Snapler

There are books we enjoy and there are books that remove the tops of our skulls and change how we think forever. The Catcher In The Rye falls into the latter category for generations of readers. It damn sure did for me. I was in my late 20s when I first read the book. It had been assigned in my high school, though not in a class I took. But seeing that it was assigned, I figured it couldn't be that good. But I kept hearing about it, so what the hell, I thought. And he starts in right away. It didn't read like any novel I had ever read. It was the rantings of a pissed off, bright, alienated teenager from a rich unhappy family. Holden Caulfield's stream of conscience bitch-a-thon about his life was so natural that I forgot I was reading a novel and just felt I was reading a sweet, smart, often hilarious, memoir of a disillusioned youth.

As Holden, Salinger accomplished the nearly impossible task of speaking in the voice of a teenager and making it ring true. Much like Mark Twain's portrayal of Huckleberry Finn captured the voice of a child.

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