The very popular novel Catcher in the Rye, by J. D. Salinger, seemed insignificant to me because the protagonist, Holden Caulfield, is a first-class jerk. Holden Caulfield is an over-privileged, over-entitled, over-sophisticated adolescent who has just failed out of his elite prep school. He has a nervous breakdown, and eventually gets sent to a fancy rest home where he spins out the story of what he was thinking about when he hit bottom.
I think the thing that appeals to readers is his disenchantment. In the manner of a supercilious jerk, he sees the phoniness of everything. He sees that no one is quite what they claim to be. He sees that purity and idealism are impossible in the practical world; everyone espouses principles that they can't follow.
It is notable that a number of assassins and mass murderers have referred to Catcher in the Rye in explaining their motivation. This point was charmingly explained by the young trickster in a great old movie called Six Degrees of Separation. It was his surprisingly literary monologue that motivated me to re-read Catcher, which I had first read long ago. Like Holden, these killers and would-be killers were totally disenchanted with life, and obsessed with phoniness and pretension.
There's no arguing with Holden. Any teenager emerging from the protected dream of childhood, can see that nothing is what it seems to be. The briefest of looks at the political news or advertising or entertainment shows us that people are constantly trying to sell falsehoods and illusions. One of the major problems of growing up, at any age, is accepting this painful realization.
To quote an old song, "When the truth is found to be lies, and all the joy within you dies..." Total despair may cause a person to become a killer or to commit suicide, or to have a breakdown like Holden. Holden gets the opportunity to spell out his feelings, and after he gets through the negativity he finds love for his faulty world. As the song continues "...don't you want somebody to love, don't you need somebody to love." So a seemingly insignificant story about a jerk freaking out, actually treats one of life's major problems: transcending disillusionment through love.
