Friday, January 29, 2010

HIPSTER RUNOFF

HIPSTER RUNOFF

Classic Alt Literature: What is the Lasting Brand of ‘Catcher in the Rye’?

Posted: 29 Jan 2010 07:28 AM PST


I recently read that popular pre-internet author J.D. Salinger passed away. He was apparently the author of the popular book Catcher in the Rye. The name sounded familiar, so I googled it to remember what the cover looked like. I usually remember books by their cover, because that is often a good way to judge if the content/brand will appeal to you. We must judge books by their covers in the modern world because of the rapid production output of the information economy.

I found the cover, then ‘remembered the book’ from elementary/middle school/high school. I mainly remember it because it was white, and people used to doodle on it. Some bro highlighted the entire cover neon yellow, back in the era of the ’school supplies arms race’ [via Yikes pencils/uniball pens/mechanical pencils/erasable pens]. The book also reminds me of ‘a book that some bro would list in their fave books section of their facebook profile.’ Feel like I don’t have very many positive experiences with the brand extension of Catcher in the Rye.

Apparently, the book is the story of some ‘rich kid/misfit’ who ‘doesn’t fit in’ and ’sees thru all the bull shit in ppl.’ His name is Holden Caulfield. I think he was meant to be some sort of character who enables people to ‘project themselves’ as the alt-protagonist. Think this is an important feature in critically-acclaimed/universally accepted works of art.

Holden Caulfield seemed like he was a ’snarky’ bro. Unfortunately, they didn’t have blogs back then, so he wasn’t able to become a snarkblogger and escape from society by ’sitting at home on his laptop and commenting abt how sillie stuff/people are.’

Read the book a long time ago. Had to read wikipedia to find all this stuff out, but honestly feel like I got a ‘good enough’ experience by just skimming the plot + reading miscellaneous background information. From what I have read, the book was just sort of a long ‘bitchfest’ written in 1st person, back before every1 was into ‘bitching about their own lives’.’

Catcher in the Rye seems relevant because it is ‘classic alt literature.’ Probably a book with semi-important ideas that was at a low enough reading level for developing alternative spirits to read. I feel like the only thing I remember about the book was that the bro ‘went to visit a prostitute’, and that seemed interesting to me since I was still learning about ‘how to cum/make sex with other ppl’, so the concept of paid sex professionals was very intriguing to me.

I am not sure if ‘the brand’ of the book was very marketable. Maybe a few decent ideas in there, but it never really inspired the rabid fan base that the Royal Tenenbaums did. Feel like the Holden Caulfield costume never really ‘caught on’ much like the Richie Tenenbaum costume.

Photo by jaimehaire


Some people say that the popular film ‘Garden State’ was just trying 2 rip off Catchy in the RyeRye.

Do yall think that books will play an important role in carving the ‘alternative spirit of tomorrow’? Or will most tweens just chill on the internet forever?

Wonder which author will be remembered forever-er… J.D. Salinger or R.L. Stine?

I think the Goosebumps brand will never be forgotten, even by ppl who didn’t read any of the books. They really built a brand–they even put tactile goosebumps on the cover of the book.

Do yall think book covers are better/easier to judge before they are made into a major motion picture?

Or afterwards?

I am not sure what today’s ‘classic alt’ literature would be. Would tweens read Vonnegut or would they rather read Twilight/Harry Potter?
Is the Lord of the Rings trilogy still a ‘good book series’, or is it better to just watch it on HDTVblu-ray?
Has Catcher in the Rye turned into ‘glorified required reading’?
Who is the greatest alt writer of all time? Ayn Rand? Tom Clancy? Tao Lin? Chuck Palahniuk? JGrish?
Are books only ‘worth reading’ if they have been turned in2 a movie?
Are books with alternative characters overrated/overvalued because they were written before web 2.0 allowed humans to follow other humans as if they were tragic/inspiring/interesting characters?
What books were u required to read in ur public/private school?
Should I buy a kindle/audiobook player?
Are books ‘fun’?
Are books ‘green’?
Are blogs the new books/magazines?

‘Not to take away from the life of JD Sally, but Catcher in the Rye should have been re-made/adapted into a modern alt tween flick/MTV series in order to see if the elements of the story truly stood the test of time.’
-a progressive critic