Somerville Donor's Choose: Catcher in the Rye

[beinneighe.livejournal.com]

The folks at Donor's Choose forwarded this project to me, and I figured I'd signal boost... Mrs. Karlin at Somerville High School is looking for 45 copies of Catcher in the Rye for her kids to keep, highlight, mark up, cuddle with, etc. There's a ton of worthy projects in the area, but this one's special to me because I've always been a fervent re-reader and was privileged enough to grow up in a home with books readily available. I think this project could make a big difference in the kids' education and, for those who really get something from the book, it would let them keep it and re-read it long after the class ends. I don't think I can say enough about how much books saved my life during some hellish times as a kid. Anyways, the link's above, and you can donate literally any amount. If the project isn't funded, the money is "given back to you" to spend on another project (I don't think they recredit it to your credit card). Check it out. 

Comments

[squirrelitude]

Perhaps tangential: I found that book entirely alien to me when I was in high school, and I remember my classmates having similar reactions. But I know people who *do* like it. Maybe it's the kind of book that only adults appreciate? (Then again, I *still* find it an odd book.)

[beinneighe.livejournal.com]

I'm right there with you, but people who get it seem to love it, and at least it's a piece of cultural literacy to have going into college. I decided to substitute "The Great Gatsby" for "Catcher in the Rye" to try to counter my bias ;) Having read it in high school, I guess I'll never know, but I wonder if its appeal to adults is that it captures adolescent angst so well? I definitely identified with the "phony"-ness of everything and some other bits when I read it back then, but it wasn't cathartic and it didn't give me any insights or anything. Maybe if I'd been an adult, I'd have felt like it was impressive that JDS was able to capture that. Dunno.

[42itous.livejournal.com]

I had the same reaction when I read it in high school. I think it's a generational thing, and by now it's at least two generations gone by. Only one generation old but supposedly the same feel or theme is Confederacy of Dunces. The thing that really spoke to me when I discovered it in high school was Youth in Revolt -- it was unknown at the time and the only reason I saw it was that I worked at the bookstore and it had an eye-catching clean white cover with a bomb on it. (Why they changed that cover out for much busier and less eye-catching ones I don't know, and no, I haven't seen the movie.)

Oh, and perhaps the three-or-four-generations-gone-by novel is A Separate Peace, which really is wonderful, at least in my opinion. These are such a matter of taste.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Yep, I was excited about this project in theory, but not so much by Catcher. There isn't even any justification as to why that book. I doubt the teacher is older than us, so I'd be curious as to why she thinks it's relevant, aside from the fact that she was forced to read it as a kid, too. Generally speaking, I adored the books I read for school, and Catcher always stood out as an exception to that. I'm glad it's funded so that I don't have to feel guilty about not giving. :)

(I haven't re-read Separate Peace in a long time, but I always loved it.)

[42itous.livejournal.com]

I also loved most of the books I was assigned for school. Now I'm curious how much our lists overlapped...

In 5th grade I loved The Witch of Blackbird Pond and also enjoyed Bridge to Terebithia.
In 6th, Island of the Blue Dolphins.
In 7th, To Kill A Mockingbird, which I recently reread and decided that it's the single most well-written thing I have ever read.
In high school, I loved Catch-22, and The Awakening, and Song of Solomon. (But not The Member of the Wedding -- I didn't understand why we had to read that.)

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

The only books there that I read for school were TKaM (loved it) and Catch-22 (also loved it). I would get into fights with the teacher over Catch-22. We disagreed over what country it were in, and she was wrong but pretty insistent. She also got mad when I read ahead.

I think with some of the books I didn't enjoy, it was only because reading them so slowly with stupid assignments in between sucked the joy out of it.

[maelithil.livejournal.com]

Thanks for posting this! Donors Choose is a fantastic organization and I was very happy to fund this project. :)