In J.D. Salinger's novel "The Catcher in the Rye," I have always felt a strange connection with the main character, Holden Caulfield. It is not that he is troubled that makes me feel like I am one with him, but because he is a typical teenager with the same worries and insecurities that we have all gone through. It was one of the first novels I have ever read for a highschool reading assignment that used my language and ideas that I could identify with. .
Anything I read that manages to arouse thought and make me question, is proof that the author has succeeded in doing their job. Harold Bloom, the author of "In Praise of the Greats," is one of the authors that provoked my reasoning on why I read. He discusses reading as a difficult task and I agree because the majority of what I read contains underlying meaning and irony, which can often be complicated to interpret. Bloom states that reading should only be done for oneself since it is such a difficult task and improving yourself should come before anything else. After reading a story in highschool, I was asked to write what I felt I had learned from it, and that for me was extremely hard to do. I know what I have learned from the story, but I can never make it sound competent or as well thought out as in my mind. My words tend to get all jumbled, and not sound as good as it had in my head. Bloom also says that universities ruin reading for its students because they are forcing it upon them. I, however, feel that that is not true because without all of the reading that was forced upon me in highschool and now in college , my thinking and writing abilities would not be where they are today. I feel as if anyone can learn from a book and take their knowledge and apply it to their reading, writing, and thinking. I agree with Bloom's points in his story that you should read what you are concerned about and apply it to your daily life because that is when reading is most enjoyable (Bloom, Harold.
