I never have understood why this book is considered a classic. I like the book, but I don't love it.

Sent to sarradee as part of the "Geographically Unrestricted - BBC Top 100 Relay".

Thanks perfcangel!

This book is on the Time Magazine 100 Books list that I'm reading for an ongoing challenge. Into that TBR pile it goes. Hope to get it read and passed on soon.

Amazon.com
J. D. Salinger's famous and enduring chronicle of Holden Caulfield's journey from innocence to experience is the quintessential coming-of-age novel--though it's an unusual one, in which the hero tries to cling to the simplicity of childhood, achieving a kind of maturity almost in spite of himself. As the novel begins, Holden runs away from his stifling prep school, which is full of "phonies" and where he has, in fact, flunked out. Holing up in a New York City hotel, he has a series of small adventures and missed opportunities, all of which emphasize his loneliness and alienation from the world. A visit to his kid sister Phoebe (in which he memorably articulates his confused notion of being a "catcher in the rye") provides a ray of hope for Holden, as do the ducks in Central Park that he worries about so compulsively: though they do indeed disappear in the winter, they return in the spring. The novel's final image, of Phoebe riding the carousel in the park while her brother looks on, in tears, holds out the idea that there may be a future for Holden as well. Salinger's 1951 novel was a bestseller and became an immediate cult favorite, but it has also, over the years, been subject to criticism and even censorship because of its liberal use of profanity, its frank conversations about sex (though no actual sex takes place), and its generally irreverent view of the adult world.

I read this book years ago, and in the re-reading discovered that I'd forgotten almost everything. There was a scene that I remember quite clearly in my head, that I swear came from this book, that actually didn't. Good to know.

I have to say that while this may very well be the ultimate coming of age novel, yadda, yadda, yadda that all the reviewers claim it to be, I found Holden Caulfield a whiney little sh*t that could use a good smack and probably a few sessions with a psychiatrist. Everyone and everything in his world, except for himself is somehow phoney or boring or distasteful. Instead of facing the wrath of his parents for getting kicked out of yet another prep school, he chooses to hole up in varying places in New York for several days. This leads to him spending as much time as possible drunk. Self medication is not the answer to depression.

Offered on the relay site, accepted by rossshow. Will be mailed out this morning.

RELEASE NOTES:

Mailed but never journaled, wonder where the book is now?