I was left puzzled after reading the book, which isn’t surprising. It’s quite a confused book.

Having digested it a little though, I do believe it’s excellent. The things I loved are exactly the ones which annoy some other reviewers:
- No visible plot. The main character sort of lives his days, doing stupid things and fretting about them. I found that very charming.
- The silly teenage language from the late 40′es / early 50′es. It annoyed me at first, but then I enjoyed it.
- The whiny narrative. Yep, it was a bit over the top whiny; but I thought it was compensated by the inspired passages that were observant and kind. In fact, the narrative left me feeling the guy may have loved the people he claimed to ‘hate’.
- The repetitiveness of some key themes and thoughts. I found it very natural.

Separately, the characterization was breathtaking, I thought. Maybe Salinger was doing a bit too much of it (e.g. characterizing the taxi drivers and random kids in the museum), but I could feel he was having fun with it and it did come out very well.

Maybe it’s just me. I love the non-linear, honest stories like this, that don’t drive a specific ‘plot’, but rather explore a person.
Pampers Wipes Refill Baby

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