First, a disclaimer. I don't believe there was a book I was supposed to read in school that I didn't read. But this is a book that it seems everyone has read and is part of of the fabric of our culture. But I hadn't read it. So I decided to.
This book is considered to be groundbreaking and gained something of a cult following. So the question I wanted to answer is: Why?
The hero (or anti-hero) is a teenage boy, Holden Caulfield, who comes from what might be called a "good" family with some money. We know this because he lives in Manhattan and he has just been expelled from his fourth (?) private boarding school. This teenage boy curses and uses slang constantly. He is obsessed with the opposite sex and the act of sex itself. He is completely self-absorbed and has unreasonable expectations about just about everything. He is cynical and distrusts everyone and everything. Sounds like just about every teenager I've ever run across. So what's the big deal?
We have to consider it in the context of the era in which this book was released. The era is post-WWII America. We had just defeated two evil empires, and our soldiers were coming Home Sweet Home to their happy-to-be-housewives and their 2.5 kids who were to be seen and not heard.
And here we have 1) a main character who unashamedly rejects the values of his parents and society in general [See Sister Carrie] and 2) the narrative style is casual and conversational. These two factors were shocking and dismaying to some, refreshing and delightful to others.
To me, the point is not what Holden is complaining about or whether his parents find out that he has been expelled yet again. The point is that the vast machine that is society will always prevail, individuality be damned.
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