Day 1: My Favorite Book

This 30 Day Challenge is already proving difficult for me. I have a very hard time thinking of books in terms of absolutes. I love almost every book I read. Of course, I love different books in different ways, so trying to pick just one single book as my favorite book is quite arduous. After long thought (probably more time than a normal person should have spent thinking about her favorite book), I decided my favorite book, if I must pick just one, is probably The Catcher in the Rye.

The single point that helped me to decide is the simple fact that I’ve read and reread The Catcher in the Rye more than any other book. It may be because it is one of the books that I have owned for the longest number of years; it may be because it is a relatively short and easy read; or it may be because I somehow find it comforting and can relate to Holden’s confusion and cynical sense of society. Probably the latter two.

When I say “easy” read, I mean that while it has motifs, underlying themes, etc., it is written in what I call Salinger style– simple sentences that somehow form an excellent story line and are still able to say so much more.

“What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. That doesn't happen much, though.” ― J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

I actually got The Catcher in the Rye from my uncle for my 13th or 14th birthday. (I also got Winesburg, Ohio from him, and to this day, have not read it. I probably should. I hear it’s good.) It sat on my bookshelf for a few years. I didn’t know anything about JD Salinger or the novel. I love JD Salinger. I’ve read nearly all of his work. I did not know that Mark David Chapman carried a copy of the book when he shot John Lennon. I did not know that John Hinkley Jr had a copy on him when he attempted to assassinate Ronald Reagan. And I only learned this past fall, while on the Dearly Departed Tour in LA, that Robert John Bardo was reading it just minutes before he shot and killed Rebecca Schaeffer. And let me tell you, it is a huge, HUGE disappointment. Because I love the book. And I have never had homicidal thoughts. Well, that I’ve followed through on. –Joking– Seriously, it really bums me out that it was previously banned from the libraries and reading lists, and has caught such a bad wrap throughout the last few decades.

I’ve digressed. I intended to explain how I feel that I relate to Holden because I, too, have a habit of not exploring my emotions and blaming the phoniness of adults, instead of admitting that I am terrified of adulthood (although I am well into adulthood). Although I do not consider myself superior, I do tend to isolate myself for my own preservation. And now I’ve run out of time…the 9 month old girl I sit for is becoming very mobile and is now trying to climb the cat’s scratching post.