[durasell]

You have to be just the right age when you read Catcher. As for Old Man...it really was Hemingway at his worst. The only thing it has going for it is the Hemingway "brand," its relatively short length, and easy-to-read Hemingway vocabulary.

[Francis McClobber]

"You have to be just the right age when you read Catcher."

I agree. I was in the teen age angst period when I was forced read it. I have a sister who was Phoebe's age at the time and I adored her the way Holden adored Phoebe. Holden became my hero.
I was so impressed, that I ran out and bought "Raise High the Roofbeam". What a piece of crap.

Another book that must be read at precisely the right time is "On the Road" by Jack Kerouac. Great reading for one right out of college or smack in the middle of a midlife crisis.

[.38sw]

As for Old Man...it really was Hemingway at his worst.

So it WASN'T just me. I never finished it, I thought it was awful.