aliens....

i liked the question about "alienation", so i've chosen to take that one on.

it was: 'describe the feeling of alienation. what does it mean to be alienated or separated from others?'

whenever i would hear things like "illegal aliens" or "alienation" when i was really little, i always thought of your generic, little-green-men-type aliens. but it still makes sense, that an alien is just someone that isn't the same; an outsider. i've felt alienated myself a time or two, i think everyone has. whether they are being excluded or not, everyone has. which is why i think this book is so classic, because people can connect to it in that way. holden kind of seems like he's alienating himself, but i suppose it's because he doesn't want to change who he is in order to become like everyone else. which i can respect. but non-conformity is another story, for another day.

it seems interesting, doesn't it, that people can feel connected to each other, simply because they feel disconnected?

first impressions

i'm actually really impressed with this book so far. though technically, it's my second impression, not the first. i tried reading it last summer, because i heard it was really good, but i don't know if it was because i have the attention span of a goldfish or what- i just couldn't get into it. it seemed like just another kid complaining about how life was rough and blah, blah, blah. but i figure j.d. salinger did alright with this book. (so far.)

i thought it was interesting to start out talking about how he was flunking out of school, and it wasn't the first time. usually books try to seem appealing, so as to get your attention at first, but this one kind of just cut to the chase. which i like. no use beating around the bush, really.

and i guess i could kind of see how he's still a smart kid even though his grades aren't tops. he does well in english because it interests him- i could empathize with that. i always seem to do better in things that interest me more, too. (again, probably the short attention span.)

i really liked the quote, "i told him i wasn't going to chuck it at anybody, but he wouldn't believe me. people never believe you." i don't know, something about it just made me feel connected to that, like it made sense or something. who knows. but when i read it, it kind of made me wonder what this kid had been through to feel like nobody really believed him.

i guess reading past the first chapter, i liked how you could connect more to holden by going through his experiences, because he doensn't really give much background or talk about his childhood in the beginning. another way to connect with him.