I pick JD Salinger, I have the book and haven't gotten to it yet. That was the book Mark David Chapman had in his pocket when he killed John Lennon in front of the Dakota building in NYC...
I'm fairly sure almost everyone's read it already though? And supposedly if you're over the age of like 22 you will no longer appreciate it.
who makes up blanket statements like that? I've always wondered . . .
Well..it was my history teacher who told me that only because he had been told a million times what an amazing novel it was so he read it (he was over 20 at the time) and was not impressed and I count him as a very good judge of everything cause he's super smart and witty and awesome. i'd marry him
Sometimes one can be TOO smart though, as far as overanalyzing such things . . . sometimes one must revert to a simpler mind to understand that which does not require an amazing intellect . . .
But the problem is, when you're a teenager and the whole world is against you that book, when read, is speaking right to you. You read it and you say, "Wow..I could BE Holden!" So, once you're past that stage in your life the novel isn't so amazingly special anymore, it's just about this crazy kid.
I understand . . . but I suppose some of us have the gift of actually BECOMING that teenager once again as they read the book, and perhaps that's what would make it interesting to read in the post-20-year-old years . . . isn't that really what reading is about? Becoming the character in the book? seeing the world through their eyes? I actually have vivid recollections of my teenage years (horrible as they are) . . . it might be a good read for me