When You Were Young, Mr. Brightside

October 10, 2007

When I first met Holden Caulfield, which was the summer before my second year in high school, I hated him. He was too erratic, too punk, too alien for my taste. I just threw the book down the bed and wondered why these punk guys just don’t live normal. I was straight then—ears chock full of OPM, in plain jeans, plain shirts, and classic curly hair. Dammit, I didn’t even cuss.

 

I came across David Copperfield about the same time as Caulfield. Now, David was sensible. He lived a straightforward life—he studied well, worked at a comfortable career, got a beautiful wife, bred kids—the works. He was what I wanted to be. Okay, that in itself is weird, which would smudge the claim that I was ‘straight then’. I mean, what 14-year old idiot would want to be David Copperfield when the rest of the 14-year old world wanted to be Holden Caulfield? Me.
(more…)