The Catcher In The Rye - J. D. Salinger

Another book that I started with high hopes was "The Catcher In The Rye". J. D. Salinger and his masterpiece were in the news of recent due to the sad demise of the author earlier this year. I failed to read the news pieces (for I am lousy when it comes to reading about contemporary happenings in the world) but I did manage to find out that the book was an instiller of rebellion. Curious, I began the book with almost no idea of the content; for the title provides no clue to what is to be expected from the story, much unlike my last read, "Treasure Island".

What I faced was a beauty. Something written to provoke one's sympathy, anger, disappointment, angst. The entire novel lives a few days in the life of a sixteen year old boy. It describes his 'adventures' when he is kicked out of the school and leaves it but does not return to his home. The writing beautifully captures the confusions and the anxiety of the protagonist (or of any sixteen year old) relating to academics, human tendencies, love, sex, philosophy, religion, future and life in general. To me personally, it appealed in a way that I could relate to. The sudden bouts of romanticism; the urge to shun all pretense, to hate all those that pretended; disappointment in people's failure to understand one's self; impulses to leave everything behind for a faraway land and life in anonymity; all seemed to me as feeling that I had either lived, or had felt scraping my life, or see some around me go through. Salinger writes in a way that seems very much like a teenager describing his problems, his angst, his disappointment in others for their lack of understanding, his disappointment in himself for understanding, his love for his siblings, his hatred for 'phonies'.

What struck me as the most beautiful aspect of the story was the sudden phases of romance that the condescending youth went through. The apparent irony with which he treated every subject, the meaning of the contradictions known to him but his inability to explain them explicitly. It is the second book in which I read the author speak through the mind set of a young one, the first being Harper Lee's "To Kill A Mockingbird". The story in itself is not much but nevertheless is never boring. The author keeps it to the point and off every point at the same time. I learnt to appreciate the title as I went along. An apter one might not have been possible.

The book left me exhilarated and thoughtful. Praising the author in my mind and to the ears of every person who could lend one. I recommend it to anyone who has not read it till now. It is a delight to read Salinger in this one. I hope his others turn out similarly interesting.