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OMFG CATCHER IN THE RYE!!!

2008-07-22 · review / recommendation · John · 4:00 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Books & writing · mode: Personal essay · tags: recurring series, civic or action cta, self promotion

Introducing The Catcher in the Rye for the Nerdfighter Blurbing Book Club, John argues against Salinger's 'reader who reads and runs': metaphor opens the hardest questions, and books grow richer when read closely.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Blurbing Book Club book is The Catcher in the Rye; Salinger's other books; the dedication to the reader who reads and runs

  • ★★ John reminds Hank that the current Nerdfighter Blurbing Book Club book is J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye. — 00:00:00
  • ★ John says Catcher is Salinger's most famous work, but he also published Franny and Zooey, Nine Stories and a book holding Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction. — 00:00:00

  • ★★ John reads that book's dedication, in which Salinger addresses an amateur reader or anybody 'who just reads and runs', and takes that reader as his theme. — 00:00:00

    “anybody who just reads and runs”

00:00:46 — Against "reading critically ruins books": metaphor in life and in Catcher (the ducks), reading for yourself not the author; plan for two videos

  • ★ John says that soon afterwards Salinger left his wife for a 19-year-old and has not been a particularly good father to his children. — 00:00:46
    • a number in question (doubtful): "19" — check against the recording
  • ★★ John sets out to answer the common claim that reading books critically ruins them, analyzing them to death until they stop being interesting. — 00:00:46
  • ★★★ John argues metaphor and symbolism matter in books because they matter in life: a boy asking a girl if she likes anyone is really asking if she likes him. — 00:00:46
  • ★★★ John reads Holden's question to the cab driver about the ducks when the pond freezes (page 60) as Holden asking what happens to himself in the dead of winter. — 00:01:15

  • ★★★ John says this is one of the main ways metaphor works, a way into the hardest, deepest questions, and it works on readers emotionally even if they cannot grasp it intellectually. — 00:01:15

    “It's a way into the hardest, deepest questions.”

  • ★★ John says he understands why Salinger might have found constant analysis of his novels intrusive and valued the reader who reads and runs, but reading is not about the author. (hedged) — 00:01:44

  • ★★★ John argues people read a book because they want to, not to appease its author, and that a book becomes richer and more vibrant when read closely and thought about hard. — 00:01:44
  • ★★★ John says that over the next two weeks he will make two Catcher in the Rye videos, one on each half of the book, and be 'totally English teacher-y' about it. — 00:01:44

00:02:14 — Reading schedule (first half by next Tuesday) and things to watch: unlikable Holden, the red hunting cap, the two Holdens

  • ★★★ John asks readers to finish the first half of the book, to the end of chapter 15, by next Tuesday (29 July 2008) so they can discuss it. — 00:02:14
  • ★★★ Answering the common criticism that Holden Caulfield is unlikable, John tells readers that they are unlikable too, and so is he. (playful) — 00:02:14
  • ★★★ John faults a feeling in contemporary coming-of-age fiction that characters should be who you want to be or be with; Holden is no Edward Cullen but the guy you secretly know yourself to be. (hedged) — 00:02:43
  • ★★ John tells readers to be on the lookout for the red hunting cap. — 00:02:43
  • ★★★ John says it is important to remember the book tells two stories: the Holden the story is about, and the Holden telling it from where he is now. (hedged) — 00:02:43

00:03:12 — End of point three; gesticulation aside; plugs: Hank's Book 8 song, Willy sounds compilation, Grand Haven appearance; sign-off

  • ★ John tells Hank his song about Book 8 was awesome. — 00:03:12
  • ★★ John thanks Nerdfighters for their Willy sounds, says many of their videos made Willy turn his head, and asks them to email the sounds for a compilation video. — 00:03:12 · Nerdfighteria, Willy
  • ★★ John tells viewers who live in or near Grand Haven, Michigan that he will be there on the afternoon of Monday, July 28, with more information in the sidebar. — 00:03:42

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: Blurbing Book Club · close reading · Holden Caulfield · The Catcher in the Rye

Also: People: J. D. Salinger · Lisa Donovan

Works: Book Eight · Franny and Zooey · Nine Stories · Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction

Groups: Smosh

Concepts: authorial intent

Places: Grand Haven, Michigan

Characters: Edward Cullen · red hunting cap

animal: Willy

Also centred on Blurbing Book Club: Nerdfighters Blurbing Book Club! · Best Wishes! · Shawty Got Low, Tritube and Blurbing · Ruins, LOLBooks, and the Blurbing Book Club · Don't Suck on That Bone · Early Voting with Hank

Also centred on close reading: The Return of Question Tuesdays · The Catcher in the Rye, Part 2 · Life Is Like Pizza · Question Tuesday! Paula Deen Riding Me (and critical reading) · Question Tuesday: TFIOS Movie, Existential Crises, and Symbolism

Also centred on Holden Caulfield: Catcher in the Rye, Part 1 · The Catcher in the Rye, Part 2 · still learning

Also centred on The Catcher in the Rye: Don't Suck on That Bone · Catcher in the Rye, Part 1 · The Catcher in the Rye, Part 2 · RIP JD Salinger · still learning

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