Book Report : ' Crazy Ain 't It '

"I realize the post mentioning the possibility of you becoming the next bride was facetious, but since I'm here I see no reason why you and I can't get to know each other better. Are you close to your parents?" she asked.

“I don’t know if I was happy that day – those tense and edgy feelings were getting stronger and stronger – but I do know I’ve never been happy since.”

“Oh yeah sorry I'm just really groggy from my sleep, uhm, where am I going again?” said Holden

We sat down on the leather, red couch and I slipped out my interview questions. I decided ahead of time to write the questions I was going to write about. I chose to ask about his interactions with his childhood pets, so I then looked him in the eye and asked him.

Wishing to speak to his little sister Phoebe, Holden sneaks into his house. He’s worried he might run into his parents now that he’s gotten kicked out of Pencey, his most recent school. Lucky for him, only Phoebe is at home, but when she finds out that Holden has gotten himself kicked out of school again, she begins to bawl her eyes out. She tells him that he doesn’t like anything but Holden says that's not true. Phoebe then proceeds to ask him what he plans to be, like a scientist or a lawyer. Holden doesn't want to be a scientist because he isn't good at science. However, he doesn't fancy being a lawyer either because “How would you know you weren't being a phony? The trouble is you wouldn't” (190).

As the evening went on and the sun disappeared more and more. I wanted him to leave but I also wanted him to keep talking like he had been for the past few hours. I thought it was interesting he could talk about his self like that. And thought maybe it would be good if I could talk like that about myself like my other friends at school did, maybe not as much as he did but, as they did when they made a mistake.

things I'm trying to scream out for all to hear. I have flickers of hope when I write. Hope that maybe one day my mind will drag me to this computer to type about how much I changed. How I love myself now and all my insecurities have faded into a dark abyss. But that isn't the case, is it? When I write, or type, it's always the same. The same meaning but only with different words. The same call for help but with a different tone. Every time I tell you nothing is wrong something is, but why would you care? I'm fine. Right? I'm okay. Nothing can hurt me if I don't let it, right? But it can and it will. It will drag me so far down you won't be able to hear my screams, you won't be able to hear my pleas for help. But maybe that's for the best. Because I'm sorry but I don't want to let you in. I don't want to let anyone in. I want to suffer until I explode and just dissipate. Because I don't want you to worry. I want to be alright, and I will be. One day soon, or maybe not so soon. I'm lost in such a vast ocean of thoughts. It's like my vocal cords are my bucket but I have hundreds of gallons to remove. One measly bucket is enough. But writing? It holds thousands of gallons of my unspoken

Holden thinks to himself, “All I did was sort of get him on the side of the head or something. It probably hurt him a little, but not as much as I wanted. It probably would’ve hurt him a lot, but I did it

Phoebe asks Holden what he wants to do with his life, and he responds with an image which he believes relates back to innocence. As she sits in her bed, Holden asks,

During his discussion with Phoebe about his career, Holden grows frustrated and asks, “You know what I’d like to be? I mean if I had my goddamn choice” (Document F). Holden’s annoyance with society for not giving his generation a chance to think about a career in depth is emphasized by him feeling that he is pressured into doing what society wants. Earlier in the novel, Holden’s history teacher, Mr. Spencer, asks him if he has any concern for his future and Holden states “Sure I do… But not too much I guess” (Document B). Holden’s carelessness about his future shows that he feels that society has pressured the adolescent generation into finding a role and sticking to it, yet Holden feels no obligation to do so because he believes he needs more time to find out.

Yesterday, we all filed into class and took our seats. We noticed there was a video call on the screen. The video call was different from the original interview but it was easier to talk over the screen that separated us. He looked a tad uncomfortable at first but in a way, he was also very relaxed to have all of these random people he had never seen before staring at him. His name was Cullen Chaffin, he is 20, and is studying theater to become an actor. Each student from a group went up to ask him a few questions. He was amused of how awkward we all were while trying to interrogate him about his acting life.

Holden got kicked out of Pencey Prep boarding school and he doesn't even regret it because he mentions the place is full of “phonies”. He acts mature for his age only because he is very tall and doesn't affiliate himself with many people his age. Holden attempts to fit in with older people by flirting with older women, smoking cigarettes, having many drinks, and criticizing everything that surrounds him. His actions are absolutely mesmerizing because it is as if he has no care in this world. Likewise, he also seems to not worry about how his future will turn out. In this quote Mr. Spencer asks Holden if he even feels some concern for his future, “‘Oh, I feel some concern for my future, all right. Sure, Sure, I do." I thought about it for a minute. "But not too much, I guess. Not too much, I guess'" (Salinger 17). It seems as though that Holden doesn't have a distinct answer for anything. He is always unsure of what he is being asked by his teacher. Mr.Spencer shows concern for his future and is trying to teach him a valuable lesson. He wants to get him to realize that without putting in the effort, he will not achieve this dream. Holden never puts in any thought about his future. If he were to do so, he would not be failing subjects and getting thrown out of

Well, you know, after a few hours we seemed to have found our stride, found our rhythm, kinda settled into it, and we're having these intermittent conversations, uh, flipping back and forth between the chaos and the focus. And then, just kinda out of nowhere, he seemed to become a little unsettled and disturbed. And I asked him what was wrong and he just blurted out "Peanuts parents and syrup", and then he looked at me like I wondered what that means, and then he said, "You have any, do you have any

I’m drowning in other people’s thoughts. There’s so much noise in my head, I can’t think, I can’t breathe. The constant words in my head are enough to drive anyone mad. What’s even worse than the simple thoughts of people, the questions, the opinions, the fantasies, is the fact that I can hear the psychotic thoughts of the man across the room from me as he sips at his coffee with his lover.

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