- Written by J.D. Salinger
- Published in 1951
- 277 pages
- Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Such a good read. Holden is among one of the favorite characters I’ve read about, besides Frits van Egters and the main character from ‘Red ons, Maria Montanelli’. It is rarely that I can connect with a character this well.
Holden is constantly analysing his surroundings, which usually ends with a negative verdict about the subject of his analysis. The things he does love: intellectual people (only if they’re not trying to be witty all the time), his younger sister Phoebe and (…).
His negative view on the world and his urge to run away from trouble and leave everything behind are exactly the two things that played an important role in my life when I was in my teens.
Maybe the most relatable and thereby also the most frustrating parts to read were how ‘yellow’ Holden is. He talks a lot about how he wants to punch people in the face, or how he wants to run away or shout into people’s faces, but he never really does. He always realizes that he’s not capable of doing it, or the pointlessness of it, or he finds another excuse. That’s what really resonated with me because that’s how I sometimes feel as well: like there is this discrepancy between who I am in my mind and how I manifest myself in the world.