Reading The Catcher in the Rye, the book that may have inspired mass murder. I hear it's a classic. The life and thoughts of a self-proclaimed liar... who hates liars.
Holden Caulfield is... a strange character, to put it lightly. For a single moment, he invites you into his world with all his self-absorbed talk, and then he spins it upside down. He tells one tale for you, and another version of what should be his own solid opinions for yet another reader.
At first, Holden is pleased, almost eager to deal with whatever/whomever he wants. Then he turns critical, intensely spiteful. Does he truly like this person, or doesn't he? Well, do you? If you do, then Holden likes him too. He really does.
... But then, do you believe him?
I don't know how to trust Holden. There are always two sides to his story. I've never met such a likeable, distasteful, irritable, brazen misfit of a character before.
Who is he trying to please? Or is he really trying to please anyone at all?
Because at the end of the day, Holden seems to believe that he is better than everyone else. He's lonely, I think, but he'd rather be alone than under someone else.
For most, I think it would be difficult to keep up this self-isolation when in reality, there's this craving for good company. But then, whenever Holden is around other people for a while, the social interaction gets to be too much for him. So he pulls back, he lies, he gets bitter.
It's a constant struggle to be around people.
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