The Catcher in the Rye

Holden Caulfield hates the organized order life has to offer. He particularly hates anything he feels is ‘phony’. He would not do anything just because it is supposed to be done that way in life. Even if that means he would be kicked out of one prestigious school after another.

JD Salinger’s ‘Catcher in the Rye’ is one of those classics I have been trying to read for a while now. And when I caught a glimpse of the new Penguin edition at a Crossword’s nearby, I figured I might as well grab it. And started it off soon after that, pushing it above at least 10 other books I had on my ‘to read’ queue.

The book opens with Holden saying that he would not be talking about his lousy childhood or his parents, because he doesn’t really want to. It starts off with him letting us know that he has been kicked out of another school because he just wouldn’t buck up and get the grades required. Why wouldn’t he do it? He doesn’t really say it explicitly, but it’s obvious that he just didn’t want to. He decides to meet his English professor before he leaves, since he likes the old guy. English is the one subject he loves and aces, considering his love for literature. Once there, he soon wants to leave, as the professor rambles on about why he should improve his lot in life. It goes on from there, describing his roomie (who, though a stud, seems to be on the shallow side) and his idiosyncratic neighbor. He finds out his room mate has a date with a girl Holden used to be close with from his childhood, and he can’t help imagining what they would be up to. There is also a brother who died, and who Holden very obviously loved. He also deeply loves his younger sister Phoebe, and decides she is the one person he would like to meet before he runs away, if he ever decides to do so.

The prose is very easy on the mind, and moves in a fluid manner, so that the reader would feel tempted to continue reading. Most of the book after that deals with what happens when Holden decides to leave the school before his official last day, and spend a couple of nights in New York (but not at his home). The character of Holden Caulfield, does seem to be a bit confusing at times. Initially it seems like he is a loner who shuns most of the world as being below him with a casual arrogance. However, later on it becomes clear that he does like having the company of those same people sometimes, because he feels extremely lonely and depressed. He even goes back to an old girlfriend he actually feels is way too shallow, and tries to get her to run away with him somewhere. After it doesn’t work out he realizes that he probably should not even have told her. This is mixed up in between with accounts describing the tenderness he feels for his younger sister. Probably a reference to how it’s children who are the least ‘phony’ of all, at least until they get influenced by the world around them.

The book is a good look into the adolescent angst teenagers go through. A time in life when most kids start realizing things may not be the way they seemed while they were small, and when some start rebelling against the organized order and some finally accept the vagaries and organization of the world. Holden is probably in some ways a reflection of the author himself. Salinger was supposed to be extremely reclusive, who, beyond a point decided to stop publishing his work, and just write for himself. After his death, it came to light that he had a lot of unpublished work he was working on.

So, finally, is it worth all the plaudits? Well, though I may not call it one of my favorites, I would still say it’s definitely worth a good read!