A review by kimothay
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

dark reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This was my favorite book when I was in high school but I hadn’t read it in a decade, so I wanted to re-read it and see if I still enjoyed it and how my thoughts on it would change. I work in the mental health field now and the mental health themes always interested me as a teen, so it was incredibly interesting to read through that lens. Holden is a difficult character to like as he’s emotionally immature (but who wasn’t at 17?), cynical, and generally just hypocritical and whiny at times. Despite all of that, his character is still one of my favorites of any book I’ve read. The clear impact of trauma and how it shaped his worldview is intriguing, and I picked up a lot of different things that I didn’t when I first read it at 15 or 16. 
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