Literary Soundtracks

 This week’s prompt on the Blogger Book Swap is Literary Soundtracks.

This was such a fun prompt! The book I choose to make a soundtrack of is one of my all-time favorites books, The Catcher in the Rye.

I have had a few existential Holden-esque crises in my life, so I mostly loaded up this soundtrack with songs that I listened to in my utmost, adolescent angst as I scorned all things phoney in the world.

“Teenagers”-My Chemical Romance

I would play this is the beginning, as Holden gets expelled and interacts with some of his classmates. This song literally screams against societies views and fear of teenagers.

“Break on Through to the Other Side”-The Doors

This would play as Holden checks into the Edmont Hotel and has various encounters with strangers. The tempo of the song suggests that occurrences around Holden are reaching a dizzying, dangerous pace.

“Gimme Shelter”-The Rolling Stones

This would play around the time he breaks into his parents home to talk with his sister Phoebe.

Again, the tempo of this song suggests the pace is headed towards a dangerous direction.

“Society “-Eddie Vedder (Into the Wild soundtrack)

I think this epitomizes Holden’s philosophizing and wondering where the ducks go in the winter, when the pond is frozen over in Central Park.

“Lithium” –Nirvana

This would play after the encounter with Mr. Anatolini when Holden feels the most confused. The reader is left to interpret Mr. Antolini’s intentions and may begin to wonder if Holden is really cracking up.

“Say it Ain’t So” –Weezer

This will play near the end, when Holden sees his sister Phoebe on the carousel at Central Park. Even though Holden says he feels so much joy at that  moment, I still see it as really sad, because he has let so many things get in the way of allowing himself to feel as he did when he was a child, at Phoebe’s age.

“The Man Who Sold the World”-Nirvana

This will play at the conclusion of the book. The book does not necessarily have happy ending, so I thought it was fitting to add something that had more of a contemplative, eerie feeling.

What book would you make a soundtrack to? What would it include?