The only novel by J. D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye, written in 1951, is interesting at least because it was one of the most criticized and forbidden in the twentieth century. And the name of the protagonist, a teenager Holden Caulfield, became a symbol of non-conformism for the younger generation of Americans of that time.
Summary
The narrative, conducted on behalf of Holden himself, begins with leaving school for academic failure. Fear of his parents' reaction to not the first expulsion prompts him to stop in New York on the way home. There he spends his free time aimlessly, meets with a friend, makes acquaintance with a variety of people, from two nuns to a prostitute.
Along the way, the teenager shares memories of the past, family, reflections on the structure of society. Caulfield's thoughts, described in a rather chaotic, and at times rude language, clearly show an internal crisis brewing in the teenager's soul. The reluctance to grow up, to accept through and through false moral norms, discord with the world around him reaches a peak, and Holden decides to simply escape from problems by going to the West.
He still gets home to take money and say goodbye to his younger sister. But little Phoebe repeats her brother's behavior, declaring that she will leave school and go with him. For the first time, the protagonist has to be forced to show sanity and prudence. He abandons his maximalist denial of everything and persuades his sister to stay.
Despite the worldwide fame, the novel was never filmed, since D. Salinger refused to deal with cinema after the film, which was released in 1949, based on one of his stories. Even Steven Spielberg was refused.
The main theme of a kind of confession of the protagonist is the search for oneself in a world alien to a teenager, no hidden motives, everything is simple, like a child's thoughts. Before our eyes, there is a transition from ostentatious cynicism, maximalism and self-centeredness to an understanding of the need for responsibility.
Feedback
First of all, the main character is interesting, who is not strictly positive, has all the shortcomings of a teenager, but has become for a whole generation a symbol of inner purity and sincerity. Holden Caulfield, with his desire to live "by the truth", is one of the first characters in whose reasoning clearly articulates a challenge to a conformist society and disagreement with its hypocritical foundations.
In 2009, Fredrik Kolting published a sequel to the novel, which takes place 60 years later. Salinger accused the author of plagiarism, and the court banned the publication of the book in the United States.
Despite the fact that the story is told on behalf of a 17-year-old boy, the work will be appreciated not only by teenagers. The Catcher in the Rye is a twentieth-century classic and influenced the writers of such writers as John Updike, Haruki Murakami, Hunter Thompson, and many others.
