It is not as a critic but as an admirer that I write about J.D. Salinger’s masterpiece, The Catcher in the Rye. I don’t presume to be qualified to truly “review” the work in a critical sense, because my opinion is a tiny drop in the sea of analysis for the greatest teenage novel of all time. However, I can offer my singular view of Holden Caufield’s relevance, that so long as there are teenagers who read with open minds, he will have a place on bookshelves around the world.

Holden Caulfield, dismissed from the prestigious but pretentious Pencey Prep for failing every subject but English, embarks on several days of self-discovery in New York City. Armed with his red hunting cap and limited funds, Holden’s adventures take him through all walks of life. He meets pimps, prostitutes, nuns, cab drivers, Yalies, tourists and lounge singers, all in attempts to kill time before his parents are notified of his expulsion. He drinks, smokes, and swears his way through the cold, dark city, catching glimpses of humanity as he evaluates his life.

Based on a short story he published in the New Yorker in 1946 titled “Slight Rebellion off Madison,” Salinger revisits the cynical, awkward antihero in a compelling stream-of-consciousness narrative which leaves few of Holden’s thoughts to the imagination over a period of 48 hours.