I can’t say this enough, but life has been busy in the past couple of years. I am really ashamed to say that I haven’t had time to read any books other than textbooks, journals and papers. I love to read and I decided that I will spend at least one hour every day doing something that has nothing to do with computers. I even ventured out to buy a few books until my friend suggested that I could borrow some from the library. I immediately made a list of books I wanted to read and promptly borrowed them. I have about 8 books on the list and it took me about 2 weeks to finish the smallest of the books. I picked “Catcher in the Rye” by J. D. Salinger to start with because it was on the ‘favorites’ list of all my friends. I have been wanting to read that book for a long time now and I couldn’t wait to find out what the fuss was all about. I have to say I really wanted to like this book even before I started it. Maybe it was the expectations I had, but the book was really quite hard to sit through. The English in the book was old American slang and I had trouble ploughing through it. It also seemed like a monologue where the guy would go on and on about the things around him without giving the other person a lot of things to say. It took me a week to get through the first 100 pages and I dropped it for the next 5 days without the intention of finishing it really because I did not know if there was any point to this story. If the guy in the book would stop being such a whiny little teenager and get his life back on track.

The story is about this teenager who keeps getting thrown out of one school after the other. It starts off with him being thrown out of the current school he is in called Pencey. His dad is rich, and his friend is dating his neighbor that he has a crush on. He is highly principled and thinks that every guy in the world is a phony. He sits on his high horse and judges every guy/girl in the world, calling them phonies and doesn’t listen to anyone in the world. He is kicked out of the school, and he decides to spend a couple of days out in New York before going home. In that one night, he experiences a few things-some interesting, and some not so interesting. I don’t want to give too much away but the book really does get interesting in the last few pages. It isn’t until after we run into the character of his little sister Phoebe, who is just lovable and most adorable, that the book transforms from being dull and whiny to lovable. Phoebe is obviously the most adorable character in the book; the other character I really loved was Mr. Antolini, the English teacher from his previous school. Those few pages changed my perception of my book. I could have easily hated the book if I stopped earlier but those few pages in the end sort of made me feel like this is a good book. I wouldn’t say it was a great book or one of my all-time favorites, but it is definitely a good book that I can recommend to someone.

I couldn’t help but identify myself with the lead character. He is constantly pissed off about the double standards in people and life. I was particularly impressed with the Mr. Antolini’s talk with Holden when he visits him, when he says, “The mark of an immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of a mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one”. I felt the line was really profound. The way he talks how education is important in determining the size of your mind is quite interesting as well. All in all, a good read.

Related posts:

1. My very own Rhett Butler

Jagadish has long insisted I read ‘Gone with the Wind’. It was also made into an Academy-Award winning movie whose re release poster you see above. It’s a book he absolutely adores, and I never had any real interest in the so-called classics. I love mystery, thrillers, and some comic relief. Yet, he persuaded me to buy this and I did, and it lay around a few days when I finally picked it up after my exams.

I was hooked! I read the book straight through in two days. What a beautiful, beautiful story. For those who have not yet read this book, I implore you, read it! It is amazing. Here is a synopsis of the plot.

Today, all of a sudden, I thought of Rhett. And I thought of Jagadish. Today morning, I woke up in a fairly pleasant mood, but I was suddenly cross with Jagadish because of a few issues. As I always do when I get annoyed, I went quiet and refused to talk to him. Jagadish is an absolute mine of incredible patience. Very gently, kindly and soothingly, he brought me out of this moodiness of mine. It is little things like these that jolt me to the reality of how much he really loves me.

He reminded me of Rhett. Not that Rhett was kind or gentle. But Rhett so obviously loved Scarlett. He always let her have her way. He teased her, played along with her…made her smile, made her alive. Like how Jagadish makes me feel. Scarlett could stomp around, be mean to him, make him mad, and yet, he would continue to love her. Like Jagadish loves me.

Rhett was so practical, so thoughtful. Uncaring about what the society believed was right, but of a sound mind that knew what he was doing or did was not wrong, not immoral. Oh, he reminds of my Jagadish in so many ways now that I think of it.

Anyway, once again, today, I am thankful to God for putting Jagadish in the path of my life. He is my very own Rhett Butler.

(And I’m not going to be as stupid as Scarlett to let him go )

Related posts:

1. Of similarities and differences
2. My Meandering Muse