"The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger, published this day in 1951.
#JDSalinger #TheCatcherInTheRye #HoldenCaulfield

I read post #127 of my #bookcovers and #firstsentences homage on Instagram (as tallandtruebooks), The Catcher in the Rye by J D Salinger, during my classics catch-up stage in my mid-twenties. Salinger's tale of teenage angst and alienation and his writing stunned me. Written and set in the early 1950s, the narrative felt so alive and in the present.

I re-read this secondhand copy of "Catcher" in my late forties with trepidation. Would the more mature me find Holden Caulfield's escapades childish and dated? No, I enjoyed his monologue as much on the second read as I did the first time!

I've reached my sixties, and since I last read the book, I've parented a son through his teenage years. And I wonder what I'd think of Holden's self-centred monologue today?

One thing's for sure, I still love Salinger's first sentence:

If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.

#books #bookcovers #firstsentences #homage #thecatcherintherye #jdsalinger

Ok, then.
#7BooksToKnowMe
The Razor’s Edge, Somerset Maugham
Middlemarch, #GeorgeEliot
#AlcoholicsAnonymous
#TheCatcherInTheRye, JD Salinger
#WarAndPeace, #LeoTolstoy
Race For Profit, Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor
Unstrung Heroes, Franz Lidz
What You’ve Heard Is True, Carolyn Forché

Yeah, yeah so sue me.