The Third: The Classic Review

I finally finished reading The Catcher in The Rye. And, even though it took me three tries to get past the first three pages, I finally understood why they call it a classic.

The book is relatively smaller than the books I’ve been reading at 73,404 words. The book is a perfect Bildungsroman (coming-of-age novel). I’d Googled the terms when I’d finished reading ‘the perks of being a wallflower’.

As a teenager myself, I sense a running theme to these coming of age novels. They’re all a tad depressing and all of them seem to deal with alienation or introverts. Holden Caulfield, the main protagonist of this book is cynic who doesn’t like people. He calls them ‘phonies.’

This book is in perfect sync with my thoughts. Holden is pretty much my inner teen, and also probably several others’. He uses casual slang, the words the elders want to censor on television but we use in daily talk.

The book’s name took a while for me to figure out. The reason behind that name came near the end itself. The novel itself leaves you hanging a bit. Or maybe I’ve just been reading books that have been spoon feeding me with epilogues and linking together all loose ends. I’d half-expected Holden and Jane to get together when I was in the middle of the book, and I was really glad when that didn’t happen.

This book is a great read, and a delightful addition to one’s library. I was very impressed by the vocabulary. I learnt plenty of new words that I’m dying to use in my sentences. For example, did you know that the word halitosis is the medical condition of having foul or bad smelling breath? I found that piece of information pretty fascinating for some reason.

The book starts off confused, which was why I put it down thrice before my determination to read the entire thing took me all the way through. It’s a bit confusing until the end actually. Holden has this habit of repeating lines and that sorta confuses you. Wait, now I’m doing it.

I found the book to be a fresh read, worlds apart from the dystopian, fantasy, adventure, teen fiction books I’ve been reading. There is superb character development, which I rarely see in books today.

I strongly recommend this one.

Until next time,

Nia.

“What really knocks me out is a book that, when you’re all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours, and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. That doesn’t happen much, though.”
― J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

“People are always ruining things for you.”

― J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

“If you do something too good, then, after a while, if you don’t watch it, you start showing off. And then you’re not as good any more.”

― J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

These were the quotes I found most thought-provoking. Of course, the one of being a different person also was stimulating. But, that one is much too long, and I think you should discover that one for yourself as you read the book.

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