The Catcher in the Rye

Originally published in 1951 for adults, this novel has since been translated into almost all languages available to the world. And from what I understand, it's a rather popular work, selling almost 250, 000 copies each year. Considering the fact that it's 59 years old, that's quite a feat. It makes you wonder whether twilight will sell 250, 000 copies each year after its decline (though I seriously doubt so).

The Catcher in the Rye centers around Holden Caulfield, a vulgar, alcoholic teen who's in his late teens, and the events after his expulsion from Pencey high school due to bad grades. The story is told from Holden's point of view, who has a rather hyperactive and queer mind, described by reviewers as typical teenage behavior. Angst, unreasonable hatred for anything and everything, you name it, he has it (except lovesickness). For the larger part of the story, you'll be reading about those thoughts, how he thinks everyone is "phony" and has to do what everyone expects them to. From the school, he travels back to New York, where his home is, but only returns in the dead of the night to visit his sister, Phoebe. Other characters include:

-Mr. Antolini Holden's teacher before he went to Pencey High, someone Holden thought was a gay pedophile after elderly Mr. Antolini pat Holden on his head in the middle of the night while Holden was asleep (go figure),
-Sally Hayes, a girl Holden goes out with on a date after he returns to New York
-Stradlater and Ackley, two of his friends acquaintances at the dormitory in Pencey, who represent the stereotypical flirt/playboy and unpopular guy respectively (complete with acne problems, weird odors and less-than desirable habits)
-Phoebe Josephine Caulfield, Holden's sister who has this attitude that'd kill you (a phrase Holden uses to describe something extremely good or extremely bad, with Phoebe belonging to the former)

Even though the story seems to wander and go wild in all directions, people have been known to relate easily to the story. This may be due to the fact that most people have gone through adolescent stage, and understand that feeling where one tries to find somewhere to belong (sounds dramatic *shrugs*).

Anyway, the name Catcher in the Rye comes from one thought Holden had, where he said he'd be a catcher in a field of rye full of children running around, to stop them from falling off the cliff at the edge of the field. People have interpreted the field of rye as a state of mind where children still possess their innocence, spontaneity and kindness. Falling off the cliff on the other hand would signify transition into adulthood, where everything becomes, as Holden would say, phony. Here, the catcher would attempt to stop those that would fall off the cliff, and prevent that transition.

Apparently, this book is considered one of the three perfect books in English literature, beside "The Great Gatsby" and "The adventures of Huckleberry Finn" (My next targets o_o). It has also caused some controversy in the States, where the excessive use of vulgarities (like the infamous f-word), blasphemy (the belittling of god and religion, and many other amoral aspects are frequently mentioned as part of a troubled teenage experience. The text in this book has also been referenced by many modern works, including the TV series, Ghost in the Shell, where the primary antagonist, the Laughing Man, wears a red hunting hat backwards, like what Holden does, and has an emblem with the words "I thought what'd I'd do was, I'd pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes" in it. The full list of references may be found in Wikipedia via here, with over 20 references.

So, whether you're looking for a book or just plain bored, give this book a try. Its enjoyable (though I don't know why) and it doesn't put you off by being too thick (some people get lazy when they see a book 3 inches thick). Before I end this, I'll put in an amusing quote from the book

"When I really worry about something, I don't just fool around, I even have to go to the bathroom when I worry about something. Only, I don't go, I'm too worried to go, I don't want to interrupt my worrying to go"

P.S. All factual statements used are shamelessly copied cited from Wikipedia, long live the interwebz :O