Time marches on

And all of Homer's Greeks wore such funny clothing.

clipped from www.npr.org Moving Beyond 'Catcher' On School Reading Lists Weekend Edition Saturday, August 30, 2008 · The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger's beloved novel, once banned and full of frank four-letter words, will continue to be assigned to high school reading lists this year. But Anne Trubek, a professor of English at Oberlin College, argues that it's time to update Salinger's coming-of-age tale. "It was published in 1951 and it's not so contemporary anymore," Trubek tells Scott Simon. "I think that most American teenagers will find it rather tame and sort of laughable the things that were once considered so controversial." And in the days of Columbine, Katrina, Facebook, and YouTube, Salinger's Holden Caulfield may no longer offer a reflecting pool for adolescent angst, Trubek says. "I think his experience of adolescent alienation is pertinent, but he's also an upper-class white man who's going to a prep school."