As Formative Novels Lose Their Grip

It is no secret that many critics have taken on Salinger's great classic.  Men and women from all different generations have shared their thoughts about Catcher in the Rye and its influence on both its readers and literature as a whole.  One in particular, Sanford Pinsker, entitled his critique "The Catcher in the Rye and All: Is the Age of Formative Books Over?", written in 1986.  Through this essay of thoughts, Pinsker reflects upon the wild popularity of this book and the role of "formative adolescent novels" in contemporary American literature.

In the beginning of his criticism, Pinsker discusses the significance of books and their formative nature, explaining that these have begun to diminish somewhat; "perhaps our age is too restless, too sophisticated to suspend its disbelief, much less to sit still long enough to read a book."  From there, he then delves into his own personal experiences with reading the book, including some of his initial thoughts and impressions, as well as some historical background to go along with the novel.  From there, he concludes that Catcher in the Rye can be connected many times over to various aspects of other works and that it stands as a literary classic in our world today, impacting many of the books that followed it.

The part of this criticism that really intrigued me, though, was the whole discussion of formative novels and their role in society.  I suppose it is kind of hard to say, but in relatively recent years, there have been almost no books written that could be considered "classic" status (this may be because classics take several decades to make themselves known, but still, none stand out at the moment).  When one goes out, they will hear people talking about TV shows, movies, music, social media sites, sports, etc; very rarely will you hear people discussing the merit of and pleasure derived from a book they have recently read.  As Pinsker says "our culture moves with a speed as blinding as it is fickle", which I found to be extremely accurate; people today get easily fed up when they have to wait for anything, which may be one of the causes that books are becoming less popular, as they take time to enjoy and complete.

To tie this all in with Catcher in the Rye, I think it is safe to say that this great work is losing its status as a formative novel, along with many other books.  Now, this is not because of the quality of the book itself, but instead, the quality of its readers; students and teenagers, especially, these days are more interested in checking their Twitter or listening to the surprise album that Beyonce released a few months ago.  We cannot necessarily blame the individuals, for this is just the way our society is shifting.  However, it is necessary to keep literature like Catcher in the Rye alive and thriving.  As stated in a previous post, this piece specifically is one of great relevance to teenagers of all generations and time periods, giving these students something to relate to, which would be a great shame to lose.