J.D. SALINGER - THE CATCHER IN THE RYE

The famous book that apparently induced the psychotic Mark Chapman to kill JOHN LENNON.

Could never really see how myself. Sure, the central character, HOLDEN CAULFIELD, is a bit of an outsider, who goes manic when he sees the innocence of his little sister, PHOEBE, threatened (he goes into a rage when a crude message is left written on a wall at his sister's school). The pivotal moment for psychoanalysts analysing Chapman's motives.

It's just a pity this book will always be remembered in such a dubious way, but it's a fine book. Risqué for 1951, but tame, even innocent, now. CAULFIELD is shy with girls, and seems a thoroughly decent chap. A little cameo of college life in mid-20th Century America. The good and the bad...and all.

- Paul Rance.

This Paul Rance article originally appeared in issue 6 of EASTERN RAINBOW, in 1999. More details about Eastern Rainbow here.

Jane Austen - Pride And Prejudice
Lewis Carroll - Alice In Wonderland and Through The Looking Glass
Miguel de Cervantes - Don Quixote
Charles Dickens - A Tale Of Two Cities
Charles Dickens - Oliver Twist
Kenneth Grahame - The Wind In The Willows
Graham Greene - Brighton Rock
John Hegley - Glad To Wear Glasses
Franz Kafka - The Trial
C.S. Lewis - The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe
Paul Merton - My Struggle
George Orwell - 1984
Wilfred Owen - Collected Poems
J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone
J.D. Salinger - The Catcher In The Rye
Anna Sewell - Black Beauty
Fiona Snelson - The NSPCC Book Of Famous Faux Pas
Voltaire - Candide

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