The Catcher in the Rye

Image credit: Goodreads

Jumping back onto the 1001 bandwagon after a brief interlude, I have to admit that the ride proved to be rather bumpy with this week’s chosen book in the driver’s seat. I was taken to a disturbingly (and sometimes hilariously) fragile place –the interior of an American teen’s mind- as we navigated the ‘phony’ world of the white middle and upper class in The Catcher in the Rye.

Universally hailed as the quintessential book of teenage angst –so much so that it was graphically referenced in that ‘Emo Kid’ song from about a decade ago- The Catcher in the Rye is a mock autobiography written from the point of view of American teenager, Holden Caulfield, whom has just been expelled from another prep school. Running away to New York to kill some time before facing his folks, Holden flits from place to place on a seemingly impulsive and completely direction-less path that ends up leading right back to where he started.

I can absolutely understand why this book is a part of the classic literature canon. There are many things about it that make it hugely memorable and provocative. The first person register and the fact that it’s written in a very nonchalant, colloquial voice gives us a real sense of character -reminiscent of A Clockwork Orange- whilst simultaneously highlighting Salinger’s satirical streak.

My guess is that this book is canonical because of the many ways in which you can interpret it, especially the narrator. Whilst it’s not even two hundred pages long, The Catcher in the Rye is a veritable rollercoaster of compulsion and confusion, especially regarding the narrator. On more than one occasion, I found myself questioning whether Holden was clinically depressed, suffering from PTSD, or just off his tits the entire time. Is he really smoking cigarettes or ‘cigarettes’ for two days, is the world really as phony as he believes, or is he just another classic unreliable narrator like those from Poe? These questions don’t really get answered –or if they do it’s more or less hand-waved aside- and it’s this trick that establishes the book’s unique reading experience.

Image credit: The Guardian

What’s even more fascinating is that Salinger doesn’t seem to have any love for his protagonist and the little mishaps that happen to him on his journey serve as a nice slice of ‘serves you right’ cake. It’s very hard to like Holden, mainly because of the fact that you’re on your toes about how much of what he tells you is true. Heck, even Holden doesn’t hold himself in high regard! The book is filled with various self-deprecations and even apocalyptic anxieties/fantasies, perfectly communicating those lost, directionless, and rebellious feels of adolescence. While I don’t believe that all teenagers go through that heavy level of angst, it’s certainly something that we can all identify and empathise with.

The Catcher in the Rye is certainly a significant piece of literature, one that although I didn’t necessarily adore, I definitely appreciated. Having now finally read it I can better understand its references and allusion in popular culture and appreciate the many interpretations that people have of it.

Author: J. D. Salinger, 1945-46

Published: First published by Little Brown & Co. (Boston) in 1951