I know this book is not everyone's cup of tea, and a lot have also expressed hatred towards the protagonist, Holden Caulfield, and the book in general, but to be honest, I liked it. I don't know if it's a good thing - relating to Holden's twisted sense of perceiving the world and all, but for me, it's an assurance that I am just about as normal, or not. I can relate to Holden sometimes, but I can also list down a lot of things I don't like about him. If he's actually existing, I'd probably despise his attitude, but then propose a marriage to some of his philosophical views (read: some). I am sure Holden is quite depressing himself too, and that's the reason why he is the catcher in the rye - seeing how much he wanted to catch his little sister, Phoebe, from becoming another him - a wrecked kid due to the stresses put on to him by his past misadventures, his parents, the academe, among others. In a powerful metaphor delivered by Salinger, Holden compared his thoughts on ideal child rearing to a carousel ride.
"All the kids kept trying to grab for the gold ring, and so was old Phoebe, and I was sort of afraid she'd fall off the goddam horse, but I didn't say anything or do anything. The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything. If they fall off, they fall off, but it's bad if you say anything to them." (page 211)Love him or hate him, admit it, Holden's connection to you made you react that way - and Salinger effectively did his job.
As for the people who are lashing on Holden's exaggerated profanities and overused phrases - aren't we the same? Do you expect a well-written consciousness? Given that this is Holden's mind being put to words, I don't see anything wrong. It's not that I do this when I speak to people, but I do overuse the word "shit" and "what" in my head. We all have those cliche' expressions and complex or crude thoughts we'd rather not expose. I honestly think my mind can come up with a more twisted book than this. I'm not kidding.
If there's one thing that upsets me right now, it's the fact that this book is highly relate-able. Some who have read it during their teens have an entirely different perception of it now. Does this mean I'm still immature, rebellious and full of angst? Does this mean I am not through with the coming of age phase? Am I bizarre? With these questions in mind, I'm looking forward to the day I'll be able to re-read this and have my views challenged again.
To sum things up, this book is insightful and quite intellectual, though not stellar, I'm still happy to recommend this.
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