What a damn good book. Grand, even. The way old Holden criticizes everything he sees really gets me. When Phoebe asks him if he likes anything he can’t even think about the question. That kills me.
But seriously, I loved this book when I was 17 and I love it now. I was one of those moody drama kids who hated everything in high school and I could really identify with Holden. I definitely felt like an “outsider” in those days, and Holden really comforted me and made me feel like I wasn’t alone in my plight of teenagehood. Even as I read this paragraph back to myself, I can tell that this book still resounds with me; it’s hard to think that Holden isn’t a real person and that I’m actually talking about a character written by someone else.
I think this goes to show the importance of one of the main traits of YA literature we identified in class last week: the teenage protagonist. If Holden had been any other age I know I wouldn’t have felt so close to him when I first read this book. I still enjoy the book because revisiting Holden is like revisiting my teenage years. I can look back and realize how I overreacted to things, reacted badly in some situations, and found joy in things I no longer find joyful, just as I now realize how immature Holden can be and the foolishness of some of his actions.
“It seems we’re always searching for something to satisfy us, and never finding it.” This insight from Cherry Valance of The Outsiders pretty well sums up how I feel about Holden, how I felt as a teenager, and gives me plenty to think about as I continue the foray into the young adult mind and YA literature.
