Off the Shelf

Every summer I travel down south to Austin, Texas to visit with my extended family. My cousin Katy is 14 and reads more than I ever have. Two years ago she suggested the book Will Grayson, Will Grayson. So, naturally, I checked it out from the library and never read it. And now, two years later, I remembered the name and picked it up. And it's so good! Two different kids with the same name. And how they meet and interact. I'm pretty excited, to say the least.

I talked about my cynical nature in my last post and I'd like to add a book that contrasts Pride and Prejudice by encouraging my pessimism. Catcher in the Rye is one of my favorite novels of all time. Part of that is due to the unbelievable truthfulness Salinger incorporates through Holden Caufield. Whom I love. Seriously, I had this ongoing debate with someone last year about whether Caufield was a "good guy" or a "bad guy". Which, when you think about it, is ridiculous. Because in real life (and in this novel) good and bad guys don't exist. There are just people who make decisions...some good, some bad. Anyway, we argued his credentials for the entire year. And the thing about debates is that people just get entrenched in their own view...so I believed Holden to be perfect, due to his imperfections, and the opposing viewpoint just kept trying to point out how delusional that is. But I wouldn't change my mind...I was a woman in love with a fictional character.