“Don't ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody.” -Holden Caulfield

Throughout my life I have read many books that tear into my soul and truly leave a gripping and lasting impression on me. Animal Farm, 1984, Jane Eyre, Gathering Blue, The Giver and Ella Enchanted, to name a few. I feel each of those books gave me a refreshed and rejuvenated sense of my identity, how I tried to express my inner author voice and how I saw love, life and relationships.

One such book is a first person narrative that truly made me feel as if I was talking to a long lost friend or brother was The Catcher in the Rye. A lot of people online and whom I have talked to, (that read the book, of course), have debated whether the classic novel read in classrooms and even had been banned(Between 1961 and 1982), had any merit.

The plot follows a troubled young man who was just kicked out of prep school (he is 16 years old). Holden, the main protagonist, rambles on and tells unrelated tangents and musings about life and his struggles as he bums around New York, trying to find himself. That’s it. There isn’t more to this, other than a 16 year olds confused and melodramatic, at times, journey of trying to maintain his definition of identity, and not losing it to “phoniness.”

What really gets to me is how he pines for his best friend, Jane. He always talks about talking to her, of calling her up, but never does. This is incredibly relatable as I feel many of us in our youth have been in this same predicament of wondering, “Should I call? Should I not call?” and both decisions feels terrifyingly hard to comprehend. The consequences of either one could be just as heartbreaking.

He cries when his sister Phoebe goes on the merry-go-round and he feels so happy for her, as she enjoys the ride. It’s almost like he is trying to capture something he feels is lost. That freeing moment when nothing matters, letting go of all your worries and pain and fears, and just allowing yourself to be happy for even a few minutes.

This is why I love this book. It’s a dog-earred glory (I did read it so much it became battered lol) I found so much comfort in as a teen and now, as an adult. I’ll leave you all with this last quote as I always feel such an emotional pull to it and this deep sadness that somehow also feels strangely like hope:

“Don't ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody.” -Holden Caulfield

This quote in particular makes me feel like I should live without regrets, to always be aware of my feelings and my choices, because they have a huge impact on others. To take each moment, and live to the fullest, because time is precious and you should never squander it. This is why The Catcher in the Rye means so much to me, and why it truly changed the way I see myself and my life.