Catcher in the Rye in January? I don't think so.

I got the strangest urge to reread The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger today. I flew through it the first time I read it and didn't take any time to savor what I now consider one of my favorite books. I should really make a list ranking my favorite books. I'm not sure if that's even possible. How could I ever choose? I'm sidetracking badly... Anyways, after this sudden craving for The Catcher in the Rye, I realized I couldn't read it because it was cold outside. Isn't that strange? It just seems wrong to me to read The Catcher in they Rye in January. Maybe this is because I finished reading it the first time through early last summer. Everybody I know read this book during summer, mainly because it's often required reading over break. I wish I'd have read it not as an English class assignment, but as a pleasure book—one I read on my own will. I really feel like I should read it with the mindset I choose to be spending time with the book, not thinking I have to be spending time with the book and just happen to be enjoying it. The Catcher in the Rye just shouldn't be read in wintertime. I can't do it. I'm not sure why this is, but it feels wrong and I can't really help it. Since it seemed like I'm going to have to wait until it warms up a bit to read the book, I looked up J.D. Salinger and his novel on Wikipedia.com. It was really interesting. I read the entire article about him and a separate piece about his book. Here are some facts about the book. All the information is quoted from Wikipedia.com.

• Mark David Chapman, murderer of musician John Lennon, was carrying the book when he was arrested immediately after the murder and referred to it in his statement to police shortly thereafter. John Hinckley, Jr., who attempted to assassinate President Ronald Reagan in 1981, was also reported to have been obsessed with the book.


• Thirty years after its first publication in 1951, The Catcher in the Rye was both the most banned book in America as well as the second most taught book in public schools.


• While the novel would seem a natural for the big screen, Salinger has refused to license the film rights to any producer or director. Salinger said that the reason for his refusal to allow a film version of the novel is "I would like to see it done, but Holden wouldn't approve"--a reference to Holden's disdain for Hollywood and the entire motion picture industry as being "phony." Personally, I'm so incredibly relieved there is no The Catcher in the Rye movie. Unexplainably, the idea of a film makes me want to yell at somebody. It's a book, nothing else.