“The Catcher in the Rye” is one of the most poignant coming-of-age novels ever written, and Holden Caulfield is one of the most amusing narrators in American literature. However, he’s also one of the most annoying. When I first read “Catcher” several years ago, I was in awe of how Salinger created an almost-real human being out of imagination, ink, and paper; a few years later, when I tried to read it again, I couldn’t get past chapter 4. Either I had matured, or Holden hadn’t, or maybe a little bit of both; but the main reason I’ve never been able to re-read “Catcher” is because of Holden’s adolescent whiny-ness, which wears thin after the first few chapters. I wholeheartedly recommend reading “The Catcher in the Rye” — it is, without a doubt, a literary landmark — but I would qualify my recommendation with this reservation: It’s not the end-all be-all of American literature. Read it, enjoy it — and then move on to bigger and better things.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer