"What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it."
- J.D. Salinger (The Catcher in the Rye)
Last week I read three books that made me feel this exact way (one of them being The Catcher in the Rye). I also read 1984 and Lord of the Flies. I know a lot of people find these books disturbing and would lock me up if they knew just how much I enjoyed them. Part of the reason I loved them is that I love being creeped out just a little (Criminal Minds, anyone?). Part of it is that human nature really does fascinate me. But probably the biggest part (and I really can't believe I'm admitting this) is because of LeeAnn Drake, my AP Lit teacher.
Just a little background info: I did not like Drake. And she didn't like me. I can spout as much rubbish about her annoying habit of asking the class to laugh at her jokes or the frustrating way she pronounces her ts as I want, but the truth of the matter is I didn't like her because her opinions were vastly different than my own. English is my killer subject, and it was really hard for me to hear, time and time again, that I was wrong. But I will admit (grudgingly) that I learned tons. And my love for great literature has dramatically increased (Don't get me wrong, I love me some Harry Potter and Percy Jackson, but I've learned they're nowhere near the level of Rodion Raskolnikov and Edna Pontellier.)
Anyway, I'd like to think myself sort of an idealist. I genuinely believe that people are inherently good. I don't understand hatred (besides the petty, such as me and LeeAnn.) Watching Saving Private Ryan almost made me lose my lunch and the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C. gave me nightmares for the better part of two months. So one might be surprised to learn that I devoured those books, two days per novel. Or that my favorite book I read in Mrs. Drake's class was Candide. Or that the next book on my list is Animal Farm.
So why am I so interested in these books?
Because if there's one thing LeeAnn taught me, it's that a different opinion is not necessarily wrong.
