I'm rewriting this one. I don't think the original was very good. I talked too much about things that are important to other people but not to me. The Catcher In The Rye is about a person in pain. That is why it is so popular. I like it because it captured something (many somethings, I guess) that I hadn't really found in writing before. I was sad when it ended. I still think about, months after reading. And so I wanted to come back and tell you, whoever you are, why I personally love this book.
I am an angry and alienated youth. This is probably obvious if you have read the rest of this blog. But I don't know that that is the sole reason I liked Holden Caulfield, and I think it's insulting to think that's the only reason anyone would. I relate to the way that he wishes to call up his favorite authors on the phone and talk for hours. I think it's sweet that his favorite person in the world is his kid sister. And, truthfully, I think find him funny.
The most underrated part of the story is how much love is in it. When Holden describes his late younger brother, Allie, he says, "You'd like him." There's no you that Holden is writing to, specifically. He just thinks that Allie is the most likeable kid on Earth. He misses everybody he's ever met, even the ones he hated. He spends a day tracking down his little sister trying to give her a record he bought her, even though he's supposed to be hiding from his family. He's a kid growing up in a world that doesn't fit him, and I can't be mad at him for that.
I think the reason this book is so controversial is because many adults don't want to face the fact that children feel pain. They don't want to admit they're people. It's funny to me, because I have never been in so bad a place, emotionally speaking, as I was as a young child. The Catcher In The Rye makes this pain visible. I am not an angry and alienated youth because I read this book. I am a slightly more comforted because I read it, in fact. What does anger and alienate me are the people who attempt to "protect" me from books like these rather than the genuine problems and dangers of the world. They are the ones hurting kids.