Catcher in the Rye

In my classic book phase, I've been rereading some books from the past.  While I read this one, I didn't recall much to it.  On second reading, it's very advanced.

"I suppose the first thing you want to hear about it my stupid life" starts the famous first line.  This is a cue that he is talking to a psychiatrist and the book continues in this first person,  "I did this, then that" rhythm.  Holden Caulfield has been kicked out of yet another prep school and in a manic fit, leaves to head home before his parents find out about the dismissal.  He's unhappy at the school but generally liked, despite a few peculiarities.  He seems smart so we are not quite sure why he is flunking out.

For a long weekend, he goes to New York City to kill time.  He fills up the time at bars and walking around, generally getting in tiffs with everyone he meets.  He's not so much as unhappy as unwilling to get along with those he contacts.  He's got money to burn so he is strong willed and thinks he can get want he wants by money and charm.  Sometimes he does but often not.

When the money runs out as it always does, he goes home not to see his parents but to see his younger sister Phoebe, who is someone who loves him unconditionally.  Holden knows that and uses it to his advantage.  It provides him with a glimpse of happiness.

Interesting, the Catcher in the Rye relates to a Robert Burns poem.  Children are playing in the rye fields, unaware of the looming cliff of death nearby.  Holden pictures himself catching these children before they fall.

Holden has his demons which are exposed and for which we can sympathize.  There's hope for him but navigating this teenage stages is difficult for anyone.  Published in the 1950s it was and still is very advanced in descriptions of maniac depression, suicide, sexual assault and a general ignorance/willful blindness toward mental illness.

****  - deserving of classic status