27 January 2010

WEEK FOUR - 'THE CATCHER IN THE RYE' & 'WAITING FOR THE BARBARIANS'

















'The Catcher in the Rye' by JD Salinger
January 18 - 19, 277 pages

I was just flicking through the book trying to find a passage to quote but it was hard because each time I turned the page I just wanted to read. It makes me smile (I also want to put 'smile' in italics because Mr Salinger has made me think like that). This is an excellent book. Everyone who has read it told me so. But they also told me that I would get annoyed with Holden. I didn't. He's great. I love when he 'digresses' and when he says that he wants to 'catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff.'

I ate 'Catcher' up too quickly so I also read
'Waiting for the Barbarians' by JM Coetzee
January 21 - 22, 156 pages
This guy knows how to write. This book is so honest and powerful. It made me squirm, it me cringe, it made me think. I am really glad I read this book.

I don't really have much to add. A great week's reading. Both books were very good and very different (besides both being written by people with two initials and a last name, and the first initial being 'J').

3 comments:

  1. Hmmm I remember people saying something similar about Holden when I was about to read it, but I didn't really have that problem either.

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  2. Yeah I know I kept waiting for him to do something terrible but it never came!

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  3. your blog makes me happy

    but also very upset with myself and how i still have not finished the picture of dorian gray.
    i know, i am a failure! ahh!

    but hey you! you're great and so is your blog and so is this comment (incase you were thinking otherwise)

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