OKAY! I read "Catcher in the Rye". Now tell me this! [View All]

Am I supposed to appalled or what?

"Catcher" seems to come up again and again in stirring controversy. Here in Maine, some woman tried to ban the book from school reading lists entirely(she probably has a copy of "Fear of Flying" hidden away in her house). I never read "Catcher" so out of curiosity I bought a copy and read it through. I believe I chose some other book when it came up on school reading lists.

What a let down! BOOOORRRINNNGG! Hello! My name is Holden Caulfield and I have a rotten attitude about everything! Everyone is phony and I have no friends. Yeah, yeah there were references to sex, drinking underage, smoking, and homosexuality but they were pretty tame compared to what I know is out there. And then there were these sentences that Salinger put all over the place in the book. Sentences like "They really do.""They really are." "He really does.""She really is.". I found this irritating.

Am I missing something here? I there some sort of hidden meaning to all this? Maybe I should have bought the Cliff Notes too. I understand this book came out in the 60's when the decorum of society was different. Still, what's the big deal?