Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

What can be said about J.D Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye that hasn’t been said before? A modern classic, almost everybody knows the story of the teenaged Holden Caulfield; how he brought himself to the brink of despair.

So all I can add to the discussion are merely my thoughts on this book. They say great books have great characterisation and there’s no doubt about it, Catcher in the Rye is a great book. Containing some of the most memorable characters ever, regardless of what you think of the book, you remember who Holden Caulfield is like, what he does, what he says, what kind of mannerisms he has. You remember the other minor characters as well—Phoebe, Mr. and Mrs. Antolini, Sally, Stradlater, Ackley. They all have their distinct personality, speech and mannerisms.

In the end it’s not much of the story that grips you but the interaction between Holden and the people around him. But for what it’s worth, what Holden does and how he slowly dives deeper into depression does provide an interesting stage for these social interactions.

Holden spendthrifts, acts irrational, has a low perception on other people and seems to think everybody else is a “phoney”. The only person Holden seems to care about is his younger sister, Phoebe, who seems to have much more sense than him even though she is much younger. There are clues in the book as to what the cause of Holden’s depression is however it is never told explicitly as to the reason why.

Though I did not appreciate Holden’s personality, I could at least appreciate how alive J.D. Salinger made the people in his book seem.