If you missed the previous post, “Books for Guys, Part 1″, go back and read the explanation on just what this is all about. It will make more sense that way.

Part 2 of “Books for Guys” includes an older book, and a brand new one. The two are linked, even though the new book is not simply a remake of the old one.

The Catcher In The Rye by J. D. Salinger.
I know, I know, this is a book that teachers are always force feeding to high school students. Give it a try anyway. If you have not read this book, you won’t get many of the jokes or sarcasm in the next book I am reviewing today, and they are good! You don’t want to miss that.

You should also read this book because it is one of the books that has what I think of as an “expiration date”. Read this book when you are between the ages of 13 and 17, (and still a student living at home with parents), and you will find Holden Caufield to be interesting, funny, and possibly even a deep thinker. Read this book later on in life, say, when you are done with college, and you will instead find Holden to be pretentious, obnoxious, and a loser. I have read this book twice, once as a high school student, and just recently as a 30-something non-student. Sadly, even though I liked Holden the first time around, I found myself just wanting to smack him upside the head as I read the book now. So, do yourself a favor, and read this book while you are still within the ages of peak enjoyment.

In case anyone reading this blog really doesn’t know what The Catcher In the Rye is all about, let me explain. Holden is about 16, and goes to a prep school. Well, he went to a prep school. He has managed to get himself kicked out of this school too. Instead of waiting the three days he has left before Christmas break, Holden decides to leave early. He goes on a three day adventure. He thinks about life in general: the things that really bother him about people, the things he likes, the many things he doesn’t understand. Holden is trying to figure out what it is that he wants to be doing with his life, while hiding out from his parents, who are eventually going to realize that he’s been kicked out of yet another school.

The book takes place somewhere in the 1950’s, I think. Some things remain the same for teens today, like Holden agonizing about calling a girl he likes on the phone, or Holden trying to sort out all his thoughts about sex, or his hatred of “phony” people. Holden’s general feeling that school is a joke and that most adults don’t have any idea what they are talking about is something all teens feel at one time or another.

The things that are different are huge. For example, Holden is only 16 years old. But, because of the time period the book takes place in, he can buy his own cigarettes, walk into bars and nightclubs, order alcoholic drinks, even get a hotel room all on his own with hardly anyone even asking for I.D. He is also in a world where cell phones have not yet been invented. So he has to use public phones to call girls, and has no way of knowing who will answer the phone. It could be the girl he is trying to call, or her parents, or whoever. Makes things that much more stressful.

One Good Thing: Once you read this book, you will be able to understand the multitude of references to this book that appear in other books and in movies. It pops up in a lot of places.

One Not So Good Thing: Holden uses slang from the 1950’s. He says things like “phony” instead of “fake”. He calls things or people “crumby” instead of saying “this sucks” or “you suck”. And, my favorite, he says “giving her the time” instead of saying “f*cks”, “screws”, “does”, “taps”, or simply “has sex with”. It can get kind of annoying.

King Dork by Frank Portman
Ok, once you have read The Catcher In the Rye, you are ready for this book. Just by looking at the cover, you can already tell that this book will refer back to the other book. The cover shows the cover of The Catcher In the Rye with the title scratched out and “King Dork” scratched on there instead.

I was amazed at how good this book turned out to be! It is not simply a remake, it’s an original. It’s smart, and sarcastic, and extremely funny in parts. Guys will dig this book.

Tom, whose nickname is “Chi-Moe”,(which means something disturbing on many levels and is explained in the book), is starting his sophmore year of high school. he has one good friend, and the two of them spend lots of time listening to music and trying to get a band started. Tom is an outcast. He’s one of those guys who gets picked on constantly, beat up by the guys who are part of the “psychotic normal” students, shunned or ignored by the girls. There is a lot of description about what school is like if you are someone like Tom. It’s gotten way more violent and vicious than when Holden was in school. Tom also points out how school has been “dumbed down” so much that most assignments involve copying pages from various books. Tom is bored, frustrated, and mostly alone. Tom is in teenage hell.

Right at the beginning of the book, Tom is assigned to read The Catcher In the Rye, a book he hates. He makes lots of sarcastic comments about this book, and the adults who love it. If you hated The Catcher In the Rye, you will relate to what Tom has to say about it. One day, Tom forgets his copy of the book at school, goes searching through his house to find another copy, and locates a copy his father used when he was a teen.

This is where the complexity starts. Tom’s father died years ago, and it’s not very clear exactly what happened. Tom finds a code in the book, and spends a lot of time trying to figure it out, in an effort to get to know his dad and what he was like when he was Tom’s age. The solving of one puzzle leads to another, and yet another. Unbelievable things start to happen. You just have to read this book!

One Good Thing: This book is just plain cool! Tom tells it like it is, and it’s one of those books where the smart guys will get the humor, and the not so smart guys will miss it entirely. Also, Tom and his friend keep changing the names of the band and their album names, etc., and its very creative. There is a list in the back of all the band names, album names, etc. There is an index in the back that at first appears to be just a glossary, similar to the one you find in the back of textbooks, but, don’t just skip over it! It’s really funny! I also enjoyed the little drawings that appear in the book. They look exactly like something a high school student with average drawing skills would draw in their notebooks.

One Not So Good Thing: The book is called King Dork, which, I imagine, could make someone a target for ridicule if caught carrying the book around school. Take the dust jacket off, and you will be fine.

Ok, this concludes “Books for Guys, Part 2″. Right now, I’m not sure when Part 3 will appear, or if there will even be a Part 3.

Tune in to find out, same Bat time, same Bat channel!