Synopsis from Goodreads:

Since his debut in 1951 as The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield has been synonymous with “cynical adolescent.” Holden narrates the story of a couple of days in his sixteen-year-old life, just after he’s been expelled from prep school, in a slang that sounds edgy even today and keeps this novel on banned book lists. His constant wry observations about what he encounters, from teachers to phonies (the two of course are not mutually exclusive) capture the essence of the eternal teenage experience of alienation.

My mini-review:

“What really knocks me out is a book that, when you’re all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. That doesn’t happen much, though.”

The majority of this book was read while I was waiting around in airports, so my expression remained rather stoic (in an attempt to go unnoticed by other passengers) except for the few times I couldn’t quite suppress my laughter and it slipped out like a chuckle or a cough. I didn’t much like how people were staring at me while I was reading. I am a bit paranoid though. Anyways, the point I wanted to make is that I felt rather involved yet withdrawn while reading this book, and then for some reason, after reading the last page and putting the book down, I felt my eyes stinging and I didn’t know what to do with myself.

★★★★★ (5 stars) because I’m not really sure what is so great about this book but it was something I needed to read. I do wish that the author was a terrific friend of mine.