Would it be better without the last chapter?

[Chris]

To start off, this is a great Christmastime book to read. I think it's appealing to all moods, whether you identify with Holden's outward angst and frustration, his inner warmth, or the cold impersonal grip the world has on him that seems to be smothering said warmth; it has a tendency to speak to the melancholy that inevitably follows the holiday season for people whose adulthoods slowly let go of their excitement in favor of responsibility.
But, I digress. Holden is telling the story in the past tense, an almost aimless journey to prolong the inevitable, switching, rarely, to present tense to clarify. This brings me to my question: Is an epilogue really necessary to resolve the story and bring us back to Holden in the now? Does the story need to be resolved to that degree, and does he really need to hint to his current situation to leave a lasting impression? Do you think deletion could have had a positive impact on the story?
I appreciate the epilogue, really I do, but do we need to know Holden has come to terms with encroaching adulthood? I mean, that was established in the final scene of the second to last chapter, and isn't that much more fun to leave up to the imagination? I also think the end sentences of chapter 25 were better than the last sentences of the last chapter. To be honest, I just felt like it took me out of the moment unnecessarily.

[Chris]

Fijke wrote: "Chris wrote: "To start off, this is a great Christmastime book to read. I think it's appealing to all moods, whether you identify with Holden's outward angst and frustration, his inner warmth, or t..."

I really thing closure was established in the previous chapter, but I see what you're getting at. The story is sort of resolved at the last chapter, I feel like if it were a movie, it would be the end narration, when the main character gives vague details about how it all worked out, over a montage. That just didn't play well with me. You have a point with the part where Holden contradicts himself, I think that's important, too, but I can't help but wonder if it could have been worked into the story, before the last chapter tears you away from the carousel scene.