6/11/18 - Daily Log Blog - Ben Schultz

Today the majority of the class was missing, so we were largely left to our own devices in class. We could watch Netflix, or work on work for other classes, etc. Mr. Rivers and I had a discussion on The Catcher in the Rye, by J. D. Salinger. I claimed that it was completely uninteresting, and the writing was not nearly good enough to support such a meandering and boring purpose. Mr. Rivers said that it was an all time classic, and that it gave a more realistic look at what life is actually like. While The Catcher in the Rye may be a more realistic look at life, that certainly does not make it any better in my opinion. When I read a book, I am looking for something that can pique my interest. It doesn't particularly matter whether what I am reading is realistic or not, as long as the book can keep my interest and stay interesting throughout. I understand that every book has its climaxes and slow moments, but The Catcher in the Rye seems almost like it is one long slow moment. It is a book without a climax. It may seem like I hate this book, but I really don't. I just found it very boring, and honestly, I would rather read a bad book than a boring one. It seems that schools across the country pick The Catcher in the Rye as required reading for students, most likely because they think kids will relate to it. Just because Holden Caulfield is also a teenager, does not mean we, as high school students, will relate to him any more. Life as a high-schooler has changed immensely since 1951, and some of the things that he does throughout the novel seem so outlandish for a teenager, that I find it hard to believe that people in 1951 related to it either. Based on J. D. Salinger's real life and opinions, it seems like he just wrote a book about himself in many places, which only makes it even stranger. The Catcher in the Rye is just low quality reading in my opinion, and frankly, I am not sure how it attained its status as a so-called 'classic.'