Honestly, I wasn’t expecting to enjoy catcher in the rye at all. I picked it up on a whim, since I figured the summer before college would be the perfect time to read it. Maybe that’s why I enjoyed it so much, the themes of innocence lost and struggling to find your place in the world really hit home. Maybe it’s a testament to Salinger’s writing. Maybe it’s just that I will never read anything like it again.

I’ll never understand why people call this a red flag book. Yes, Holden is not the easiest protagonist in the world, but he is also confused, depressed, young, and traumatized.