THE CATCHER IN THE RYE—THE PASSAGE OF TIME (COMMENT).

THE CATCHER IN THE RYE—THE PASSAGE OF TIME (COMMENT). Dick Weisfelder is correct in identifying the generational difference in the response to THE CATCHER IN THE RYE. When I read it, Salinger was considered a very important writer. There was enormous excitement when his “Franny and Zooey” came out in the New Yorker— an excitement surpassed by Harry Potter, but unusual then. Dick is also right in identifying one reason for the different response now: “how different the opportunities and experiences of young people are today from those of the 40s and 50s when Philip and I were growing up.” When I read the book, Holden’s voice hooked me. It was amusing and it was new to me. I think that new generations have all been exposed in movies and television to voices like Holden’s and its neurotic, pseudo-sophisticated humor. Characters like Charlie Brown and Holden Caulfield are all about us now.