"De veche in lanul de secara"

"What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. That doesn't happen much, though." (Holden Caulfied, The Catcher in the Rye)

„De veghe in lanul de secara” sau „The Catcher in the Rye” este un roman scris de americanul Jerome David Salinger in anul 1951. Desi romanul a fost publicat pentru adulti, romanul a devenit o parte importanta in programa scolara din majoritatea tarilor in care se vorbeste engleza. Personajul principal al romanului, Holden Caulfield, a devenit o emblema a rebeliunii adolescentine.
Holden Caulfield, naratorul, un adolescent dat afara din patru scoli, pleaca spre casa cu cateva zile inainte de data stabilita, planuind sa se aventureze pe strazile din New York, orasul natal. In cele cateva zile el intra in contact cu mai multe persoane interesante si trece prin intamplari care il demoralizeaza constant, la finalul romanului cititorul afland ceea ce, de altfel, nu era greu de intuit: ca Holden isi spune povestea dintr-un spital de boli mintale
Intregul roman este scris in flashback-uri. Lumea romanului se aseamana cu cea a zilelor noastre (o lume in care te lupti pentru propria identitate; o lume care distruge inocenta specifica fiintei umane), iar tinerii se regasesc in personajul lui Holden, un pusti care se afla in mijlocul unei crize de identitate. Pot spune ca scopul lui Holden este de a pastra inocenta in lume. El doreste sa fie persoana care ii ajuta pe tineri sa ramana inocenti si nu adulti falsi care traiesc in minciuna.
Intr-adevar, limbajul romanului e simplu, saracacios, fara exprimari „pompoase”, dar in acesta consta farmecul acestui roman.
Am citit cartea dintr-o suflare. Pe Holden il consider nebun, dar nu unul care trebuie internat intr-un ospiciu, este mai degraba un nebun haios, sincer, credibil. In fine, voi cita cateva din secventele mele preferate. Pentru ca am citit cartea in engleza, vor fi in limba engleza. Pentru a intelege mai bine o carte trebuie citita in limba in care a fost scrisa (bineinteles, in limitele cunostintelor fiecaruia).

Capitolul 2: “I'm just going through a phase right now. Everybody goes through phases and all, don't they?”

Capitolul 9: “Sometimes I can think of very crumby stuff I wouldn't mind doing if the opportunity came up. I can even see how it might be quite a lot of fun, in a crumby way, and if you were both sort of drunk and all, to get a girl and squirt water or something all over each other's face. The thing is, though, I don't like the idea. It stinks, if you analyze it.”

Capitolul 16: “Certain things they should stay the way they are. You ought to be able to stick them in one of those big glass cases and just leave them alone. I know that's impossible, but it's too bad anyway.”

Capitolul 25: “That's the whole trouble. You can't ever find a place that's nice and peaceful, because there isn't any. You may think there is, but once you get there, when you're not looking, somebody'll sneak up and write 'F*** you' right under your nose.”