March 12: The Egyptians, History, Saint Theophanes the Chronicler, Memoir

The Egyptians are extremely interesting to us today for various reasons.  Modern science would still like to know what the secret ingredients were that the Egyptians used when they wrapped up dead people so that their faces would not rot for innumerable centuries.  This interesting riddle is still quite a challenge to modern science in the twentieth century.

This paragraph from Holden's history exam proves a couple of things.  First, he knows very little about ancient Egyptians.  Second, he has a thing for mummies, which come up later in the novel when he goes to the Museum of Natural History in New York.  I think Holden likes the idea of something that doesn't change, remaining the same for "innumerable centuries."  Holden has lost his little brother to leukemia, and this loss has sent him on a downward spiral.

Holden doesn't really care about history.  He cares about girls and sex and bullies and his family.  He's a normal teenage boy.  Perhaps he's a little more sensitive than some, but what it all boils down to is hormones.  A lot of hormones.  Teenagers (and tweenagers) are so self-absorbed they wouldn't notice the burning of the Hindenburg unless it was posted on Facebook by one of their friends.

In some ways, The Catcher in the Rye reads like a memoir.  It's a slice of Holden Caulfield's life.  I have learned, since I started working on my memoir, that it's difficult to make yourself interesting.  Salinger creates a narrative voice for Holden that is authentic and entertaining.  It drives the entire book.  That's what I've been struggling with.  I write a fragment of memoir and then spend hours wondering if I'm being self-indulgent or boring.  Perhaps if I thought of myself as a fictional character, I would find composing a memoir a little easier.  Maybe I need to think of myself as Holden Caulfield.

Or Saint Theophanes the Chronicler, whose feast day is today.  Theophanes was born in Greece around 759 a.d. to a wealthy family.  Of course, being predisposed to saintliness, he soon divested himself of his wife (who joined a convent) and money.  Among Theophanes' many accomplishments is his attempt to write a history of the world.  I don't think he ever finished this project.  He ran afoul of Leo the Armenian who imprisoned him for his Christian faith.  Theophanes died in exile, away from his home and studies and history of the world.

Holden has a great story.  Saint Theophanes has a great story, too.

Saint Marty has a blog and a lot of insecurity.

Check out this cool picture I saw on Facebook