-
The Mexican Kleptocracy: July 1989
April 19, 2013 | 0 comments
-
The Mexican Kleptocracy
April 19, 2013 | 3 comments
-
Black Plight: In Conflict With Unions
April 6, 2013 | 0 comments
-
An Assist from the Press
March 16, 2013 | 0 comments
-
Capitol Ideas
March 1, 2013 | 0 comments
Another Perspective
Caulfield and the Librarians
If you haven’t read Catcher in the Rye yet, better get a hold of it soon.
We all know about J.D. Salinger’s young hero, Holden Caulfield, and the three days he spends in New York City. We know that beneath Holden’s youthful bluster and swear words — he says “goddam” on every page, almost, and when he sees “F[—]ck you” scrawled on a wall, he tries to erase it — he has a heart of gold, if you really want to hear the truth of it.
Despite his inner goodness, the librarians of America saw things differently. They “censored” the book. Between 1961 and 1982, according to a Wikipedia entry, Catcher in the Rye became “the most censored book in high school libraries in he United States.”
Censored! Holden Caulfield? Doesn’t that just go to show what narrow-minded people librarians really are. Stereotype confirmed!
But maybe the librarians knew something that the rest of us have overlooked.
Late in the book, Caulfield decides to visit his old high school English teacher, a Mr. Antolini. He was by then married and living in “a swanky apartment over in Sutton Place,” a pretty good place for a high school English teacher from Elkton Hills to land up.
Anyway, Caulfield and Antolini talk for a while, and Antolini has several highballs. Holden thinks that his old teacher is in danger of becoming an alcoholic. They keep on talking, but Holden is tired. He has been up for two days without sleep. Mr. Antoloni says he can sleep on the couch, and Holden says okay. They make up the couch and Holden goes to sleep. Then he is rudely awakened. His old teacher has crept back into the room and and is ruffling his hair. “He was sort of petting me or patting me on the goddam head,” Holden says.
He sprang to his feet. “What the hellya doing?”
Holden is alarmed because he knows “more damn perverts than anybody you ever met.”
Antolini, it turns out, is a pervert, “perverty.” Something “perverty” had happened, Holden decides. So he bolts for the apartment door. Antolini was a “flit.” He had been making a “flitty pass at me.”
Antoloni tries to get him to stay and go back to his couch. But Holden leaves anyway, goes to Grand Central Station, and gets in touch with his much-loved sister, “old Phoebe.”
So there you have it. Holden talks about perverts and flits, in a book published by Little Brown in 1951, and reprinted a million times since then. A Back Bay paperback edition reappeared in 2001.
Is it allowed, in the 21st century, to use words like that? Notice that the New Yorker refused to published Catcher in the Rye, but they did publish Salinger’s unreadable story “Hapworth 16, 1924.” So maybe Harold Ross at the New Yorker was alert to these nuances of political incorrectness long, long ago.
I probably shouldn’t reveal this, because it is inside information. But the librarians have known all along that Catcher was an “incorrect” book, and it wasn’t because of all the superfluous goddams and the (rare) four letter words. And get this. Now that its famous author is dead they are planning to mount a huge censorship raid and remove this prejudiced volume from library shelves across the land.
Do they have the blessing of the Human Rights Commission? You had better believe that they do.
When I asked a source at Little Brown if they would allow a book to appear today in which a gay man is called a “pervert” or a “flit,” he laughed openly.
“The question answers itself,” he said.
If you haven’t read Catcher in the Rye yet, better get a hold of it soon. Because it is likely to disappear from the shelves before you can say flit.
About the Author
Tom Bethell is a senior editor of The American Spectator and author of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Science, The Noblest Triumph: Property and Prosperity Through the Ages, and most recently Questioning Einstein: Is Relativity Necessary? (2009).
Letter to the Editor View all comments (49) | Leave a comment
More Articles by Tom Bethell
More Articles From Another Perspective
http://spectator.org/archives/2010/02/02/caulfield-and-the-librarians
Follow us:
ADVERTISEMENT
Current Issue
- Ailes: A Voice for the Silent Majority
- The Welfarians
- Obama’s Drone War
SPONSORED LINKS
FLASHBACK TO: 1995
-
Pope Culture
A man of faith in a godless age is hitting Americans where it hurts.
-
Why the GOP Does Not, Like, Totally Suck
Mr. and Mrs. American Spectator Reader, let P.J. O’Rourke talk sense to your kids.
-
Dames at Sea
-
In the Absence of Guns
In Britain, defending your property can get you life.
-
The Metaphysical Martini
-
Counting the Costs of Clintonism
The debacle of this president’s administration is both a cause and a symptom of the decline of American values. Unless Congress impeaches him, that decline will go on unchecked. An eminent jurist surveys the damage and assesses the chances for the recovery of our culture.
-
Chuck McHagel
It won’t take long for conservatives to scratch this presidential wannabe off their 2008 scorecard.
-
The Legacy of Old John and Mother Fresh-Roasted
-
It’s the Best Time of the Year
The American Christmas, like the songs that celebrate it, makes room for everybody under the rainbow. Is that why so many people seem to be hostile to it?
-
The Bush Crack-Up
Was the President done in by the economy, or by the politics of the economy?
Clip of the Day
ADVERTISEMENT
Appleby| 2.2.10 @ 6:44AM
The Catcher In The Rye is a tediously repetitive book and I thought so back in the early 1960s when it was very briefly on our reading list for Grade 7 until our parents got a look at it. My parents let us read pretty much anything we wanted to (save Harold Robbins, which was kept locked up in a drawer in the library), and when something was forbidden we were told why. They drew the line at Catcher in the Rye, which had no redeeming social value. (Later when I took a round the world cruise with a lot of wealthy Sixties Hippie types, I met lots of Holden Caulfields. Middle class kids knew better.
P.J. O Rourke called Holden Caulfield type behaviour Toddler Liberation: the desire to shove everything into your mouth, pull down your pants in public, and yell Poo Poo Head in church.
Pingback| 2.2.10 @ 9:21AM
Photomaniacal » Blog Archive » Caulfield and the Librarians links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
JMM| 2.2.10 @ 9:57AM
I had to read it in college and found it tendentcious and boring.
Tried it again a few years later and found my first impression confirmed. Good riddance.
J. Healy| 2.2.10 @ 11:36PM
Hey JMM; do you know what tendentious means?
You certainly don't know how to spell it.
Catcher, one of the best novels of the twentieth century, is about a boy who knows he can't stay in childhood and fears the adult world he must join. It's hard to understand today since so many people opt to stay in the childworld forever.
Greg| 2.2.10 @ 11:25AM
Are you insane? You think librarians are going to start banning CITR because it has homophobic words, uttered by a confused teenage protagonist from 1950? What would Salinger's death have to do with a sudden influx of outrage on the issue? Where's your source for the HRC's alleged tacit approval of this forthcoming ban?
And regarding your question for Little Brown... have you actually read a novel recently? Or ever? Protagonists say all sorts of things in all sorts of novels, not necessarily politically correct. You think a novel has ever been rejected because someone uses the word "flit" or "pervert" or even "f-ggot"? You people are so infatuated with the idea that liberals are against free speech and something you call "hate speech" that I only ever hear being mocked as a straw man concept in conservative screeds. I'm pretty sure the laughing response from the Little Brown exec was directed at you and your asinine question.
This article is an abortion.
JW| 2.2.10 @ 1:02PM
Obviously you have forgotten the attempted (in some areas actual) ban on Huckleberry Finn for the use of the "N" word.
Don| 2.2.10 @ 3:32PM
I think the consideration was more about at what age should this book be introduced to children.
I concur it is an age specific book not appropriate for anyone below College level because of the socially unacceptable words.
In a completely unrelated way, I would just like to say, yesterday I heard Randy Rhoades, a radio talk host use the word dis encourage, .... there already is a word discourage. Perhaps they haven't heard this word on the east coast... :: ))
Ken (Old Texican)| 2.2.10 @ 11:56AM
Heh, well no, Greg
You are mistaken. This article is not an abortion. It has seen the light of day.
No again, Greg. Liberals are not against free speech. Only scumsucking communists, (pardon the shorthand), are against free speech.
You are obviously one of the later, declaring this article an abortion.
Al Adab| 2.2.10 @ 1:38PM
Read the book? No thanks, tried that once. It is simply a self indulgent paen for a ever more self indulgent generation.
Lack of personal responsibility, for an "all about me" group that was sold a bill of goods by those who should have known better. "The fault is not in our stars but in ourselves" as wiser men once knew. The loss of Western Civ to the moral and cultural equivilance of The Left is revealed in CITR as in so many other works of the same ilk. What has become of the "Western Canon"?
Voice of Reason| 2.2.10 @ 1:50PM
This article is an unfounded, knee-jerk reaction. Listen, nobody is going to go taking 'Catcher in the Rye' off the shelves, for the same reason nobody has had much success with banning 'Huckleberry Finn' -- because, while they may use language that we would find offensive in today's society, one can't deny that these books aren't ABOUT today's society. They're about a time gone by, when people said said 'nigger' and 'flit' and 'pervy.' As 'Huckleberry Finn' has survived as a great, critical look at the culture in which it was set, so too will 'Catcher in the Rye' continue to be read as an account of the 1950's, when gay men were referred to as 'flits' and 'perverts' and readers would feel solidarity for the main character and disgust with the gay man in question. Context, guys, context is everything.
There's just no pleasing some people. Yesterday, the Specator published an article denouncing 'Catcher in the Rye' as an altogether terrible book, a waste of time. Today, here you are panicking at some shadow of a suggestion that it be taken off the shelves. So you want it to stay on the shelves so you can rant on and on about what a terrible book it is?
GW| 2.2.10 @ 2:08PM
Yeah, I don't call anyone a "flit" or a "pervy." I straight up call 'em a fag or homo. And yes, I do get disgusted at gay men.
R.| 2.3.10 @ 9:05PM
Hey, thanks for making conservatives look ridiculous and intolerant yet again.
Pingback| 2.2.10 @ 2:09PM
What's Happening in Central Florida – February 2, 2010 : Central … | Volusia County F links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
james| 2.2.10 @ 2:58PM
It always reminded me of The Graudate in its vapid stupidity and it appealed to the same sort of pimply adolescent. But obviously the story here is about book burners, not Caulfield.
Librarians are one hundred percent liberal. Is anyone surprised by this? Shouldn't be.
ralph| 2.2.10 @ 3:09PM
When I read Catcher...,I thought Holden was to be pitied because his parents were rich snobs who didn't care about him. It made me glad not to be one of his kind. That was one of the things I tried to show my kids when they read it. It wasn't required reading for their school, but I let them.
I don't have a copy to look this up, but wasn't Holden depressed about the death of an older brother? Anyway, what I remember is a character who was young, confused, sad and overlooked. I don't think it is the book to beat all books at any rate, but some kid might get something out of it and for that reason it should be left alone.
As far as language is concerned, really, it was written in 1951. Has anyone tried to ban "Gone With the Wind?"
Karen| 2.2.10 @ 3:20PM
As a librarian, I can assure you that censorhip is an anathama to us. Public librarians often deal with members of the community who insist that certain books or magazines be removed. This is one of the reasons why there are separate sections for Juvenile and Adult readers. Parents reserve the right to restrict their minor children's reading habits.
KyMouse| 2.2.10 @ 4:11PM
I've had four librarians in my family, and any of them would affirm that libraries are popular places for "flits" and "perverts" not only on paper, but in the flesh. They sit at the tables or lurk in the stacks, waiting to flash youngsters.
I had a part-time job re-shelving books during college, and one day caught a guy desperately trying to get his zipper back up while he was sitting at a table. By the time I fetched a librarian, he was on his way out the door.
Thirty years later, my librarian friends tell me that the same sort of thing still happens all the time.
Pingback| 2.2.10 @ 5:22PM
Affiliate Marketing – Getting A Wealthy Affiliate ? Should I Join … | eMoney Insights links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Pingback| 2.2.10 @ 6:12PM
Another round of UA Transformation cuts is all but certain at this … | Phase Transfor links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Joe B| 2.2.10 @ 6:19PM
Never read this piece of sophomoric drivel. Never will.
Tracy| 2.3.10 @ 1:10PM
Then how would you know that it's sophomoric drivel?
Something about a fool opening his mouth seems appropriate here.
Pingback| 2.2.10 @ 8:22PM
Europe: Automakers record 33,7% gain in December – (Dacia, Dacia … | Dacia Automotive links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Pingback| 2.2.10 @ 9:55PM
Oilers top Hurricanes, snap 13-game skid – NHL- nbcsports.msnbc.com | Edmonton Oilers links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Pingback| 2.3.10 @ 5:10AM
What's Happening in Central Florida – February 2, 2010 : Central … | Lake County FL R links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
jcm| 2.3.10 @ 7:36AM
Folks, I took this article as a satire. The NYT elites spurted like sugary geysers over Salinger's legacy, no way will Catcher be banned.
I wonder who will go to JD's funeral, service, or whatever he has. The lifetime grudgeholder boycotted his own father's funeral, and he boasted throughout his life, "when I'm through with someone, I'm through." Such a miserable old 30-day wonder. Let's let him pass.
Hydraulic Tools | 2.3.10 @ 10:38AM
Manufacture Hydraulic Tools, offer from hydraulic crimping tool, cable cutter, pipe bender, gear puller, hole digger and hand pumps.
Mark| 2.3.10 @ 1:53PM
Had to read it in high school. I don't remember finishing it because it was so bad. Over the years I couldn't help scratching my head whenever I heard what a great a book it was. Glad to see I'm not alone in thinking it was tripe.
somnolence| 2.3.10 @ 9:23PM
I started to read it as a college freshman in the early 1970's. By the second chapter I was ready to vomit. Funny that I never have had that feeling after reading Madame Bovary or Tale Of Two Cities, both of which I have read numerous times.
Pingback| 2.8.10 @ 5:35AM
Huckleberry Finn- An American Boy links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
explosion proof light | 11.15.10 @ 9:16AM
Actually, Abraham Lincoln was just as radical but in a different way. Ditto FDR.
Converse | 8.12.11 @ 4:13AM
is good