting. 😊
I read Catcher in High School in the late 60s. It didn't seem removed then with everything that was going on. It is admirable that the Catholic HS I went to had Catcher in its reading list and I was taught during an English class by a Franciscan brother. Many great discussions came during our read of this book that you touched on here. One notable story of mine is of a parent coming to school to speak with the brother about how many GDs were in the book and she found that offensive. We continue to read the book and it continued to be on the list for years in the future. Yes, I checked back. I enjoyed hearing your thoughts on this one. I have my red HS copy on the shelf and it's looking at me. I think I will give it a reread.
I just wrote a whole response to you, and it disappeared! Frustrating. That is really impressive that you read it in a Franciscan high school in the 1960's. This was not in our curriculum in the 1970's, but I read it, as I said, on my own in the early 1970's. I don't think most people find the language to be too controversial these days, though it certainly has been challenged over the years in places where book banning is rampant. I think that people who object to its being read in schools really don't understand what it is about--a boy whose dream is to preserve the innocence of children! Thank you so much for sharing with me your experience of the novel in high school.
@BookChatWithPat8668 I hate when that happens. So sorry. Yes it is frustrating. Thank you for your rewrite.
@@majelthesurreal5723 Of course. I love the conversation in the comments. Thanks for leaving me such a thoughtful comment in the first place!
Thank you for explaining this book. I'd heard of Catcher in the Rye, but it wasn't assigned to me in my homeschool group. I didn't know anything about it until now. Hearing about it brings up an old desire. I wonder if there's a book out there about a teenage girl who is depressed but is too shut down, too scared to put a toe out of line? That would have been me. Most of the time when I see teens portrayed by adults, they're rebellious, at-risk youth. They're not the annoying nerdy kids from strict homes, that have ADHD, depression, and chronic fatigue, who wouldn't dare do anything seriously wrong, but who talk about books too much and love going to history sites on vacation. I never felt like I saw myself in teen related stories when I was growing up. It made me feel abnormal.
Oh Melissa, thank you for this thoughtful comment. You bring up an excellent point that I tried to address as a teacher--that most of our books featured male characters and that females were totally unrepresented. I think that this is still true but there are many more books being written now with young female protagonists. First, thank you for telling me so much about your background. I still think that Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye might be a character that you would appreciate, even if he is a 1950's male character. I think you would appreciate his struggles. That said, I can also try to recommend some books with young female protagonists who are also searching for their identity in a world where they don't feel as though they fit in. Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is set in Nigeria, but it features a teenaged girl who is feeling totally stifled by her fanatically religious father. Jaqueline Woodson has several books that feature teen girls. The House You Pass on the Way is one. Harbor Me is another. Brown Girl Dreaming is still another. She also wrote HUSH. She is a Newberry Award winning author. She tends to write about young girls of color, and she always deals with issues of identity, fitting in, family relationships. A student that I tutored twice a week one-on-one told me that the Cassandra Clare fantasy series, The Mortal Instruments, was what got her into reading. I had never heard of them, and I started to read them with her, starting with City of Bones. I really enjoyed them. I'm not coming up with titles that specifically address your situation, but these are all books that do feature adolescent girls who are all struggling with important issues. I'll keep thinking on this. But you are pointing out a really important issue that is one that concerns me as well. Oh, also--did you read the Hunger Games series? They certainly feature a female teen protagonist. The reason I think of them is that a former student of mine who is a book editor is the editor of Suzanne Collins, the author. In fact, my former student discovered Suzanne Collins. I have another former student who works in teen book-buying for The Strand, a giant NY City bookstore. Let me ask her what she recommends for teen girls. She has read everything in that age group. I will get back to you soon. Thank you for this thoughtful comment and question.
OK. I have some more suggestions for you from my former student, the book buyer:
She recommends the following, and they all sound really good:
Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson; Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli (2 part series, though might be a little bit young); The Extraordinaries by T.J. Klune; The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson; and Matched by Ally Condie, which is part of a series that also includes Crossed and Reached. Of this last series, she said it is a dystopian YA series and her co-worker, a former Mormon who left the church, said that it actually described for her very well what it is like to be a young girl in her church. I haven't read these, but they come highly recommended by someone who works specifically in YA books. Hope this helps.
@@BookChatWithPat8668 Thank you so much Pat! I will get my computer out and make a file of these books that were suggested just for my inner teen. Maybe I'll start with the one about the exmormon. I grew up Mormon too.
@@TimeTravelReads just to be clear: it isn’t about an ex-Mormon. But my former student told me her colleague, who was an ex-Mormon, said that this book described for her what it was like being a young girl in the Mormon community. I just wanted to clarify that; it isn’t specifically about Mormons. It’s about a fictional dystopian society….
@@BookChatWithPat8668 Okay. Sounds good. Well. I've been thinking about reading more fiction at some point. I guess that point has come.
This was not a required reading when I was in school, but listening to you talk about it really makes me wish it had been. I think I really would have enjoyed it and would’ve found it helpful. I wish I could convince my daughter to read it because I think she could relate to it. But she is snarky about anything she deems “too old” 😂
@@shalidarenee84 thank you for this lovely comment. It was already old when I read it 50 years ago, and it had a profound impact on me even then. Your daughter will assuredly grow up soon and realize that there are many wonderful books that were written before the 2020’s! 😊
Good discussion.
I was one of those who missed the key detail on page 1. I didn’t recognize he was suffering from mental illness until the end of the book when he was in a mental institution. Overall I did enjoy the book though
@@stuartgriffin1001 it’s easy to miss when you’re starting to read the novel. But I think some readers never realize where he is when he’s telling the story, even after they finish it. I just had this conversation recently with a friend who said she never realized he was talking from the hospital. Thanks for your kind words, Stuart.
This isn’t one of my favourites but hearing you talk about it makes me want to read it again😊
Sometimes our reaction might have to do with how a book is first presented. You might not like it on the second go-around either, but I think this book, in particular, could be presented better by teachers. Just my opinion...
@ Yes I suspect you’re right Pat, I will give it a go again at some point.
@@Ali-AvidReader I ought to run a group....
I’ve thought for quite a while that you’d be amazing at running a group, a lot of extra work for you though.
@@Ali-AvidReader I just have to figure out the best medium for that where people can actually talk to one another. I'm thinking....Thanks for your support!
I have never read Catcher In the Rye. I wonder if I’m too old now.
@@anotherbibliophilereads well, you know, I’d say you’re never too old. I think you’d appreciate Holden’s sense of humor and his irreverence. And I wouldn’t worry that you’d miss the point.
I hope you didn't hear the groan that I emitted when you told us what book you were going to talk about. After listening to all the hype about the book, I have really tried to like It. (I have read it 3 times) But asyou explained why you liked it I am certainly going to give it one more try. Thank you for a wonderful video. I really love all your content and I am always anxiously awaiting each new video.
Well, thank you for the lovely comment. I think sometimes this book really resonates with people at a certain time in their life and maybe not so much later on. With me, as I've revisited it many times throughout my life, I have found it has just grown in meaning for me. But I totally get that that isn't the case for everyone. As I've studied psychoanalysis and prepared for a second career, I began to see it even more than I had before as a powerful depiction of teen depression. I'm not so aware of hype around the book. Mostly, I've followed efforts to ban it from schools, which makes me really sick. Anyway, don't feel compelled to read it again on my account. If you've read it three times, and you still don't like it, my guess is it's not for you. Thank you for. the kind words about my channel. I really appreciate your watching and commenting.
Would you consider talking about S.E. Hinton's' ' books 'The Outsiders,' 'Rumble Fish,' 'Tex,' 'That Was Then, This Is Now'?
@@JessBookgirlTV oh Jess, I love S. E. Hinton, especially The Outsiders and That Was Then, This Is Now, but I never taught them. This new series I’m doing is on books I taught. But I could definitely talk about them outside this series. I loved those books when I read them, maybe in junior high school? And I know that my students that I taught in high school also loved them when they read them. It’s been a long time since I’ve read them, but maybe I could re-read them sometime soon and do something with them. I remember absolutely falling in love with That Was Then…when I first read it. I think that was the first S. E. Hinton book I discovered. Let me think on this some more and see what I can do. Thanks for asking me.
I have a copy of _The Outsiders_ (which I haven’t revisited since it was presented in school) but _That Was Then_ is the one I’d really like to see again. I found that on my own at the public library.
David, I think That Was Then, This Is Now was my favorite of the whole batch. I’m going to re-read soon. 😊
@ _Rumblefish_ and _Tex_ didn’t work for me, but I think I may have just been growing beyond.
@@davidnovakreadspoetry Same here. I read That Was Then first, and then I found The Outsiders. I loved That Was Then...and liked The Outsiders. I don't remember any strong feelings about the other two.
I have read the book and I did find him the most annoying character in literature, and one that has inspired countless further teen characters in various media. But maybe if you had taught it to me I would have liked it more - this video makes it sound much better than I remember.
Hi Tilly. Thanks for the comment. You may still have not enjoyed it even if you had read it with me, but I tended to find, with my students anyway, once they understood what Holden's real problem was, they responded to him with empathy and, for many, with a real sense of identification. But I am also a therapist, in addition to being an English teacher, so I look at this novel clinically as well. I could never see a teenaged boy in a mental hospital suffering from deep mourning and depression as annoying. But maybe the novel has seen its day if current readers and younger generations are not seeing it for what it is. Thanks for watching and commenting, Tilly. I appreciate your thoughts.
@BookChatWithPat8668 I think I missed that detail anyway - possibly not paying enough attention to page one!
@tillysshelf it’s easy to miss. He comes back to it later, too, but it’s there on the first page. I just found, in teaching the novel, it helped kids to respond to the book if I pointed out certain things right at the outset. I think the novel has not been taught well in some classrooms, also. That’s not to say that I’m an authority on how to teach it. But I think my great love for the book had a lot to do with how I introduced it to kids. Believe me, it was tougher for me to teach books that I didn’t love! In this new series I’m doing, I’m just talking for now about books I loved to teach. Maybe I’ll eventually tackle the ones I wasn’t so crazy about. Thanks again for watching and discussing this with me, Tilly. 😊
I do remember a few years ago, there was this backlash against the character of Holden Caulfield. South Park lampooned the book as not really being vulgar by today's standard. People were saying that the book only got attention because there was some cursing in it.
I guess they missed the point of the story and the character. I think these things come in cycles. One minute something is a classic and the next, it's overrated. Comics have the same problem, by the way. It comes and goes with each generation.
@@someothercharacter that’s very true. I’m reading a lot of currently banned books getting a lot of attention in some states where book banning is rampant. The Catcher in the Rye is hardly ever challenged anymore. I still think, though, it’s a frequently misunderstood book.
maybe it's a different time but I found the book ok but
Ok but?
What took you so long? 😉
Hah! I have to tell you: I approached this one with real fear and trepidation. It is hard to put out there something that you cherish beyond measure.