By Sung Woo Bae

R.Catcher in the Rye

This is an adaptation from chapter 7. It’s when Holden fights with Stradlater and goes to Ackley’s room to have a talk with him. This remake transforms Holden into a R. Fiend.

A tiny bit of light came through the creak in the door from the hallway, and I could see him lying in bed. I knew damn well he was wide awake. “Y’awake Sam?”

“Yeah.”

It was pretty dark and I kicked somebody’s baggage trunk and damn near broke my toe.

“Damn, it hurts!”

I massaged my throbbing toes while hopping on one foot.

“What the hellya doing here Ken?”

Sam sort of sat up in his bed and looked down at me from his second story bed. Even in the darkness, I could see well that he was pissed off and looked damn tired.

“You wanna eat some ramyun Sam? I mean if you have some and some for me too.”

He was a ramyun fiend and always had boxes stacked in his closet.

“Ramyun? For Crhissake do you know what time it is, by any chance?”

“It isn’t too late, only around two, two-thirty.”

“Only two thirty!” Sam said. “Listen I gotta get up for kendo tomorrow, for christsake. And isn’t it way passed curfew? You’re gonna get me into damn court and special training!”

“Calm down Sam. I won’t get caught, never been.”

Sam always became a prick when it came to penalty points and court. He didn’t even have lots of points, boy I couldn’t understand him. It was as if he had a thing to keep his penalty record slate absolutely clean. He sure was a damn prince about it.

Anyways after my toes been calmed, I sat on Sam’s chair. Sam had one of the most expensive chairs in the whole school. His parents were those who thought that his son needed to be in the best condition and posture to study, and bought this overly expensive chair. But I got to say, it was damn comfortable.

“Well if you aren’t feeling for some ramyun, then can I cook some with Ted’s hotpot? It’s not like he’s gonna care right?” I knew damn he wouldn’t care. Ted wasn’t the hygienic guy and I bet he wouldn’t even notice I used it even if I didn’t wash the post afterwards.

“Well I dunno, I’m not responsible if he gets pissed Ken. And would’ya get the damn out if with my ramyun? I wanna sleep you know.”

“Ok Ok Sam kid, I’ll leave”

In a dorm school isolated in the mountains, ramyuns were diamonds.

I quickly walked out with some diamonds in my arms.

“It never fails heh heh.”

Adaptation on (a part of) Chapter 16 By Shin Won Shik

Adaptation on (a part of) Chapter 16

신원식(Shin Won Shik)

I decided to write an adaption on the scene in chapter 16 where Holden walks to the Museum of Natural History in New York, wishing that things wouldn’t change and keep their original status quo. As a student in KMLA, where a bunch of changes are always taking place, and no one really knows for sure what exactly is going on, I often am struck down by sudden changes in academics, relationships with friends and teachers, and dormitory life. I did not follow the exact structures and orders of incidents of the book. Instead, I focused on the essential idea that was being dealt with at the end of chapter 16. So I guess my ‘adaptation’ is more faithful and devoted to the quintessential idea and theme of the original novel than it is to the explicit outside formants and structures. Still, I tried to convey the particular tone of Holden’s use of language in the lines of Albert and use informal language just as Holden would have done.

I recently watched a film which deals with change in human emotions, and I really wanted to blend in some specific features of the film in my adaptation work. The idea of looking at expiration date of pineapple cans is actually from the movie, but I thought it would play a pivotal role in delivering the emotional state of ‘Albert’ in my writing, so I included it anyway.

“Class! We will have a quiz on the material we have just learnt about. I know I told you guys we will have one next week, but I guess we now have a change in schedule. Alright, you have until the end of class.”

Shit.

Another ‘impromptu’ quiz. I hate taking quizzes. I guess I have a thing about them. I mean, who are the teachers to measure our ability based on a piece of paper with nothing more than some ink stains on it? The whole idea of such dictatorial standards just disgusts me, y’ know. What’s more is that they keep deceiving poor students by frequently changing test dates. Those bastards called teachers……

I basically flunked the quiz. But hey, there’s nothing to worry about, y’ know. Today afternoon I have two important plans. A soccer match with my friends in town and a date with my soon-to-be-girlfriend, Aika. These things in life are the real important stuff, and they are probably what people live up to, I guess. Compared to such grandeur values, a quiz? Phew, most likely no more important than just one strand of Aika’s long, dark-blonde hair. It’s funny how people make such a big deal out of such mediocre stuff. Excited and all, I strolled down the hallway toward the exit sign of the school building to go grab my soccer shoes. Then, my phone suddenly rang.

‘Beep, beep~beep, beep~’

“Wai?”

“Huh? Isn’t this Albert on the phone?”

“It is me, you stupid. ‘Wai’ means ‘hello’ in Cantonese.”

“Alright. See why you are so into Cantonese these days. You failed your English Composition class, and now you have a thing for cool foreign languages. Isn’t it, Albert?”

“Stop BSing. Why you called?”

“Oh, our soccer match today, y’ know, it’s been canceled. Change of practice schedules. Sorry.”

“Yeah? Well, here is what I wanted to say, ‘Screw all of you!’ I have schedules too y’ know! Who are you to change my plans for soccer?”

Then he hung up.

Screw them.

I hate people who make changes in anything. Now I have one more reason to be pissed off today. All I had left of today is the sweet date with Aika, I guess.

Shoot.

Aika is a pretty girl from Hong Kong. She has really long, blond hair with the beautiful wave and all. I met her in psychology class. From the moment I saw her, I swear I had a tickling sensation from deep inside of my body. She looked as if Olivia Hussey from the film Romeo and Juliet had come back to her youth right in front of me. I do hate films, but not necessarily the actors and actresses in them-especially the actresses, I think. I knew our date would be no sooner than dinnertime, but I called her anyway simply because I wanted to hear her voice. To make it a surprise for her, I decided to call her not with my phone, but at the public telephone booth.

“Hey, Aika! Guess who it is.”

“Umm. Albert, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, yeah. Listen, about our date this evening”

“Oh, right! Albert, before you say anything else, I think I’ll have to make an apology first. I originally planned to go out with you, but my parents insisted that I spend time with my relatives who came to visit. I’m really sorry for the sudden change, I really am.”

“Aika, I don’t understand. Why do I always have to be your second choice? If I’m not your first priority, then fine.”

“Albie, you know I don’t mean that. Don’t speak like a jerk.”

“You know what? I don’t even want to talk to you anymore.”

I don’t know why I got so angry with her, but whatever the reasons were, I did. She’s the one who first pissed me off, right? Like I said, I hate changes, and I hate people who make changes even more. To be frank, I wish everything had been guaranteed to maintain its current status quo. Changes can hurt people, y’ know. Take me, for instance. I have three reasons to be mad, and all of those three reasons were due to change.

I just wish things would stay as they were, not frequently changing. I headed toward a convenience store about two blocks from where I was. For some reason, I suddenly felt like eating canned pineapple. I remembered that they sell Delmont Canned Pineapple and what not. I bought a whole bunch of pineapple cans, and stared at the colorful labels. The juicy pictures of golden pineapples have been exactly the same since I was a little boy, and they probably will stay that way for the next few decades at the very least. Lucky them, y’ know. Compared to these little canned pineapples, what are we? Always making freakin’ changes, with nothing guaranteed to last. Shit. Who says the mankind is the wisest specie in the world, when we are no better than mere pineapple cans? Liars. If there was an expiration date for human relationships, just like on pineapple cans, I would surely put a million years on the goddam label below the barcode. That way, I could be sure nothing would every change so suddenly, and I wouldn’t get so pissed off like I was today.

While all these thoughts filled my mind, I had already finished a dozen of these cans. I looked up at the sky, and saw a thick cloud floating around. Even the clouds were constantly moving, changing their positions.

“Can’t you guys stop moving, for Chrissake? Why can’t anyone just stay where they are? Ugh!”

I grabbed another canned pineapple to eat, hoping those pineapples would always taste the same with the rich sugary-flavored pulps and all.

Adaptation in My Own Voice - Ho Kyung Sung

Adaptation Essay – Mr. Garrioch                           

  By Ho Kyung Sung

The Catcher in the Rye - Adaptation in My Own Voice

The following is a KMLA adaptation of Chapter 16 from The Catcher in the Rye.

             After I had my dinner, it was only around 5 o’clock, and I’d decided not to do anything productive till 7 o’clock, so I started taking this long walk. I couldn’t stop thinking about old JG. I kept thinking about that abandoned old ice cream wrapper he picked up when our room was coming back from Sosa. I kept trying to picture my other roommate or somebody, or my teacher, or even myself, stopping on their way and going back to pick up garbage. It was hard to picture. Everyone booed Jo when he threw the wrapper on the street, but nobody thought to actually pick it up and take it with him. He was some kind of guy.

I started walking over toward Changui Building, just for the hell of it, because I hadn’t been over there in years. Besides, I sort of wanted to sneak a look at the inside of the new dorm building on the way back. It was this building that the school wanted so badly. The school was too short of dough for that for such a long time. It was supposed to be for girls only or something. I heard it at the lunch with the big teachers. A friend of mine had the idea to use it as a place for old seniors and all, but they wouldn’t buy it. They just said they would think about it. That kinda annoyed me, but it isn’t their entire fault that they’re so sore about anything we say. Phony answers are all they can give.

It wasn't as cold as it was the day before, but the sun was almost down, and it wasn't too nice for walking. But there was one nice thing. I heard someone playing Daegeum at Minkyo-Kwan. I got up closer to see who was playing. It was that quiet freshman down the aisle at the dorm. He was just playing for the hell of it, you could tell. He kept on missing the notes and hollering, but he didn’t care. It made me feel better. It made me feel not so depressed any more.

It was lousy at Changui Building. Nobody was there, and only the brown leaves were sitting on the steps to the front door. The benches all looked like they'd be wet if you sat down on them. It made you depressed, and every once in a while, for no reason, you got goose flesh while you walked.

The new dorm building was all finished and all that stuff, but they wouldn’t let you in. Quite annoying it was. They thought you would mess things up in the new place. It wasn’t all that shining from the beginning, either. The walls were already stained. This old guy was standing right in front, smoking like a horse. He was sort of a nice guy. “No students allowed,” He said in grumpy voice. I was too tired to reply to him, so I just walked past the building.

I walked all the way through the new dorm building over to the baseball field. I knew that whole field routine like a book. My sister used to go to this school seven years ago, and when I had come to visit her, I used to go there all the time. Really, every time. A guy friend she was close with – he was probably the captain of the baseball team and all, I rememeber – always took me there. It always smelled like grass, even though the grass was all artificial, and you were in the only nice, free, open place in the world. The ground was all artificial turf, except around the bases where it was sand. It kind of made me sad to think that all the turf used to be all a bit longer before. Now it wasn’t so different from a flat mattress. It was a nice field, though. Except that in the summer, weeds would grow around the bases like hell and you would’ve had to spend all afternoon just clearing the ones that come up to your knees. It didn't exactly depress me to think about it, but it didn't make me feel gay as hell, either. Certain things they should stay the way they are. I know that's impossible, but it's too bad anyway. Anyway, I kept thinking about all that while I walked.

Adaptation by Hyun Jee

Introduction: This is an adaptation of a scene in which Holden asks the cab driver about the whereabouts of the ducks during wintertime.

The call ban that I had was a real stinky one; it just smelled like someone’d threw up after a long night of drinking up so-ju. I always end up in this vomity kind of cabs if I have to go back to school phony as hell. Boy, what really kills me in this goddam boring trip back to a near ghost town, Hoengseong, is the deadly crowdedness of feverish Daechi-dong “ajummas”, even though it was Sunday night. As soon as the ban leaves the gate of my house and reaches the goddamn center of Daechi-dong, what  knocks me out again is the flitty high school girls crossing a street, with their hands holding tightly and all, or a swarming group of wonky students reiterating all you could bet wasn’t nutritious to their brain. This all phoniness depressed the hell out of me. But finally, after I was riding a while, the ban driver and I sort of struck up a conversation. His name was Duk-su. He was much less phonier guy than the other driver I had last month. Anyway, I thought maybe he might know about the squirrels always around my school.  

“Hey,” I said. “You ever notice the little hill that leads up to my school?”

“The what?”

“The hill. Up the little winding lane. Where the squirrels dig around and run in circles all day long. You know.”

“Yeah, what about it?”

“Well, you know the squirrels roam around. In the springtime and all? Do you happen to know where they go in the wintertime, by any chance?”

“Where who goes?”

“The squirrels. Do you know, by any chance? I mean does someone just stops by to pick them up in a truck or something and lead them away to better land, or do they just run from prairie to prairie by themselves—go south or something?”

The old ban crash stopped at the red light and Old Duk-su snapped back at me. He was a very impatient-type guy. He wasn’t a phony one, though. “For Chrissake, why the hell do you care?” he said. “How the hell should I care where a stupid squirrel goes in wintertime?”

“Don’t get too sore about it,” I said. I could tell that he was being sore about me or something.

“Who’s sore? Me? No, I am not sore, the question is, for Chrissake, sore, bud.”

We ran in silence for the next few minutes, for he seemed to get so damn touchy about it. But he broached the squirrel thing again himself. He turned his head all the way around again in the next red light and said, “The squirrel don’t go no place. No one comes to take them up to the warm place for god sake. They stay right down the goddam hill.”

“The squirrel, by themselves? You sure?”

“Use your head, for Chrissake. When the icy snow covers up the hill, what else would they do? Run away to somewhere no icy? Everywhere is icy during winter, and people find where they find nice and warm. Squirrels no different. Nothin’s different about them.”

I thought for a moment. ‘Boy, nothing is different. The squirrels, the people...and…’

“All right. What do they do under the ground and all, under that whole little hill’s a solid block of ice. Do they keep running around in a circle?”

This time, the red light was not even on, but Old Duk-su turned around again. “What the hell-aya mean what do they do? They stay right where they are, for Chrissake. Their bodies, for Chrissake stores nutrition and all before the ice covers the ground. That’s their nature, they stay right under and don’t move.”

“Oh,” I said. I didn’t ask more question, for this madman, but a good man was going to smash this old, squeaking ban against the only streetlight that shone our way down the darkest street of Hoengseong.