If a body meets a body

If you really want to know the truth, I don't see why people get that swell about Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye. They're a bunch of goddamn phonies, all of them.

The style of the writing is the remarkable feature of the novel: slang, redundancies, repetition of grammatical structures, etc. I have no elements to judge, but I am incline to believe that the style of prose and the personal manner the story is told by the character of Holden Caulfield are the main achievements of the novel, as purposely casted. Indeed, the thoughts, the actions of Holden seem to me realistic for a 16-year old child, as well as his propensity to lie and tease around, at least of a 16-year old guy like Holden. Even the end, cut out all of a sudden in the exact way I would do (or I did) when I was 16-year old: suddenly, you are not interested any more in writing and stop. I should read Salinger's short stories, the ones not featuring Holden Caulfield, and check whether the style is alike or not. I feel a little curious about that.

I almost cry tears (I promise I felt like to it) when at the end a wretched Holden sends a note to his sister Phoebe and ask her to meet at the Museum of Art at 12.15 for farewell before he runs away. Phoebe is late but shows up carrying Holden's old suitcase and says: "I am going with you. Can I? Ok?" And she makes her point: "All I have in it is two dresses, and my moccasins and my underwear and socks and some other things. Feel it. It isn't heavy. Feel it once". Phoebe is a lovely character, the only authentic resource in the novel. As Holden put it and I put it, Phoebe "kills me". Another scene had happened before, when Holden furtively visits her in the night. His parents were out, but came back and entered into Phoebe's room but she concealed him. The dialogue between Mother and Sister is tender and beautiful.

Thanks to genuine Phoebe, Holden stays, does not escape into the West. Phoebe and Holden both walk towards the zoo in opposite sidewalks, and Phoebe always follow him. That's remarkable: the whole story is a get-away, with characters shaking off from each other. All people elude Holden and, if not, will stay and wrong him. In that case, Holden will extricate himself from the situation and be on the run. That's it: a continuous escape. On the contrary, Phoebe would follow him and stay with him.

And thus, Phoebe is the true body, coming through the rye, who catches her brother. She is who prevents Holden from the fatal escape, from flinging himself of the window, from jumping out of the cliff in the rye field.

Note: The Rye is/was a river in Scotland, though.

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