Literary Songs A-Z | C is for… ‘Catcher in the Rye’ by J.D. Salinger

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Catcher in the Rye, Coming of age, guns n roses, Holden Caulfield, JD Salinger, literary songs, United States

The classic American ‘coming-of-age‘ novel ‘Catcher in the Rye‘ by J.D. Salinger is one of those books that leave me frustrated and slightly on edge. Holden Caulfield, the 16-year-old protagonist is an icon of teenage rebellion and angst. Now I’m well and truly past my teenage years I’m a little scared to relate with this strange boy who is caught in that in between stage of life.

So in honour of the novel here is Guns’n’Roses with their tribute ‘Catcher in the Rye’. Enjoy! Lyrics are below.

When all is said and done
We’re not the only ones
Who look at life this way
That’s what the old folks say
But every time I see them
Makes me wish I had a gun
If I thought that I was crazy
Well I guess I’d have more fun (Guess I’d have more fun)

Oooh, the Catcher In The Rye
Again Won’t let ya get away from him (Tomorrow never comes) It’s just another day… Like today
You decide
Cause I don’t have to
And then they’ll find
And I won’t ask you
At anytime
Or long hereafter
If the cold outside’s
As I’m imagining
It to be Oh, no

Lana nana na na na
Lana nana na nana
Ooh, the Catcher In The Rye Again
Won’t let ya get away from him (Tomorrow never comes)
It’s just another day… Like today
When all is said and done
We’re not the only ones
Who look at life this way
That’s what the young folks say
And if they’d ever change
As that reminds to say
But every time I see them
Makes me wish I had a gun
If I thought that I was crazy
Well I guess I’d have more fun
Cause what used to be’s
Not there for me
And ought to for someone That belongs… Insane… Like I do
Oh, no Not at all

On an ordinary day
Not in an ordinary way
All at once the song I heard
No longer would it play
For anybody
Or anyone
That needed comfort from somebody
Needed comfort from someone
Who cared To be Not like you
And unlike me

And then the voices went away from me Somehow you set the wheels in motion
That haunt our memories
You were the instrument
You were the one
How a body
Took the body
You gave that boy a gun

You took our innocence
Beyond our stares
Sometimes the only thing
We counted on
When no one else was there

Related articles

• US schools drop ‘Catcher in the Rye, ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ from curriculum… (telegraph.co.uk)
• So Long, Holden (slate.com)
• Classics “To Kill a Mockingbird”, and “Catcher in the Rye” to be Banned in Schools (dvorak.org)
• The Catcher in the Rye (dihs2011reading.wordpress.com)
• J.D. Salinger, Famous Recluse (introducingcitr.wordpress.com)
• Filming Catcher (introducingcitr.wordpress.com)
• Catcher in the Rye is dropped as pupils get insulation guide instead (thetimes.co.uk)

Book Review | ‘Crazy’ by Benjamin Lebert

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Adolescence, Benjamin Lebert, book review, Castle Neeseulen Boarding School, Catcher in the Rye, childhood, Coming of age, coming of age novel, crazy, cripple, German

Benjamin Lebert‘s debut novel ‘Crazy’ was first published in 1999 in German. It’s initially a coming-of-age story about young sixteen year olds who are on the brink of ‘growing up’ . The story itself is set in the grim Castle Neeseulen Boarding School, where teenagers of different backgrounds are gathered together for one final chance of improving their grades. When Benni first joins Neeseulen, the only problem he has is how to get his math score from a 6 to a 5; but as the term goes on, Benni finds himself an unlikely member of a motley crue, who between climbing fire escapes in the middle of the night, drinking everything in sight and screwing around a little also ponder the meaning of life along the way.

Oh, by the way… Benni is also a cripple.

Written from personal experience, Lebert manages to weave many thought-provoking questions into the novel. There is the painful embarrasment of partial paralysis written from a humorously optimistic point-of-view, that sharpens rather than masks how alienating the condition is, especially in a boarding school environment. Then there are the pains of growing up, the concept of ‘manliness’ and the issues of innocence lost. At moments, it is funny, yet under all the fooling about, lurk some important questions about life, love, childhood and adulthood.

 

“Hi folks, my name is Benjamin Lebert, I’m sixteen, and I’m a cripple”.

Amazingly, this is how Lebert introduces himself for the first-time to his classmates at Neeseulen. Leberts’ novel starts off pretty simple, but by the end of it, I grew so attached to the characters, that I wanted to read it all over again. Lebert highlights the importance of friendship during the stormy teenage years – how memories are made, and how ‘crazy’ the whole experience actually is. The boarding school life he recounts isn’t at all attractive. One gets a sense of the aimlessness of the children, the loss or lack of their parents, and the desperate ways in which they try to fill that void.

I agree with the comparison that it is much like ‘Catcher in the Rye’, with one difference: this is more accessible. The pessimism is not so heavy with Lebert, even though he has every reason to be so (being partially paralysed). He stands out as the optimistic one of the group, and through his eyes you begin to see how these children, (who come from broken homes and families) all find something to be grateful about.

A good read, and an excellent debut novel for a young author.

I give this 3/5 stars.