A review by vale1049
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

5.0

I understand the criticism towards this book but I can't help but love it. I have never read a book that captures the inner life of a teenager and somebody who is mentally ill so accurately. As someone who was both at the time of reading it, this book helped mi immensely to feel understood and to find somebody to relate to. Yes, Holden is a brat but a character doesn't need to be likeable to be interesting and his unlikeability was the very thing that made him feel more like a real person. I am writing this review 5 years after I read the book for the first time and have to say that my love and thoughts toward the book haven't changed. Salinger was a brave man that decided to talk about a boy who was suffering from unresolved grief, mental illness and was a sexual assault survivor. Yet he never made the story feel cheap or disrespectful he treats Holden like a flawed human with complex thoughts and emotions. This is my favourite book of all time and the book that showed me that classics weren't boring book they made you read in school.