Holden Caulfield, the Ultimate Adolescent, Is Turning 75

NYT ^ | 7/14/26 | Alexandra Jacobs

[Borges]

On July 16, “The Catcher in the Rye,” by J.D. Salinger, will turn 75. Commemorating such a nice big number would surely strike its adolescent hero, Holden Caulfield, as the absolute nadir of “corny,” but maybe we could use a little corn, as the data centers invade our farmland.

Pour out a Scotch and soda — make that a malted milk — for this spry codger of a novel that’s stayed on the dance floor long past when might be expected, leaping over book bans from the right and dodging cancellation from the left. “Catcher” has somehow inspired artists as disparate as John Guare and Guns N’ Roses, its denunciation of phoniness presaging the social-media demand for “authenticity.”

Though set mostly in the sophisticated precincts of New York City where Salinger was raised but did not remain, “Catcher” might be the purest of the Great American Novels. (Partly because it has never been made into a movie, though everyone from Billy Wilder to Steven Spielberg tried to secure the rights.)

It’s also one of the dirtiest: ruffling parents and school boards with its fingernail clippings, shaving stubble, blood, flatulence, drunkenness, voyeurism, vulgarity, prostitution, profligacy and slang. Oh so much delectable lost slang.

[Disambiguator]

Have you ever met anybody named ‘Biff’?............

I think that name only exists in fiction.

[Lurker]

Over rated

L

[Beowulf9]

You know, that makes sense.

[Beowulf9]

And for the book Iwe had to read aloud in class (taking turns) To kill a mockingbird. Not too crazy about that one, either.

[jmcenanly]

The only two real Biffs that I found online were Biff Yeager,an actor,and Biff Poggi, a football coach. Biff Tannen, from the Back to the Future mvies also appeared in my search. "Biff" is also used as a nickname for those whose first and middle initials are B.F.

[Borges]

Holden is not a reliable narrator. He’s a kid having a nervous breakdown. Salinger clearly dislikes him. Read Salinger’s other fiction

[Borges]

These days the CMs would regard CITR as “too white”. But again Salinger would come to write about seeking spiritual sustenance Read “Franny and Zooey”.

[Borges]

Well his short stories are superb. Franny and Zooey is about characters seeking a spiritual foundation.

[Red Badger]

It was a true story, and was set not far from here, in SW Alabama.............

[Antoninus]

Holden is not a reliable narrator. He’s a kid having a nervous breakdown. Salinger clearly dislikes him. Read Salinger’s other fiction.

None of that changes the fact that it's a terrible book that no kid should ever be forced to read.

[Borges]

It’s perfectly crafted novel.

[ek_hornbeck]

There are far greater works of American literature out there for high school kids to read and study than Salinger. Catcher in the Rye is assigned on the premise that Caulfield is a character some teens can relate to and thus be more motivated to read about.

[Antoninus]

Catcher in the Rye is assigned on the premise that Caulfield is a character some teens can relate to and thus be more motivated to read about.

Imagine thinking that most teens want to read about a pathetic, shallow, hypocritical phony whose main goal in life is to seek out booze and loose women. Even if that's how many of us actually behaved as teens, was it good that we lived in a society that just accepted such behavior with a wink and a nod? Wouldn't it be better to present young men with literature that showed an alternative? Wouldn't it be better to offer them literature where the male protagonists act in ways that are heroic, self-sacrificial, gentle toward the women in their lives, but implacable when faced with evil?

My own early life may have been different if such exemplars had presented to me earlier on and I didn't have to figure things out for myself in my late 20s.

[dennisw]

“The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner”

The movie is good for seeing post war Great Britain in black and white, bleak depressing. I will see it again.

[reasonisfaith]

There’s a good chance Salinger was a satanist.

[Borges]

“whose main goal in life is to seek out booze and loose women.”

And his attempts at both are defined by failure, loneliness, and emotional distress. This lifestyle is shown for what it leads to.

[Borges]

Ever read “Franny and Zooey”? That’s not the impression one comes away with

[Antoninus]

And his attempts at both are defined by failure, loneliness, and emotional distress. This lifestyle is shown for what it leads to.

Yeah, but there's so much cursing, dude. I was like, damn, dude be droppin' f-bombs. Edgy, man, edgy for English class.

No teen guy is going to take your above message away from this book. The message they're going to take is: Holden is a douche who wants to be a stud like me. He has no idea how to have a good time or make it with a babe at all. What a loser.

[Borges]

Well modern teens do to tend to dislike him.

[reasonisfaith]

The mind of a satanist is always the mind of a criminal.

They pretend to be the opposite of what they are. It’s part of their low IQ.