Denial

I am still reading the book "The Catcher in the Rye," by J.D Salinger.  This book is about a boy named Holden Caufield. In this book, Holden begins this story at a school called Prancy prep, an exclusive and private school located in Agerstown, Pennsylvania. In the beginning of the book, he has just gotten kicked out of this school.
 
Before Holden leaves the school for good, he wants to say goodbye to one of his favorite teacher Mr. Spencer.  But, Holden was too afraid to see him again because he was old and has the flu which creeps him  out. Or at least that's what Holden says.  Honestly, I think that is just an excuse for him.  I think that Holden is scared to visit his favorite teacher because he is never going to see him again.  I think that Holden is afraid that his teacher will be ashamed, or disappointed in him.  Mr. Spencer was one of the few good parts that Holden had in this school, and he doesn't want to ruin that for him.  So, instead of confronting his teacher, Holden leaves the school a few days early to go to New York.

I think that Holden doing this is away of denial, or not confronting his fears.  Even though Holden has gotten kicked out of many schools, and appears very cool with it, I think that he is not so okay with it on the inside.  I think that if he visits his favorite teacher to say goodbye, it is much more real, and I think that Holden is afraid of that.

From the Past

Right now I am reading the book "The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D Salinger.  This book takes place in 1949, and is about sixteen-year-old student Holden Caulfield from New York City.  In this book, Holden has flunked out of many advance schools, because he never "applies himself to his school work". Holden tells this story in from after it takes place.  I think that this is really interesting.  Many stories are told in the present tense, so as you read it, the same thing is happening to the characters in the moment.  I think the fact that this book is written as the past, it gives it a special point of view.

Since this book is written from the future, the narrator already knows what is going to happen.  Because of this, the narrator can hint at something that is going to happen, but not actually tell the whole story.  I think this is interesting for the reader because it makes you really curious about the events that are going to come.  It also makes the reader guess or predict about the little hints that are given.  

Another reason that I think it is interesting for a book to be written from the future is that the narrator/ main character already knows the whole story, so they can reflect on it.  As the story goes on, they know how each decision and event is going to affect the rest of the story.  They know if the things they do were good ideas, or bad, and they know what they are going to regret.  This is very different from books written in the present, because the main character doesn't yet know the affects of his actions.