/lit/ - Literature

>>9977267
It's a love it or hate it book, depending solely on the main character's relatability.

If you're going through a particularly confusing or tulmutuous time in your life, especially in your teenage years, you'll love it. Holden Caulfield's commentary on the events you experiences and has he deals with them are extremely relatable to a socially stressed individual overwhelmed with a corrupt and unfair world. A person who is emotionally wrecked and often lashes out at people around him/her, knowing that it's unreasonable or inappropriate but doing it for a myriad of reasons (to let loose steam, fight some conceived absraction of your confusion, or 'get back' at a "phony" world) is going to connect and sympathize with Holden's plight. People who constantly feel victimized when put down by the world, even if it's their fault, and who are just in a really emotional time feel Holden's struggle. The book's really good at that, and it even uses unconventional (even inappropriate) language to describe the world instead of a structured literary method, in a sort of rebellion against the very system Holden and the reader resent being associated with as a society.

On the other hand, if you tried hard to get good grades in school, have a job, are raising a family, recognize and try to learn from your mistakes, and are generally a responsible person who actually works hard, you're going to hate this book. In fact, you're going to hate this book with an unholy passion. Holden's the apitamy of an irresponsible, stupid, unaccountable, annoying, uncreative, lazy, piece of actual human garbage you'll ever read in a novel. He's literally punchable from the first sentence to the ending paragraph of the book. Mentally challenged dogs make better decisions than he does, and when they make mistakes they also realize how the screwed up and don't blame the "phonies" in the world for their problems. Holden is quite possibly the worst character ever written in fiction. The book doesn't appeal well at all as you age, either. Most likely, as you grow up you'll get a job, get married, and pay taxes. When you look back over this book, you'll wonder why you ever liked it as a teenager.

The big reason it has so much appeal is because it's a nice source of empathy for teens and young adults going through rough patches and needing something to relate to. Heck, I hated it when I read it in class, but after going through some tough times a couple years later, I couldn't help think back and kinda' liking Holden. Then a month passed, I got bust again, and I got back to hating the book for the terrible piece of literature that if is.