The Catcher In the Rye I read this book because I've heard this book is a classic teenage novel. At that time I read this book, I was a homeroom teacher of high school boys. I wanted to understand their puberty ups and downs. I have a strong motive to read the novel. It was difficult to read it, though. First, it was written in old modern English. Second, it was not that fun. Third, I was hectic teaching real boys. They made troubles every single day back then. ;) So it took a long time for me to finish reading it. The first thought I had after reading it was that teenagers are teenagers. Teens in those days experienced almost same things and have quite similar characteristics. Teenagers including the main character of this book are innocent, immature, and rebelious. Holden, the protagonist, got out of school and tried adult thing like going to a pub and calling a hooker. Even though he called one lady and was with her in the same room, he didn't do the real adult thing. He was a boy yet. He wanted to try adult world but he hesitated in the real situation. Besides, he impursively got out of school, wandered without destinations, and missed his family. He spitted out teenage words which represent that he wanted to look strong to others. One girl I met in a bookclub said that this book says nothing new and the story is plain. However, I think the story seems plain just because this book is the starter of novels about teenagers.