Wednesday, January 21, 2015

All That David Copperfield Kind Of Crap

The first line of J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye is, "If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth." What does Salinger mean when he says, "all that David Copperfield kind of crap"? What is he referring to? Salinger is referring to Dickens' autobiographical work, titled David Cooperfield. Many of the elements in this novel follow Dickens' own life. It has a very personal touch to it, sharing Dickens' personal thoughts and experiences. So, when Salinger says he's not going to get into "all that David Copperfield kind of crap", he means he's not going to bring his personal life into his work like Dickens is so famous for. I believe this is Salinger's way of saying that his past doesn't have any relevance to his current topic he's trying to convey. 

No comments:

Post a Comment