2023年10月22日日曜日

Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger published in 1951

This is an interesting, amusing, and funny story. It is a collection of the episodes that describe the life of the protagonist, Holden Cadifield. He is 17 or 18 years old.

Each episode is written in a casual and carefree way with a lot of colloquial expressions and slangs. His episodes are about his friends, his teachers, his brother and sister. What makes the story interesting is that he tells his true feeling about the things he does or he says.

Here are some of the impressive expressions:

He took my mind off from the other stuff.

I sat down in the vomity-looking chair.

Which always kills me.

I’m always saying, “Glad to’ve met you” to somebody I’m not at all glad.

If you want to stay alive, you have to say that stuff, though.

What I did, I finally put my suitcase under my bed, instead of the rack, so that old Slagle wouldn’t get a goddam inferiority complex about it.

“Yeah. Wanna talka Sally. Very important. Put her on.

Excuse the appearance of the place.

I’m a moderate smoker.

When something pervert like that happens, I start sweating like a bastard.