Sunday book pick: ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ by JD Salinger, a novel I have read 11 times

“I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd really like to be. I know it's crazy.”

The first time I read JD Salinger’s 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye was a few weeks after my school finishing exams. That was 11 years ago. Since then, I have read the book once a year every year. Usually during the summer, when it is especially pleasurable to read about the brutal New York City winter that 16-year-old Holden Caulfield finds himself in after being expelled from school for failing his exams.

The novel ranks number one on the list of my top five books of all time.

At home nowhere

But Holden is not devastated by the expulsion. If anything, it was expected – he has never lasted for too long at any school. The boys are “phoney”, the teachers too, and he has no particular interest in academics or extra-curricular activities. He enjoys reading while considering himself “quite illiterate.” He sounds rather mature for his age too. Almost everything he says is punctuated by expletives – “sonuvabitch”, “goddamn”, “bastard” – and on top of that, he is a heavy smoker and already has greys in his hair. He also...

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