On a hat-trick run

Wanting to find solace in some classics, after my previous read of Fountainhead, I took up "The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D Salinger. I knew I made a big mistake this time.

The first person narration of Holden Claufield, expressing his teenage angst on anything and everything could get you nothing but headache. The whole story is about the 3-4 days of the so-called-vacation that Holden takes(doing whatever he likes) when he is expelled from school, before packing home. The ways of Holden(a poor role model) and his illogical and flimsy decisions taken throughout, and his disrespect for elders(Including his parents) doesn't resemble anything close to that of an average matured, teenage guys of today. Combining this with all the bad habits(highly deplorable for his age) that Holden has, there is no take away from this book. The first person narrative makes it even more gloomier and depressing.

It is no wonder, that it is one of the controversial and most censured books of the 50's to 80's. Somehow this book became popular, though I could not attribute anything to speak of. Anyone in his right sense of mind wouldn't want to find himself synonymous with the despicable character of Holden Claufield.

Hats off to my school and college syllabus framers for making me to study Shakespeare, O Henry, Dickens etc and not this book which is still being taught in High schools, esp in English speaking countries!!! Any takers on whether it is going to be a Hat-Trick read of boring books?? This is one feat, that I surely don't want to achieve.