A 'Catcher in the Rye' Christmas tour
Photo credit: Bebeto Matthews, Associated Press | The Radio City Rockettes perform in the annual "Radio City Christmas Spectacular," marking its 75th year in New York, Wednesday 14 Nov., 2007. In the 1951 publication of "The Catcher in the Rye, its main character Holden Caulfield wanders around Manhattan at Christmastime visiting key landmarks, including Radio City and the Rockettes. (
Where do the ducks go in the winter?
It's a question Holden Caulfield, the moody teenage narrator ofthe classic novel "The Catcher in the Rye," asks about the ducksin the Central Park pond.
And it's a question that Sara Cedar Miller, the Central ParkConservancy historian, hears often.
"People are always calling and asking, 'Where do the ducksgo?"' said Miller. "I say, 'Did you just finish reading 'Catcherin the Rye'? The answer is always yes."
"The Catcher in the Rye," by J.D. Salinger, was published in1951. But nearly all the landmarks Holden mentions as he wandersaround Manhattan at Christmastime - the Rockefeller Center skatingrink, Radio City and the Rockettes, the zoo and carousel in CentralPark, Grand Central, the American Museum of Natural History and theMetropolitan Museum of Art - are still drawing holiday visitorsmore than a half-century later.
"The things that he chose tend be crowd-pleasers," saidMatthew Postal, a researcher with the Landmarks PreservationCommission. "In a city where so much changes, there is a tendency,especially with institutions, to protect the crowd-pleasers."
Ruth Freer, an English teacher at Highland Park High School,about 30 miles from Chicago, teaches "The Catcher in the Rye,"and she created a "Holden tour" for herself on a visit toManhattan not long ago. She took pictures of all the placesmentioned in the book to share with her students.
"I think the novel encourages readers to visit New York, andwhen they do, they can't help seeing some of what Holden sees,"Freer said. "I know my students often bring me pictures ofthemselves posed strategically in places mentioned in the book.They love it, and so do I. ... While New York is a quintessentialpart of 'Catcher in the Rye,' teens everywhere respond to Holden'sjourney."
You too can create a "Holden tour" of New York atChristmastime. Here are some of the places mentioned in the novel,with nearby attractions and what, if anything, is new.
ROCKEFELLER CENTER: Holden Caulfield took a date skating at theice rink here, and he also caught a show at Radio City. In thosedays, the famous Rockettes performed in between movies, but today,the dancers' trademark kickline is the main attraction at theannual "Radio City Christmas Spectacular," which celebrates its75th year this season. Take Radio City's "Stage Door Tour" andmeet one of the Rockettes, or take the elevator up at 30Rockefeller Plaza for a bird's eye view of the city from Top of theRock, the observatory on the 67th, 69th and 70th floors. (It's thebuilding where the fictional TV show "30 Rock" is set.)
Options for combination tickets include admission to Top of theRock, the Radio City tour and an NBC studio tour, $45; Top of theRock and the Museum of Modern Art, nearby on 53rd Street off FifthAvenue, $30; and an Explorer Pass that includes Top of the Rock anda choice of attractions ranging from a double-decker bus tour tothe Statue of Liberty. Details athttp://www.topoftherocknyc.com/specialoffers/.
CENTRAL PARK: As you walk up Fifth Avenue to Central Park, enjoythe holiday windows at Cartier, Bergdorf Goodman, Tiffany & Co.,Henri Bendel and FAO Schwarz. The pond Holden visited is northwestof the park entrance at 59th Street and Fifth Avenue. Chances areyou'll see the ducks. "Some migrate but mostly they're around,"said Miller, the park historian.
The zoo entrance is near 64th Street and Fifth Avenue. Althoughthe zoo was temporarily closed in the 1980s to replaceold-fashioned cages with more space for fewer animals, you canstill see sea lions and polar bears, just like Holden did.
He also took his little sister to the carousel, west of the zooin the middle of the park. The carousel there today replaced onethat burned down in 1950, but it is considered "a masterpiece ofAmerican folk art," Miller said.
The zoo is open daily (winter hours, 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m.); adults,$8, children 3-12, $3. The carousel is open daily, weatherpermitting; rides, $1.50. The Central Park Conservancy offers avariety of free guided walking tours of the park, 60-90 minuteslong. No reservations for up to six people; call 212-360-2726 forgroups. Details at http://www.centralparknyc.org (click on"Activites/Programs" and then "Walking Tours.")
GRAND CENTRAL: Holden checks his bag at Grand Central and chatswith some nuns over breakfast there, but you'll want to check outthe architecture, shopping and the Grand Central Kaleidoscope, aholiday light show that premiered last year. The free seven-minuteshow runs Dec. 1-Jan. 1, on the hour and the half-hour, 11 a.m.-9p.m. In addition to eateries and specialty shops, the station alsohas a holiday gift fair with 70 vendors, Nov. 19-Dec. 31.
To help you appreciate Grand Central's Beaux Arts design,cathedral windows and vaulted ceiling decorated with a starry skyof twinkling lights, a Municipal Arts Society tour is offeredWednesdays, 12:30 p.m., from the information booth on the mainconcourse (suggested donation $10, 212-935-3960). Grand CentralPartnership tours of the station and neighborhood start 12:30 p.m.Fridays in the Sculpture Court of the Whitney Museum at Altria,42nd Street across from Grand Central;http://www.grandcentralpartnership.org or 212-883-2420.
AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: New York City kids grow upvisiting this museum's dinosaurs, blue whale and planetarium. "Iloved that damn museum," says Holden, whose favorite exhibitsinclude the Great Canoe. The vessel, carved from a single cedartree by Northwest Coast tribes in British Columbia, Canada, in1878, measures 63 feet - as long as a six-story building is tall.
The canoe first went on display in 1884 and today it hangssuspended from the ceiling of the Grand Gallery, seven feet off thefloor.
Holden's description in "The Catcher in the Rye" mentionspeople in the boat, but those sculpted figures have since beenremoved. "It was an aesthetic design change," explained StephenQuinn, senior project manager for the museum's Department ofExhibitions. "Some feel it has greater dignity as an object."
Also on the first floor (which is actually one floor below theentrance at 79th Street and Central Park West) is the museum'sunique holiday tree, decorated with origami. Elsewhere in thebuilding you'll find the butterfly conservatory, the "MythicCreatures" show through Jan. 6, and another special exhibit called"Water: H20Life." The museum is open daily 10 a.m.-5:45; checkhttp://www.amnh.org for holiday hours. Adults $15, students $11,children 2-12, $8.50.
METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: Holden described the museum'sEgyptian Wing as "pretty spooky," but most kids (and grown-ups)are fascinated, not frightened, by the mummies. On the same floor,Christmas-minded visitors will want to head to the MedievalSculpture Hall to view the museum's tree and Neapolitan Baroquecreche, an annual tradition. The brightly lit 20-foot blue spruce -decorated with 18th-century angels and cherubs and a Nativity scene- is on display Nov. 20-Jan. 6.
The museum, at 82nd Street and Fifth Avenue -http://www.metmuseum.org/ - is open Fridays-Saturdays, 9:30a.m.9:00 p.m.; Sundays and Tuesday-Thursday, 9:30 a.m.5:30 p.m.;closed Mondays and Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's days (butopen 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve).Suggested admission, adults $20; students, $10; children under 12,free.
INSIDER TIP: The last two weeks of December are among New York'sbusiest times of year, with long lines everywhere and midtown socrowded you can barely cross the street. But even in the Big Apple,Christmas morning is magically quiet. If you're in town, dragyourself out of bed before 10 a.m., and you might get your ownmiracle on 34th Street and even at Rockefeller Center: a view ofMacy's windows and the famous tree, minus the crowds.
comments