“People always think something’s all true.” – Holden Caulfield
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger Ch. 2
i’ve always been a sucker for an antihero. the offbeat loser who nevertheless captures our attention and hearts. because he’s strangely interesting. because he tries. because he’s outside looking in, calling out the hypocrisy that we, too, see but resign ourselves to tolerate.
holden caulfield is one of the most memorable, and endearing. i remember reading catcher in the rye for the first time and thinking: holy shit … this is delicious! that voice. that amazing, strong, colorful, hilarious, sad, fucked up voice. talking right to me. holden, baby, i hear you. i’m with you. it was magical.
two other antiheroes that come to mind, two of my absolute faves are ignatius reilly and max fischer. these are guys that are so wacky, out there, delusional, eccentric that i often think of them. their voices, their antics stay with me.
j and i were talking tonight about the lack of very many solid female antiheroes (antiheroines). sure you have the occasional ugly betty (just cancelled) type … you have your darias and goth girl types but not to many really wacky, eccentric, unattractive or severely socially challenged women that we can really root for. j brought up her childhood fave, pippi longstocking, who i am not that familiar with.
Pippi Longstocking is in truth an unusual young girl. She is financially independent since she owns a sackful of gold pieces. She can shoot a revolver and sail on the seven seas. She is both cheeky and kind, she can carry a horse and she can outlift the strongest man in the world, Mighty Adolph.
it’s something to chew on, anyways.
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a good one is Harriet the Spy. Did you ever read that when you were little? Great. And also Anne of Green Gables. My fav. Plus Jo from Little Women.