The Damned UTD and The Catcher in the Rye

While reading The Damned UTD, a novel told in the point of view of the late English football manager Brian Clough, I couldn’t help but notice similarities to The Catcher in the Rye.

The most obvious similarity between The Damned UTD and The Catcher in the Rye is the point of view. Both novels focus entirely on the perspective of their respective narrator/main character, and both stories are told through the thoughts of their respective narrator/main character. These thoughts often take the form of informal, slang language, along with vulgarity. Both novels also include a significant amount of repetition of words and phrases. In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden frequently repeats “phony,” “that killed me,” and “give her the time.” Similarly, Clough repeats a variety of phrases throughout The Damned UTD. When mulling over the Leeds United loss of the two opening games, Clough repeats, “Not since Leeds United returned to the First Division in 1964 have Leeds United lost their opening two games of the season,” five times in half a page (188). Additionally, Clough similarly uses repetition later in the novel when he says, “I still haven’t left the office, still daren’t leave the office; the feet and the voices outside the door, whispering and whispering and whispering, over and over and over, the fists banging and banging and banging upon the door, again and again and again, the phone on the desk ringing and ringing and ringing, over and over and over” (275). In both cases, his use of repetition reflects his anxiety.  

While similar in certain aspects, the two novels also differ in some respects. The sentence structure is one difference between the two novels. The Catcher in the Rye’s long, jumbled sentences reflect the lengthy streams of consciousness of Holden. These streams of consciousness appear consistently throughout the novel. On the other hand, the sentences in The Damned UTD vary. At times, they’re choppy. An example of this is when Clough is reflecting upon Leeds United’s loss of their opening two games: “The corners and the corridors. The office. The long rope. The sharp knife. The loaded gun. The door. The exit” (188). Other times, the sentences are lengthy as they are in The Catcher in the Rye: “For hours and hours I run and I shout and no one speaks and no one passes, but I can read their game, I can read their moves, so when the Irishman picks up the ball in his own half and shapes to pass, I move in towards him, to close him down, and the Irishman is forced to turn, to pass back to Hunter, a short, bad pass back, and I’m after it, this short, bad and deliberately stray pass, Hunger and Giles coming, Hunter and Giles coming, my eye on the ball, my mind on the ball, and Hunter is here, Giles is here and” (312). The sentence variation, or lack thereof, is a reflection of the dynamism of the characters, Holden and Clough. While Holden unceasingly exhibits teenage angst, Clough goes through periods of highs and lows. His shorter sentences are used in periods when he feels shouldered defeat, while his longer sentences reflect thoughts that are more quick-paced, such as his thoughts while watching a football game.