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Celebrate Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month with These Great Books
Jade asked this question about The Catcher in the Rye:
Am i the only person who fails to understand why this book is considered a classic, to me it was boring and tedious and the plot failed to engross me as many other books have?
Jean Cole It's not about the story. It's about the context of the story.

We have to consider it in the context of the era in which this book was released. The er…mǰIt's not about the story. It's about the context of the story.

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.

Readers who were born and brought up after the 1960s don't realize what a revolution occurred in the 1950s and 1960s. Today being a free spirit and expressing your individuality is celebrated and encouraged. In those days you were expected to (as I was told) "Do as I say, not as I do." That may sound outrageous and unreasonable but it was, in fact, exactly what was accepted as good parenting.

And here we have 1) a main character who curses constantly, and unashamedly rejects the values of his parents and society in general and 2) a narrative style that is casual and conversational. These two factors were shocking and dismaying to some, refreshing and delightful to others.

And so Holden became a hero to some. Not in the conventional sense of the word, but because people related to him and they sympathized with the way he felt. He personified all that was wrong with society. If you don't go along, if you don't play the game, then the vast machine that is society will knock you down and even lock you away. Holden is not intended to be a hero in the conventional sense of the word. He is a tragic victim of the crappy world in which he has no control and where no one understands him.

I imagine that in 1951, when this was published, there were those who said "Yes! It's about time someone was honest!" and there were those who exclaimed "What is this world coming to?" There was change coming, that's for sure. This book was just one sign of the impending cultural revolution. That's why it's a classic. Think of it as a brick in the foundation of the revolution to come.(less)
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The Catcher in the Rye
by J.D. Salinger
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