How can it be a bad influence?

[Demetrius]

Mark Chapman's having the book or any other unstable person's having the book is not a valid reason to call the book bad. Holden isn't a violent nutjob who implies that's the way men should be. The book isn't Nazi propaganda.
Holden is a sensitive caring guy clashing with a cruel and crazy "phony" world.

[Tor]

Its simply a portrait of a young, confused, flawed but well meaning kid. I dont ascribe much significance to it personally but its a quick and easy read and enjoyable for what it is.

[Nicholas]

I disliked this book, but I really don't see how it can be a bad influence. At most, it might lead your teenager to curse. Holden's not a monster; heck, he doesn't even have sex with prostitute he hires.

[Madison]

You can argue any book that contains vulgar language or unorthodox behavior is a bad influence. In reality, nothing can be a bad influence if the person is incapable of reenacting 'bad' behaviors due to their own moral values. For instance, if I read a book about a homicide and it influences me to becomes a murderer, it's not the book's fault at all. It simply revealed a side of me that was concealed, but it didn't create a side of me that never existed. You can only be influenced by what you already believe in, not by what you stand against.

[Jamie]

If you see Holden as being in the right about the world being "phony" (instead of that being a symptom of his implied trauma and resistance to entering the adult world, something to have sympathy for but not see as a model) then I guess I can see how it would lead to hatred for common culture, extreme hipsterism of a sort. And an already violent personality, taking that shallow reading, could, if they were fucking insane, interpret it as "the world is phony and must be fought, violently." But then, they could read any book that criticizes society, which many do much more genuinely than Catcher, and get the same - again, if they have that tendency already.

[Michael]

Nicholas wrote: "I disliked this book, but I really don't see how it can be a bad influence. At most, it might lead your teenager to curse. Holden's not a monster; heck, he doesn't even have sex with prostitute he ..."

Agreed. Did not like this book and I have met people like Holden. He is a waste. A do nothing, no direction, flunk out of school, come on.