This is one of my all time favourite books. I never had to read it at school, but I picked it up at a bookstore last year after reading some quotes from it that I liked. Holden's observations on people and life in general interest me and for some reason I find great comfort in any of Salinger's work.

Monika wrote: "one of the worst books I have ever read.
I read it in highschool, and absolutely hated it.

I only finished the book because we had quizzes on it...

in 2007 (about 10 years after my freshman yea..."
Okay, you hated it. And in four paragraphs, you never once said why.

one of the worst books I have ever read.
I read it in highschool, and absolutely hated it.

I only finished the book because we had quizzes on it...

in 2007 (about 10 years after my freshman year in highschool-where I had to read the book) I tried to read it again.

I got 5 pages into the book and everything came coming back...I really hated this book, and I even started to recall the discussions we had in class about it (where almost everyone loved the book, and if they didnt love it they were the ones who just didnt read it for homework)

ugh just thinking about it annoys me...

Thank you for your post Bishop. I think I can relate to Holden because I see so many false and hypocritical people and rediculous, unsensible situations in the world. I think Holden is mentally ill, but he is also intelligent and that makes for a very difficult combination. I consider a book good when I can relate to the existential challenges the characters may be facing. I think that many people don't have the intellectual depth to experience existential ambivilance and those people probably wouldn't be able to relate to this book.

As a very alienated teenager, I so thoroughly identified with this book I carried it everywhere, almost a bible, maybe just a badge of coolness. Now, though, it doesn't have the same effect. But then, now, I have a mortgage and financial worries instead of hormonal angst.

Esther wrote: "I don't get why so many reviewers complain about books with whiny, angst-ridden, navel-gazing teenagers. "

To be fair, Curtis Sittenfeld's, Prep, centers around a stupid teenager and I wanted to kill her the entire length of the book. Maybe because I thought all of it lacked depth/purpose. I did not have the same reaction to her that I did Holden. That's just me.

I will definitely have to read this again.
I read it, as a set book, when I was a teenager. Although I didn't particularly like Holden I could identify with what he was going through: the feeling of suffocating under the arbitrary rules that governed my life and the feeling of having no control over my future.

I don't get why so many reviewers complain about books with whiny, angst-ridden, navel-gazing teenagers.
As far as my memory serves that is what being a teenager is about. Adults treat you as a child while expecting you to behave responsibly like an adult and inside your childish brain has little grasp of a long-term future and 1001 conflicting emotions to deal with.

Sure Holden is not pleasant, admirable character but he is real.

Glad I could help. :)

I'll play the devil's advocate since most people are here condemning this one:

I think most comments in this thread are an oversimplification. I don't think that Holden is simply a whiny teenager growing up with "no hope of a future." To me, this book is about more than teen angst. Yes, Salinger chose as his protagonist a teenager, warts and all, but this is not a "teen" novel. I always felt that this was a book about alienation, marginalization, and fragmentation. And who feels more excluded and confused about the world than the new generation coming into it? Even more than this, Holden, like so many people of his generation (and perhaps, like Salinger), has no true conception of himself or the world he lives in. (Consider the massive social/technological changes during this time period.) Unfortunately, as a teenager, he doesn't have the context or the language in which to express what he sees/feels in the world so he relies heavily on the tired refrain of "phoniness." He can't put his finger on what he is experiencing, but he knows that he doesn't fit and he doesn't like it.

One of the brilliant aspects of this novel is what Salinger is able to convey (about the world, about this boy) in such a limited and controlled voice--and that voice is as real and unique as any in literature (you know you're hearing Holden when you read). However, just because he is masterfully constructed, it doesn't mean we have to like him. We don't have to like him at all. I didn't like Bigger Thomas, but I loved Native Son. Is Holden whiny? Sure. Is he self-destructive? Sure. Is he judgmental? Sure. Is he coarse? Sure. As readers, we need to look beneath the self-righteous bluster and idiotic behavior to see what's going on with him. No, I don't like him either, but I feel for him.

Then again, he could just be a apathetic, sexually repressed, little jerk. :) Either way, I agree about the Beatles thing.

I agree.

Sarah wrote: "I think that the book captures the essence of a teenager brilliantly.

Not all teenagers, of course. But the ones who grow up with no hope of a future. "



I grew up in foster care because my mom was a prostitute and had me when she was 15. I had no hope of a future. And yet, I never acted like Holden did. It was his choice to be the way he was and he is just stupid for it.

I can understand how it would be seen that way. However, I think he's just judgmental of everyone else because he himself is insecure.

Sarah wrote: "I think that the book captures the essence of a teenager brilliantly.

Not all teenagers, of course. But the ones who grow up with no hope of a future. "

I've always been very ambitious--and I still related to this book as a teenager. I relate to it now. Recognizing that many rules of society are completely arbitrary is by no means an indication of having no hope for the future. This is what Holden means when he thinks everyone's a phony. Because they follow the status quo without thinking. They act the way society wants them to. They are "phony."

I don't think this book is fun to read, but it is important to read.

I really hated this book. I hate Holden. He was so stupid not to care about his future. He really isn't relatable to teens in this day in age. I think we are more prepared to further our lives and make ourselves better. I think this book was a waste of my time.

I'm with most of you on the indifference/dislike of the book. I can sort of understand the "teen angst" theme that gets this book into high school required reading programs, but it is nothing that I would recommend to anyone and I did not enjoy reading Holden's pessimistic, bias and pointless trains of thought.

I finished this book today. I have no emotion toward it. It wasn't great. I think it ended better than it started though.

I ended up rather ambivelant to the whole thing... didn't like it, didn't hate it... couldn't understand what all the fuss was about.

Tiffany wrote: "Am I the only person in the world who doesn't love this book?

I bet you'll like it even less once you've finished it. I hated this book in high school and I hate it now. I think sometimes books are revered simply becuase they don't take the high road so to speak. It is depressing and pointless. I had an argument with a lit prof in college over the "pointless" part of my opinion which was entertaining. And the class appreciated the respite from his usual harangue;o)

I read it again when I saw it was a topic here (I've been without regular 'net access for awhile) because I wanted to see if it was as bad as I remembered and because I am teaching lit to my two youngest now and was deciding whether or not to include it.... They're getting the cliffnotes, lucky little buggers!

I liked the book myself and don't remember too much profanity. Holden was the kind of boy I would have had a crush on in High School. What does that say about me lol

The profanity was a big thing for me too. I found myself swearing so much after I started reading it.

Tiffany - no you're not alone. I can't say I enjoyed it, although I couldn't help chuckling at some of the sarcasm, etc. I found Holden very pathetic, and the book depressing. He hates everything and finds everything depressing, and as I mentioned earlier, the profanity bothered me (okay, call me a "puritan":) ).
Although I can understand why teenagers may be able to relate to Holden, I don't really see any redeeming qualities in it nor would recommend it to teens to read. If a kid reads this book and feels he can relate to Holden, I'd say he needs to get some counseling quick, and may need to be put on medication.

Am I the only person in the world who doesn't love this book? I still have 30 or so pages left to go, but I just don't like it that much.

It makes me so anxious when I read this kids jumbled and run on thoughts. I can only read a few pages at a time, it stresses me out so much. But I'm one of those people who needs to finish a book I start. So I'm going to finish it.

Funny story: I have a student who read this for a book project starting a few weeks ago and he's been talking to me as he works his way through it.

A few days ago, he tells me, "As I read this book I keep thinking that I really see a lot of myself in Holden." He's excited at this point that he really identifies with this character. He goes on about some specifics, etc.

Then, he hits me with, "I mean, I find him interesting, but he's kind of a jerk. Like, I don't think I would want to be friends or hang out with him. Wait a minute..."

I couldn't help but laugh in his face...Kudos to him for reading and thinking. Introspection will get you every time!

Really? That's extremely mild. But then, I'm no puritan.

The profanity - "gd" everything. I still don't like it but when I was a teenager I had not been exposed to that and was more sensitive to it.

Yes, the reviews are all mine. It's almost my entire reading for the last year and a half.

The language bothered you? Do you mean the vernacular or the sporadic swearing?

Wow, are all the reviews listed on the left column written by you? Impressive. I'll have to bookmark that page to refer to on occasion.

I just finished it too, avoided it in high school (25+ years ago!) because the language bothered me. I'll go check out your "full thoughts."

I can't believe I read this book so long after I probably should have. But, that damage done, reading the book immediately healed that gaping wound in my reading.

My full thoughts are here, if anyone cares to read a longer piece, but I just want to say how the book blew away all expectations I had of it. Over the years I'd built up an clear picture in my head of what it was about. Boy, was I wrong.