One of the more interesting books I have read in quite some time. Interesting to an extent of completely disliking it yet contemplating about it.To write about Holden Caulfield , the main character in this book,needs an inspiration i.e., he is such a uniquely troubled young man whose character can't be conjured up in the head ,he can't be entirely fictional.J.D Salinger ,mentioned ,in one of his interviews , that Catcher in the Rye , that Holden holds resemblance to his adolescent years.
As I flipped through the first two pages , I noticed that the book was dedicated to his mother, for what the reason was, I wouldn't be justified to comment on,but i find it wicked to have dedicated a book about a slightly depressed adolescent who ,as you read on, shares very little relations with his own mother.On the contrary,he could have been symbolically dedicating all the fame and popularity this book bought him,to his mother.
The psychological battles of the main character is rather depressing. The aspects to his sexual exploration, perception of adult behavior,impulsive spending and suicidal thoughts is intriguing.For someone to understand the character's thought process, I frankly believe you should have been an adolescent ,living in America,around the 1950's.Else there's very little to relate to for me.
Ceratin qualities of the main character left me with a bad impression . The author speaks of the main character's struggle to accept adult behavior and the eventual wearing out of child like qualities within us,as we grow older.The main character has very strong biased opinions of adults. He labels most of them as 'phony' meaning to imply their pretentious, superficial attitude. One thing that I noticed,the main character's behavior towards certain character was bordering on pretentious and he was being a hypocrite in many situations as well. As an adolescent ,his maturity levels seem below par. But that's a critical aspect to include in the overall character analysis of Holden.
The language used,the style of writing,in my opinion is very dry,over-colloquial and rather monotonic to an extent that you can guess Holden's next usage of words.The use of "too hot" was very hard to understand initially ,but only after repetitive usage of the same words in the same context made me understand it.The usage of other words such as "Phony", "that killed me","flit" were in something,I wouldn't enjoy reading.The language can get very annoying after half the book,I wouldn't be surprised if you stopped reading further.The inappropriate usage of over-emphasis was evident. Holden would mention some opinion ,..probably " I really hated it.Really". This patterns of over-emphasis was misplaced in context. The reader needs over-emphasis when only in doubt !
The main essence of the book is Holden's conversation with Pheobe,his kid sister whom he adores.
"Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around - nobody big, I mean - except me. And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff - I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd really like to be." ~J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, Chapter 22, spoken by the character Holden Caulfield".
Holden wants to save the innocence of little kids.He wants to catch them when they start going off the cliff,as they lose their innocence as they enter adulthood.He wants to guide them to become young adults without losing their cherished innocence.
Overall, an ordinary book with a different yet true moral.
" Every act of rebellion expresses a nostalgia for innocence and an appeal to the essence of being. ". -Albert Camus.
