Read ‘Catcher in the Rye’ When You’re Young, or Not at All
The Free Press • • entertainment
Key Points:
- The author first read "The Catcher in the Rye" 71 years ago, shortly after its 1951 publication, and felt a strong connection to the protagonist, Holden Caulfield, due to shared traits like street smarts and disinterest in school.
- Holden Caulfield, at 17, is portrayed as well-read, enjoying authors such as Isak Dinesen, Ring Lardner, and Thomas Hardy, contrasting with the author's own teenage reading preferences focused on working-class youth novels.
- The author's teenage reading included gritty novels like "The Amboy Dukes" and "Knock on Any Door," which featured more explicit language and themes compared to the relatively mild but risqué language in "The Catcher in the Rye."
- While "The Catcher in the Rye" contains occasional profanity and slang, it is not pornographic; notable recurring language includes terms like "phony," which is central to the novel's themes and appears hundreds of times.
