The Catcher in the Rye

Whenever I hear the book title: The Catcher in the Rye, the first image that came to mind was a story set in the 1800’s US — in a cornfield specifically — with a Bogeyman hiding amidst it kidnapping children.

While reading the book, I was in for a surprise: the book was mainly set in New York City in the 1940s with a teenage protagonist called Holden Caulfield.

The story revolves around the 17-year-old who’d just been kicked out of school after failing in all exams — except English — and causing his fencing team to lose when forgetting their gear in the metro. Holden is too afraid to return home as it’s not his first time to be kicked out of a school and can’t bear his family’s reaction. He decides to spend a few days in New York before heading home for Christmas, to avoid arriving early and hence raising his parent’s suspicions. After packing and saying goodbye to his colleagues and the only teacher he likes — Mr Spencer, the history teacher— he heads to the Big Apple. There, Holden spends his time roaming around the city boozing — when he gets the chance — and catching up with people from his past.

As the time of going home approaches, he gets panicky and decides to run away to the wilderness of New England where he could get a job and live anonymously. But his younger sister Phoebe manages to change his mind and he stays in New York.

Although the story is short (234 pages only) with a simple concept, it’s packed with events, characters and deep conversation on every single page. The book’s main theme is coming-of-age and everything it brings forth: the alienation and anxiety that comes when becoming an adult. J D Salinger uses the first person to narrate the story, so you’re experiencing everything that Holden is going through: depression, constant irritation and his view of a society he considers fake.

It affects you after a while and you start viewing everything from his teenage perspective. Even better, Salinger uses phrases that were commonly used by teenagers at the time such as ‘crumby’ for disappointing and ‘chew the fat’ for small talk, both aspects relatively fascinating. Since its publication in 1951, the book has always received favourable reviews and was considered an American classic along with Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby.

It was named one of the best 100 English-language novels of the 20th century by Time magazine and BBC’s Big Read. However, like every great book, it was the subject of controversy. Between the years 1961 and 1982, it was censored for many reasons: vulgar language used by the main character, promoting blasphemy and promiscuity as well as destructive values and behaviours such as drinking, smoking and lying. Curiously enough, Mark Chapman — John Lennon’s assassin — was arrested with a copy of the book in 1981 dedicated to himself: Holden Caulfield.

However, the book was never made into a movie or a play because Salinger was convinced that no one could depict Holden Caulfield but himself. Caulfield was the dream role of many Hollywood actors from Jerry Lewis to Leonardo DiCaprio. Yet Salinger placed the rights of the book in trust by his names, where he was the sole trustee till his death in 2010 and it remains the same. Interestingly, a sequel of the book was published in 2009 by Fredrick Colting called 60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye — with an adult Caulfield — which Salinger sued and successfully stopped its US publication. With all that said, the book is a rich timeless classic worth exploring.

Rasha al Raisi is a certified skills trainer and the author of The World According to Bahja. rashabooks@yahoo.com