Pessimistic kid with a rebellious streak swears and drinks and explains how he hates everything for about 200 pages, then the book ends with him dancing with his sister.
Ok, what am I missing? How did this book get to be such a cultural icon?
Dangerously on-the-edge kid full of bitterness, ironic cynicism, and self-destruction finds redemption in his sister’s love. She was his catcher in the rye. She kept him from flying off the edge.
Maybe it’s just the book’s age, but I didn’t find Holden to be remarkably angsty or on-the-edge. In fact, he’s probably more level-headed than a good chunk of today’s teenagers.
Well, no one had ever written a book like that before.
Oh, he was edgy in that he was almost completely disillusioned. He was one bad day away from “why bother” suicide, IMO.
That’s a beautiful way to sum up the book, just perfect!
I agree, bravo.
Nice, but I prefered ProjectOmega’s actually. Never understood what makes this book so notable. If I wanted to hear moody teenage angst a radio station would do it in a much shorter time with maybe a pleasant tune to make it palatable.
I think Super Gnat got it.