Catcher in the rye

If that's all you got from it then you're the problem.

...

I think many people dislike it because it doesn't have a clear narrative, it's just Holden walking around doing shit like you said. But the story does have a point. It's about not wanting to grow up but having to. Holden calls out a lot of adults for being "phonies" while already being one himself. Like for example, at the very beginning of the book Holden states that he hates people that pretend to like other people when they really don't, which is exactly what he does when he visits that one teacher at the beginning of the story (he acts nice and polite but internally is grossed out by him).

Holden doesn't want to lose his innocence and youth, doesn't want to become a phony, not realizing it's already too late. The punctum of the story is given by the speech some other teacher (forgot his name) gives him late in the story: he explains to Holden that growing up is inevitable, and that he has clear beliefs but is still more of a whiner than anything, and that he has two possible paths to follow: either growing up being a jaded whiner, complaining about "phonies" wihle being one, or doing something to change the things about adulthood he dislikes.

Other than that, another thing that severely struck me along the book is Holden calling and meeting old friends, just to be dissapointed by each and every one of them, labeling them as phonies, as per usual. This is important because an old friend of her is constantly mentioned along the story, in a very positive light; Holden always expresses interest in calling her but in the end never does. Why is it? Because he is afraid to discover she has grown up phony as well.

And then we have the whole catcher in the rye thing, Holden wanting to protect the young from falling to the abyss, mantaining their purity and inocence.

All in all, I think it's a pretty good comming of age good.

t. 16-19 year old

...

It was clearly 2deep4u. He also raped his little sister, Phoebe.

Lol when? I can't remember

I liked it.

I don't think anyone should read Catcher. The message that they take from it is that being a rebellious teen that no one understands is a beautiful thing, and they relate to Holden Caulfield and 'really get Salinger as a person'. The message that should be taken from the book is more along the lines of 'Angst over nothing is a pointless way to spend your life, and that we are all, on some level, phonies and that we shouldn't take ourselves so seriously.'

i couldnt identify with holden and i was that age when i read it. ive never been able to identify with him at any age. its a book about nothing, where almost nothing happens except a kid that whines for a hundred pages

That is exactly what I took from the book.
Granted, I wasn't a teenager anymore when I finally read it.

But how would that elude anyone? I felt it was pretty in-your-face.

I've always disliked this book with a passion, due mostly to Holden. That being said, after reading your opinion I can see how people would like it because of Salinger's writing and how he really does accurately describe what it's like being an angsty teenager, so thank you :). I still fucking hate him though, the whiney, hypocritical piece of shit.

Again, that was the point of the book. Holden was self-reflectant about it and hated himself for it as well. Until he kinda just accepted it as a basic trait of most humans (except for children and some special individuals).
And that is why most people either like or dislike it. It hits close to home.

because it's popular

Doesn't appen

Because Veeky Forums is full of phoneys

That it took 15 posters to say this is proof

Using that word willingly (and without cringing), gives the strong impression you didn't really understand the book.

It's just really phony, it really is.

I mean what's the point of it? little rich kid decides to leave his expensive boarding school on a whim. He decides to ramble about anything his mind could think of on his way home, and even gets friendzoned by a girl he spent his last remaining money on.

The only redeeming quality it has is how much he loves his younger siblings, especially the dead one

the America in it is DEAD and its hard to relate to

and a lot of the book rests on the time it's from

do you want debate me kid???

No. That would be phony.

I've noticed that the people who typically complain about Holden are much like Holden themselves

From what I've seen the people who complain about Holden (at least outside of Veeky Forums) are shallow normies who only read contemporary YA or genre fiction.

>Nobody has posted "he rapes his sister phoebe" yet.

I didn't like Holden, though the book is pretty on in that you don't wanna be like him. Also i didn't like spending 10+ bucks on it just to finish it in one day

Another hypocricy I noticed was how he was disgusted by his teacher ruffling his hair in the dark, while, earlier on, he would start conversations with random little kids in the park.

Ruffling a little kids hair while they're sleeping would be a very holden caulfield thing to do.

It's the same people who don't like a book of they there isn't a character who is explicitly likeable

haha that book killed me f.am

i like it

I read it with great expectations that there would be a sex scene including a little girl. It wasn't what I expected, but still it didn't disappoint me. It's nowhere near my favorite, and I would never look back to it, but it is a fine read. It is like that one exotic food you try: It is fine and it did satisfy your hunger, but that's it.

When a yet another normie attempts to be contrarian and say they don't like Catcher with the explanation that Holden is a "whiny bitch" I get irate.

Hi John :^)

I had this with The Stranger, bought the book for 15 bucks and read it within an hour.

Because it's popular

kekd

I love it.

Very little fat or filler.
Entertaining.
Endearing.
Likable protag
picaresque

Great themes without shoving it down your throat.