Aaahhh… The Phoniness of the World.

The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger, 252 Pages


Last term, I have to choose a recommended book to criticize on for a course on child and adolescent development. I very much wanted to write on the Brothers Grimm due to my liking to read the Grimms’ manipulation of happy fairy tales into fearsome ones, but I eventually find J. D. Salinger’s controversial ‘Catcher in the Rye’ to be more interesting as it allows me to explore the minds of adolescents and adults from different perspectives.

The story follows the series of events that occurred to its main character, Holden Caulfield, in a matter of days that spanned from his being expelled from a good school to his going home. Throughout his journey home, Caulfield spoke about his family, school, teenage angst, girls and love. More importantly, the scaffolding of his thinking provides readers opportunities to delve into the minds of adolescents who are represented by Caulfield. Very much of the time, Caulfield criticizes the phoniness of the world – especially the world of adulthood which he thinks is pretentious. This implores that the children’s world is innocent and being an adolescent, Caulfield is caught between the two worlds. He finds that it is difficult to let go of his innocence, whereas it is also difficult for him to accept and penetrate the phony world of adults. Eventually, Caulfield came to a realization that it is inevitable that he has to grow up, but would he still choose to be his younger self or mature with time, in compliance with all the phoniness that surround him?

Written in 1951, what Salinger wrote is still very much relevant to the society today, especially in terms of the misunderstanding between adolescents and adults due to their different worlds. No, their worlds are not much of different actually. It is just the different perceptions that both groups have on the other that resulted in their inability to have a good communicative relationship. I have never thought that the story printed on the very brown papers would be of much interest to me. Whenever I look at old books, I always have this thought that they will not interest me. Ironically, I was caught up with Caulfield’s narration of the world as seen from his eyes. Although sometimes Caulfield can be an unreliable narrator due to his telling readers only what he wants to tell, and perhaps have manipulated the truth from being told, ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ was able to project me to a state in which I reflected very much on the phoniness that Caulfield described throughout my winter break. Although I cannot agree entirely with Caulfield, I somewhat cannot deny the phoniness in the people and the world that show up in my life. I do not want this to be true, but I get upset when proven wrong. True enough, I cannot agree totally with Caulfield, but I also cannot deny what Shakespeare said is wrong, that “all the world’s a stage”. Prove me wrong.

My TBR Pile

My TBR Pile

Title

Author(s)
0-9
1,000 Places to See Before You Die: A Traveler's Life List Patricia Schultz
10 Insider Secrets to A Winning Job Search Todd Bermont
1984 George Orwell
33 Things Every Girl Should Know : Stories, Songs, poems, and Smart Talk by 33 Extraordinary Women Tonya Bolden
90 Minutes in Heaven Don Piper


A
A guide to codes and signals: International flag code, secret ciphers, weather signals, morse code… Gordon A. J Petersen
A Long Way Down Nick Hornby
A Series of Unfortunate Events Lemony Snicket
A Survival Guide for Working with Bad Bosses Gini Grahm Scott
Advantage Quest Guide: Business Etiquette Anne Sabath
Alex & Me: How a Scientist and a Parrot Discovered a Hidden World of Animal Intelligence--and Formed a Deep Bond in the Process Irene M. Pepperberg
Amerika Franz Kafka
An Education Nick Hornby
Anansi Boys Neil Gaiman
Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging: Confessions of Georgia Nicolson Louise Rennison
Annie's Baby: The Diary of Anonymous, a Pregnant Teenager Anonymous
The Almond: The Sexual Awakening of a Muslim Woman Nedjma and C. Jane Hunter
The Andromeda Strain Michael Crichton
The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler

B
Bad, Badder and Baddest (Bad Girls) Cynthia Voigt
Basic Course in American Sign Language Tom Humphries, et al
Belle de Jour: Diary of an Unlikely Call Girl Anonymous
Birthday Koji Suzuki
Blind Side, The Michael Lewis
The book of codes : understanding the world of hidden messages:an 
Paul Lunde
Bog Child Siobhan Dowd
Boy in Striped Pyjamas John Boyle
Boy Next Door Meggin Cabot
Brick Lane, The Monica Ali

C
Castaways of the Flying Dutchman Brian Jacques
Castle, The Franz Kafka
Choke Chuck Palahniuk
Crank Ellen Hopkins
CSI Body of Evidence Max Allan Collins
CSI Miami Max Allan Collins
CSI The Files: The Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to CSI Paul Simpson
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Serial Max Allan Collins
CSI#1 Double Dealer Max Allan Collins
CSI#2 Sin City Max Allan Collins
CSI#3 Cold Burn Max Allan Collins
CSI#3 Cold Burn Max Allan Collins
CSI#5 Grave Matters Max Allan Collins
CSI#6 Binding Ties Max Allan Collins
Curious Case of Benjamin Button F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe CS Lewis
The Complete Book of Intelligence Tests Philip Carter
The Couple's Book Benrik
The Criminal Mind Katherine M. Ramsland

D
Dark Ground Gillian Cross
Daughters or Arabia Jean Sasson
Diary of an Anorexic Girl Morgan Menzie
Don't Sweat the Small Stuff for Teens Richard Carlson
Dreams from My Father Barack Obama
The Day I Swapped My Dad for 2 Goldfish Neil Gaiman
The Devil Wears Prada Lauren Weisberger

E
Emily Post Talks with Teens about Manners and Etiquette Elizabeth L. Post
Esfera Michael Creighton

F
Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury
Fear Itself Jonathan Nasaw
Fear Street: All-Night Party RL Stine
Fear Street: The Stepsister RL Stine
Fear Street: The Perfect Date RL Stine
Fear Street: The Rich Girl RL Stine
Forensic Science of CSI Katherine M. Ramsland
Forever X Geraldine McCaughrean
Freedom Writers Diary, The Erin Gruwell

G
Gold Dust Geraldine McCaughrean
Golden Grove Francine Prose
Green River, Running Red Ann Rule
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Stieg Larsson
The Girlfriend RL Stine
The Girls He Adored Jonathan Nasaw
The Graveyard Book Neil Gaiman

H
Hannibal Rising Thomas Harris
Heavy Metal and You Christopher Kroratin
Hope's Boy: A Memoir Andrew Bridge
How to Talk to Girls Alec Greven

I
The Iron Man Ted Hughes

J

K
Killing Britney Sean Olin

L
Let's Play Doctor: The Instant Guide to Walking, Talking, and Probing Like a Real M.D. Mark Leyner, Billy Md Goldberg
Let the Right One In
Little Children Tom Perrotta
Loop Koji Suzuki
The Lost Boy: A Foster Child's Search for the Love of a Family  Dave J. Pelzer
Lovely Bones, The Alice Sebold
The Little Book of Scientific Principles, Theories & Things Surendra Verma
The Lucky One Nicholas Sparks

M
Magnificent Mind at Any Age: Natural Ways to Unleash Your Brain's Maximum Potential Daniel G. Md Amen
A Man Named Dave: A Story of Triumph and Forgiveness  Dave J. Pelzer
Mary Mary James Patterson
Mayada: Daughter of Iraq Jean Sasson
Maybe Baby Lani Diane Rich
Molly Nancy J. Jones
Morse Code: Breaking the Barrier Dave Finley
Multiple Blessings: Surviving to Thriving with Twins and Sextuplets Jon Gosselin, Kate Gosselin, Beth Carson
My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey Jill Bolte Taylor

N
Nation Terry Pratchett
Night Call Radclyffe
Nights in Rodanthe Nicholas Sparks

O
Outliers: The Story of Success Malcolm Gladwell

P
Panic: The Story of Modern Financial Insanity Michael Lewis
Princess Jean Sasson
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Classic Regency Romance Jane Austen
The Privilege of Youth: A Teenager's Story Dave J. Pelzer
The Pact Jodi Picoult
The Power of a Praying Teen Stormie Omartian
The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio Terry Ryan

Q

R
Rape of Nanking Chang
Redwall Brian Jacques
Revenge of the Sarong Party Girl Jim Aitchison, Theseus Chan
Rich Dad, Poor Dad Robert Kiyosaki
Rosie Dunne (a.k.a. Where Rainbows End) Cecelia Ahern
Rotten School: Dudes, The School is Haunted! RL Stine
Rotten School: Party Poopers RL Stine
Rotten School: Punk'd and Skunked RL Stine
Rotten School: Party Poopers RL Stine
Rotten School: Shake, Rattle, & Hurl RL Stine
Rotten School: The Good, The Bad, and the Very Slimy RL Stine
Rotten School: The Great Smelling Bee RL Stine
Rotten School: The Heinie Prize RL Stine
Rotten School: The Rottenest Angel RL Stine
Rotten School: The Teacher From Heck RL Stine
Rotten School:Lose, Team, Lose! RL Stine
Rotten School:The Big Blueberry Barf-Off RL Stine
The Ragwitch Garth Nix

S
Signing for Dummies Adan R. Penilla, Angela Lee Taylor
Smack Melvin Burgess
Snakes and Earrings Hitomi Kanehara
Spectrum of Chinese Culture Lee Siow Mong
Spiral Koji Suzuki
State of Fear Michael Crichton
Sticky Fingers Niki Burnham and Rodrigo Corral
Stop the Train Geraldine McCaughrean
Stories We Could Tell Tony Parsons
The Secret Life of Bees Sue Monk Kidd

T 
Teen Idol Meg Cabot
Thinking Smart: You are how you think isbn 9679789187
Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations...One School at a Time Greg Mortenson
Tipping Point, The: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference Malcolm Gladwell
This Book Will Change Your Love Life: The indispensablecompanion to any self-respecting relationship Benrik
Tom's Midnight Garden Philippa Pearce
Trial, The Franz Kafka
Trump: Think Like a Billionaire Donald Trump

U
The Usborne Internet-Linked Complete Book of the Human Body isbn 0794506283

V

W
Waltz into Darkness Cornell Woolrich
Wenny has Wings Janet Lee Carey
What's Your Poo Telling You? Anish Sheth and Josh Richman
White Tiger Aravind Adiga
Why Men Lie and Women Cry Allan & Barbara Pease
WOW: "A Gift for the Fun Mom" [ISBN 9679789217]
The Wolves in the Walls Neil Gaiman

Y
You are Brilliant Mike Francis
The Young Writer's Guide to Getting Published The Young Writer's Guide to Getting Published Kathy Henderson
You're Wearing That?: Understanding Mothers and Daughters in Conversation Deborah Tannen

Z
Zits Jim Borgman, Jerry Scott

Rawr!

Rawr (I do mean ‘hello’)!

The Year of the Tiger marks a significant new beginning for me, for I learn to acknowledge the challenges awaiting me in the coming days…

Upon seeing my failure to sustain my many blogs, I have decided to just stick with one blog for now; one blog which I will devote to books which have touched my life in a way or another.

Occasionally, I have this overflow of feelings which I want to express so badly, but I didn’t have the time to do so, no thanks to the many distractions that overpowered my clutching of books in my hands. There is just so much to do, so much to be recorded for reminiscence, yet there is very limited time in our lives.

Why blog when I can spend my time meeting and talking to real people? I just couldn’t give up writing or blogging whatsoever. I just love writing so much that I just couldn’t stop at times.

I am making amend to myself and my blog this time, for real. I will try to read and write more, and think more. This blog is in no way serves as a platform for professional review of books, but merely as an arena for me to voice out personal opinions on books and how they relate to me and the world.

I will start writing soon. Let’s see how it goes.