The Catcher in the Rye – J.D. Salinger

I have finally done it. I’ve finally gotten around to reading this classic American novel of anarchy and teenage rebellion. I do wish that I had read it when I was 17, I feel like it would have shaped me much more than it has as a 20-something. The story of rebellious teen Holden Caulfield has become a clarion call for many, including American war veterans and would-be assassins. When he was arrested for the murder of John Lennon, Mark David Chapman handed police a copy of the book that he had bought that very day, and in it was written: To Holden Caulfield from Holden Caulfield: This is my statement. I didn’t find it the easiest book in the world to read, but as a technical literary work, I can appreciate the beauty and crafting that went into this book, particularly the fact that Salinger managed to crawl into the mind of a disillusioned 16 year old boy trying to come to terms with his brothers death from leukemia. Salinger richly deals with the themes of living in a broken world with no purpose, and I had a deep existential reading of the novel (existentialism was very prominent at the time it was written, just after World War Two). Although not much happens really, the book is a rich internal monologue from Holden’s perspective “about this madman stuff that happened to me around last Christmas.” It’s short, and if classic literature is your thing, it is definitely worth a read, to be followed swiftly by Joanna Rakoff (I did it the wrong way around). I paired this book with an easy drinking Kanonkop Kadette Cape Blend, with notes of raspberries and mocha.