Category: books

Revisiting Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

The Atlantic recently featured two articles about this book. One of the article mentions that pop culture has “flattened” Holden Caufield into an “irritatingly male, misanthropic whiner.” The author thinks this is unfair, and I agree, but I wondered if I would feel this way if I read the book now. This has been one of my favorite novels, and I’ve read it once or twice since the first time I read it in my twenties. It’s always held up well. I thought it was a good time to re-read the novel to see if I would feel the same.

After finishing the novel again, here are some random thoughts:

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The Need for Momentum When Consuming Certain Types of Media

If the title is confusing, I don’t blame you. I wasn’t sure what to call this post myself, and I’m not really sure how to start it…..So, I guess I’ll start by describing something I’ve recently observed–namely, that with certain media, if I don’t consume them regularly, they can be really difficult to get into. This applies specifically to mostly movies, TV shows, books, and writing–as in, taking the time to write something like this. However, suppose I watch a movie and then another movie right after that. If I see a movie soon after (say, the next day or two), the difficulty to sit watch the film isn’t so great. The same applies to books. If I read a book, and then another soon after, getting started and then finishing the book isn’t so difficult. Something applies to an individual book as well–namely, if I’m reading the book regularly and not really short spurts, then reading seems to flow. On the other hand, if my reading of the book is intermittent and each reading session is relatively short, reading can feel like a slog. It’s almost as if a type of momentum begins, making reading or watching a film easier. Has anyone else experienced this? If so, what do you think is going on?

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Portland, Oregon 2025

Leaving the Portland airport, seeing the architecture of the homes and evergreen trees made me feel like I was back in Seattle. But as we drove into downtown Portland, two things stood out, distinguishing Portland from Seattle–namely, the Willamette River and the bridges, one after the other, a few rising high above it. Water features prominently in Seattle, but the water there is like an amoeba surrounding it, whereas in Portland, the Willamette is a strong line, cleaving the city in two, creating western and eastern sections. The Western side is more of the urban core, including the downtown area. The Eastern side is more suburban, with several portions of the longer streets and avenues filled with shops, restaurants and even movie theaters, creating a kind of charming main street vibe. I really like Seattle, but I might like Portland even more. The food scene seems just as good as Seattle, if not better, and they have probably the best bookstore I’ve been to. I want to talk about that store and also a used vinyl/cd/video store which I really liked as well.

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Notes on Cormac McCarthy’s Border Trilogy

I recently finished The Crossing, the second book in the trilogy. I wrote some comments about it in the “What are you reading” thread, but I may not have mentioned two points. First, the novel is just as much philosophy as it is literature (leading to a mythic, quasi-religious literature). The philosophical ideas, dealing with McCarthy’s concept of the world, among other concepts, is quite opaque and weighty (at least for me). Second, of the contemporary writers I’ve encountered McCarthy’s prose may be the most innovative and original. He has very singular, unique approach, sometimes radical (e.g., eschewing semi-colons, while liberally, and some may say excessively, using “and” in a way that violates good writing norms). Both the prose and the philosophy warrant a space to ponder and analyze; and so, this thread.

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An Alternate Approach to Best of the Year Lists

As I see the best of the year lists popping up, I once again think about another approach I wish critics would employ–namely, instead of identifying the best works relative to other works within a given year, identify the works in a given year that compare favorably with the all-time great works. One drawback here is that none of the works may meet this criterion. For me, I don’t see this as a drawback. Here’s the reason why (and this will explain my overall mindset with regard to this topic).

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How Was Barnes and Noble Able to Turn Things Around?

Barnes and Noble is doing so well financially that they plan to open thirty new stores in 2023. That caught my attention, and I think it’s great news. Why is the store thriving? That’s the question music critic, Ted Gioia, tries to answer in this post. I agree with some of the reasons he cites (e.g., appointing a better CEO who decentralized decision making), but I’m dissatisfied with the overarching reason he offers–namely, that the new CEO loves books.

In this thread, I’ll explain the reason I feel this way, as well as offer an alternate explanation that seems more compelling. (In spite of this slight disagreement, I recommend reading his post.) OK, let’s begin.

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