The Catcher in the Rye

Pros

• Catcher in the Rye and The Bell Jar are both pretty short and easy to read works and I think both are really, really great.
• to be clear i've really loved some classics, like No Longer Human, 1984 and Catcher in the Rye.
• I'm one who loves Catcher!
• Reading them again as an adult was a completely different experience, and it turns out I actually like most of them (still don't care for Lord of the Flies or Great Gatsby though).
• I think books like *The Book of Disquiet* or *Nausea* or even *Catcher* are just so good at letting you inhabit the experience of loneliness in this truly unrelenting way by giving us direct access to that first-person voice

Cons

• Catcher in the Rye was one I hated as a teen but have warmed up to a lot as an adult, still not a favorite of mine but I get the appeal now and I respect it.
• I had to restart Catcher in the Rye like six times and I hated myself and I hated my life for it and it was a waste of my time.
• I despised Catcher way back in HS, and I read it again during COVID to make sure it wasn't just me being an edgy teen (it wasn't, I still dislike the book).
• I just finished Catcher in the Rye for the first time. I didn't find it to be an enjoyable read, and it felt like a chore to get through despite it being so short.