If I'd name one of the semesters, in college of course, that I had the least time to read, it would be this one. So far.
Factors supporting my claim are:
1) I've bought/read some
books just because they
were required (
Lord of the Flies,
McDonaldization,
Marx for Beginners).
2)
I've only managed (Ha!) to borrow a book from a friend. (
Things Fall Apart from Am.) And I have yet to read it.
3)
I've bought only five books, using my own money. Downsize This! by Michael Moore,
Gentleman's Agreement by Laura-something,
A Trip to Quiapo by Ricky Lee,
Line to Stroke: Art Techniques from Pencil to Paint by Paul Taggart and J.D. Salinger's
Catcher in the Rye. Well, I have yet to pay for Chuck Palahniuk's novel
Diary that I will get from a friend. (My mother paid for
Lord of the Flies.)
4)
And I have yet to read the Ricky Lee, and Paul Taggart books. (
Nasira kasi yung pagkakabind nung Ricky Lee book. Tsk.)
5)
I wasn't amazed with Catcher in the Rye. Yes, it had roaring and controversial reviews.
Pero, wala talaga eh.
Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold had more effect on me (I was in first or second year highschool when I read it) than Salinger's.
Siguro it has something to do with the age I am/was in when I read the books.
It was Jecy who first told me that Salinger's "coming-of-age" book was read, or carried, by assassins and would-be assassins after their crimes or after being caught.
Google provided me with case(s) in point: Mark David Chapman on John Lennon, John Hinckley Jr. on Ronald Reagan (failed), and Robert John Bardo on a certain Rebecca Shaeffer (failed).
So, after reading the book, should I be one of them? As I write (type) this, I have read the book for weeks now. And surprisingly(!) I don't find myself feeling so much hatred towards some person/event that can
motivate me to kill, or inflict pain. Or find joy in thinking of such act/s.
This article on
Catcher in the Rye talks about it (and the Beatles' songs in their
The White Album) being "mechanisms of conrol" to motivate (negatively speaking) people, random civilians, into killing political/social icons. "Legend" has it that J. D. Salinger once worked for US Intelligence, specifically with the
de-nazification (a code word alluding to the importation of high-level Nazi spies into the highest ranks of the American Intelligence Community under the auspices of Project Paperclip, the top secret operation which smuggled hundreds of Nazis out of Germany. These "reformed" Nazis were then given new identities, in time forming the core of the new U.S. intelligence, defense and aerospace establishments) of Germany. Wow. I love conspiracy theories.
Well. This mini-review of
Catcher in the Rye (I say mini
kasi I mentioned it towards the end of this entry) has brought to light, on/to me especially the controversy and the hype that came with it that must have led it into being a "cult-ish" publication. Thus, being labelled a classic. Or maybe, I'm not that of a
good critic/reader, to like/appreciate this one.
Having read the book, and not liking/appreciating it, am I, now, a candidate for being the Assassin of the Year(s to come)? If I do become an assassin, I think I would not blame (or credit) this book. Maybe someone else's work. He he. And if that day happens *evil laugh*, you'll read about it in the news.
I think, as Ate Avic of San Cristobal tours once said (as we were traversing the dangerous terrain of the Sumaguing Caves in Sagada),
"It's all in the mind."