The Catcher in the Rye

文章的主人公是一个中学生，名字叫霍藤(Holden)，在一个名叫Pencey的中学上学。这是一篇自述体小说。作者以一个中学生的视角，写了一个中学生校内外多层面的生活经历、所见所闻，并由此折射出一幅美国社会的众生相。第三章第一句话就与众不同：I’m the most terrific liar.(我特别会骗人，我是一个几乎没有一句真话的人，我靠撒谎过日子，……。)你不认为这一句话就能让你感到这本书的内容会与众不同吗？

往下看，你会发现文章字里行间渗透着自嘲自讽，流露着对社会的冷嘲热讽、鞭挞批判。它的这一风格使你想起王朔、梁左的粗俗、夸张、辛辣、诙谐、吹嘘和调侃。

主人公身在学校，但除了英语，其他5、6门课都不及格，但他似乎毫不在乎，他与杰克·伦敦笔下那勤奋好学、挑灯夜战、指望有朝一日能立足于社会的马丁·伊登的生活态度可谓南辕北辙。他不讲究时尚穿着，喜欢把帽舌推到脸袋后面去。他满口脏话，goddam、bastard这些脏话脱口而出，给人一个十足小痞子的印象。
J. D. Salinger's famous and enduring chronicle of Holden Caulfield's journey from innocence to experience is the quintessential coming-of-age novel--though it's an unusual one, in which the hero tries to cling to the simplicity of childhood, achieving a kind of maturity almost in spite of himself. As the novel begins, Holden runs away from his stifling prep school, which is full of "phonies" and where he has, in fact, flunked out. Holing up in a New York City hotel, he has a series of small adventures and missed opportunities, all of which emphasize his loneliness and alienation from the world. A visit to his kid sister Phoebe (in which he memorably articulates his confused notion of being a "catcher in the rye") provides a ray of hope for Holden, as do the ducks in Central Park that he worries about so compulsively: though they do indeed disappear in the winter, they return in the spring. The novel's final image, of Phoebe riding the carousel in the park while her brother looks on, in tears, holds out the idea that there may be a future for Holden as well. Salinger's 1951 novel was a bestseller and became an immediate cult favorite, but it has also, over the years, been subject to criticism and even censorship because of its liberal use of profanity, its frank conversations about sex (though no actual sex takes place), and its generally irreverent view of the adult world.

Banned by many schools and libraries when first published in 1951, “The Catcher in the Rye” has been courting controversy for half a century. J.D. Salinger’s soul-searching novel of youthful alienation has long since faced down its initially hostile reception. Nowadays it is one of the most frequently taught books in high school English classes in the United States.

In the deeply conservative early 1950s, many Americans were shocked by “Catcher”’s explicit language and open treatment of delicate issues such as psychological instability and sexuality. Most of the controversy nowadays, however, concerns how the book and its precocious1 hero are interpreted.

Holden Caulfield is the 16-year-old schoolboy whose first-person narrative of his mental breakdown over several days forms the basic plot. Critics generally agree that he is the only substantial character in the novel. However, opinions are divided on the outcome of Holden’s constant raging against the hypocrisy2 of the adult world: Some see his eventual acceptance of reality as a positive view of his maturation, while others view his capitulation3 as an indictment of an oppressive society.

The author has fueled controversy himself by remaining a reclusive4 figure who has refused to comment on his work or publish anything further. Whatever his opinions, there is no doubting the book that made him famous presents a challenge to readers who care to contemplate the emptiness and isolation of the human condition.

Holden Caulfield, the central character in “The Catcher in the Rye”, has been compared with Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain’s naive5 adolescent runaway in the novel of the same name. Both boys are trying to make sense of the world while seeking stability and independence.

At the beginning of “The Catcher in the Rye”, Holden has just been kicked out of yet another boarding school. Having a few days to kill before returning home for the Christmas break, he hops on a train to New York. There he spends his time wandering aimlessly from one brief encounter6 to another, getting progressively more disgusted with what he calls the phoniness of the adult world.

Holden craves the innocence and simplicity of childhood, while at the same time doing a number of “adult” things such as trying to get a drink in a bar and meeting with a prostitute. Eventually, with the help of his younger sister, he comes to the realization that children cannot be protected forever from the imperfections of the adult world. This is not achieved, however, without Holden first driving himself to the brink7 of insanity.

Like “The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn”, “The Catcher in the Rye” is a coming-of-age8 novel. It is written in the language of its time, yet covers issues that are still relevant to young people today. It is likely to retain its status as a thought-provoking, if somewhat depressing, read for quite some time.