I must have read this like 60 years ago and didn’t remember it well. Kind of mandatory reading in high school for a long time, maybe it still is. Controversial at times for reasons that elude me. Includes some sexual material, but nothing teens didn’t talk about even back then. The JD Salinger novel is short, basically covers two or three days in the life of the protaganist, Holden Caufield. Young Mr. Caulfield is getting kicked out of a prep school, apparently not for the first time. The novel is written as a stream of consciousness first person narration.
Holden was obviously born into a wealthy family and had a very privileged upbringing in New York City. He is essentially a misanthrope; doesn’t seem to much like anyone and is pretty obnoxious about it. Everyone is a phony. A very troubled young man, only at the end do you realize he is older as he “writes” and has gotten some therapy to help straighten him out. It is never really made clear why he is troubled, although he had a brother who died. This is not a typical late teen boy; it is more a reflection of the ennui and lack of purpose found in wealthy families.
The novel is a quick and easy read, but I was struck by the lack of message. I would not consider it great or even really worth putting high on a reading list.
I didn’t read this book until later in life and came away with your impressions exactly. Maybe I should’ve read it when I was 15, but reading it at 45 made me realize I had met a number of Holden Caufields in my travels and they were all well-heeled assholes. And I also never understood the obsessive interest of the literary community over Salinger. If he had anything else to say he would have said it, but instead accepted the mantle of a mystic to keep the Caulfield buzz alive. Keep up the good work