The Catcher in the Rye

In my opinion, there are many reasons why we still read the novel The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger. Not only does it display many things in our history that are different from our modern society and interesting to read about, but also timeless characters and life lessons. The story takes place in the nineteen-fifties in New York, and is about a sixteen year old boy named Holden Caulfield. Holden has recently been kicked out of another school, and he is afraid of going home to tell his parents. He comes from a pretty wealthy family, and back then it was more common the send kids--especially high school aged kids--to private schools away from home for better education. This is something not seen as much nowadays, or it is at least not as advertised. That only a very small look on this time in our history as compared to the rest of the book as a whole. As Holden is escaping his fears and putting off going home until the absolute last possible second, he takes a few days to live in the heart of New York City by himself. This was a time where you could walk around the city streets at night and not be scared, and a time when strangers were friendly instead of threatening. It is so cool to read how a teenager was able to be by themselves in such a busy city without worried about being in danger. Getting into more detailed aspects, this book also talked about going to the movies and the shows. Movies were a lot cheaper than they are today, and Holden talked about how he had seen one many, many times. Seeing a movie more than once nowadays would cost you an arm and a leg. Although there are still concerts and Broadway today, these were created during this time period. They would be a lot more popular and exciting to go to back then.