Just gasping from bits on the AV Club from people far more articulate and aware than I'll ever be....

Ones I agreed with/loved:


"Now well into adulthood, I recently re-read Catcher and found to my surprise that Salinger is actually pretty merciless about Holden's jackassery. I think Sailnger mocks Holden's inability to adapt while also making him pitiable because of the massive trauma caused by the death of a sibling."
- (True dat. Over the years, my impression of Holden has grown with me. During our first encounter, I found him insufferable, without a single redeeming quality at first. I just think of him now as a disaffected, frightened, nostalgic boy. I never found him heroic, and I always found it somewhat disturbing that others would.)

- "i still want to know where the ducks go when the lake in central park freezes over.
- "In my sandwich, motherfucker."

Published about eight times to random comments under the username of Holden Caulfield:
"^what a phony"


Beautiful, beautiful link:
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/new_terminator_movie_brings_j_d

"I like the part where Holden jumps out of the skyscraper as it explodes and grabs hold of the bottom of the helicopter. Then he turns around and pithily says "bunch of phonies"." - in response to a pitch to a Michael Bay adaptation of Catcher in the Rye

"all the great novels and short stories he's been writing in secret...they are being edited as we speak by Harper Lee."


"Catcher in the Rye is a great novel if only for how ell it prefigured the hipster douche bag archetype. But then, Hamlet was sorta one of them, too, and he was 30."


"I mentioned it above, but I was a whiny teenage boy when I read it and all I could do was whine about how fucking whiny Holden Caulfield was."


"I'll always wonder why the infinitely superior Glass stories weren't the ones studied in English class. " (Personally, I found it depressing that Catcher in the Rye resonated with so many more people than the grating, hopeful "Franny and Zooey".)

"I'll tell you a terrible secret — Are you listening to me? There isn't anyone out there who isn't Seymour's Fat Lady."

Today, the author of my favorite book "Franny and Zooey", passed away. I once fantasized of striking up a letter correspondence with him. It's very hard to let go of a 90+ year old man when he is and forever will be, immortalized as the _______ youth (it's very hard to describe Holden with justice - youth always seemed to be Salinger's most treasured attribute - I always thought that he was kind of the Scott Fitzgerald/JM Barrie of his time) who resonated with so many generations of petulant, idealistic iconoclasts. (If you think of it, wasn't Holden the predecessor to everything, from Travis Bickle to Igby? Maybe that's a little too egotistic). I know this is rambling, but this is.....well, this is JD Salinger. 

Most upsettingly, none of my friends seem to give a fuck, other than an "aww...that's horrible." S has found my depression a tad bit confusing. 

 

Funny Frances

As weird it may be, I've decided what I might - must, actually - give any future daughter as a middle name.

Frances - in allusion to four great female characters in literature/movies that I've identified with or enjoyed.

Fanny Price - Mansfield Park

 

Francie Nolan - A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Franny Glass - Franny and Zooey 

Fanny Brawne - Bright Star (alright, I can't identify with her, I'm nowhere as ballsy or pretty or fashionable as Fanny, and and I've never had a Romantic poet fall in love with me. But you may have deduced from my 3948194 posts on Bright Star that the movie meant a lot to me).

So there you have it. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn was one the best novels I read in middle school, and it's almost impossible for any young female reader not to identify with Francie Nolan's dreamy detachment, her earnest love for writing and reading, and her cliched, but still frankly depicted loneliness. 

I've only read Mansfield Park a few months ago, but I liked Fanny, unlike most people I know. I like that she's kind of sweet and priggish and sly. P&P is an absolute favorite, so the Austen reference would be appropriate. 

Franny and Zooey - firstly, favorite book. Plus, Franny is a blast. Most people would call Franny whiny, but I think there's a difference between whining for the sake of whining ("I have two essays due tomorrow, fuck my life") or the agonizing of a young girl genuinely confused about the age-old dynamic between idealism and normalcy. 

But as fascinating and flawed as their owners are, the names Franny, Francie, or Fanny are simply not suited to 21st century girls, not even as middle names. Can you imagine "Lauren Franny", or "Alexandra Fanny"? Eh. All the poignant, doe-eyed heroines in the world couldn't save it. The name is pretty much equivalent to Maude or Barbara. There's a certain century it needs to stay in.  

Frances, on the other hand, is a little charmingly old-fashioned but in sort of timeless, girlish fashion, and uncommon. Not to mention I've always wanted to learn French....that's five references.

**Postscript: My friend argued with me as to why I would pick these girls. Specifically? Pluck, presence, an eye for beauty, a love for learning, introspection, good sense, and a big heart. That's all the traits a girl needs in life. Oh, and a wicked sense of humor, so I think I'll need to find a fifth Frances that embodies that trait. Maybe I'll name my future possible daughter "______ Frances Tina Fey Yossarian" (did Yossarian from Catch-22 have a last name?).