#43 [2024/CBR16] The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

I like to read a couple of classic novels every year, just to hit some of the famous books that I somehow missed in school or life. I guess The Catcher in the Rye (1951) by J.D. Salinger is one that many high school students read, but was somehow never assigned to me. It also has such an odd title that I didn't have much incentive to pick it up on my own after high school. I'm not sure what finally spurred me on to read it this year, but I've finally picked it up.

We first meet our narrator and protagonist, Holden Caufield, at his prep school in Pennsylvania. He's just been informed that he will not be coming back next semester due to his poor performance. Instead of waiting for the school to inform his parents and be taken back home in disgrace, Holden says goodbye to an old, favorite teacher of his and takes off on foot. Holden takes the train to New York City where he wanders around for three days before he goes back to his family and is sent to some kind of psychiatric care facility.

Holden specifically avoids talking too much about his life, saying that he's not like David Copperfield. Instead he sticks to the present. However, we get glimpses of his life when we see how close he is to his sister. In addition, we see Holden's reaction when he wakes up with an older man touching his hair. We also see how much it bothers him when a classmate possibly mistreats a girl he genuinely likes.

Holden is an interesting character who is sometimes lost, sometimes hurt, sometimes insightful, often selfish, and very much a teenager. Salinger does a good job in showing Holden's feelings, even when Holden doesn't understand his feelings himself. He feels very raw and honest. He's still trying to figure out the world, but he sometimes sees it much more clearly than the adults around him.

Maybe by the end of the book, I was a little tired of Holden aimlessly wandering around. I wanted him to get somewhere safe and not drag his sister into anything. But there was a lot going on in this novel. I think I could reread this one and get even more out of it. I'm glad I read it.