I read the book my freshman year of high school, which may not be the best time to read anything with true depth to it. And while I will admit that the writing is masterful, I came away from that book hating it--not because I thought the story was badly written or poorly characterized, but because it underlined everything with a sense of paranoia and phoniness. Salinger accomplished what he was trying to do with it, I think, but it will probably remain as the only book I've ever hated. On the other hand, I had to read the book Henderson the Rain King at the same time and I loved that book. Surprisingly (or not, as the case may be), the rest of my class hated that book and loved Catcher in the Rye. Somehow, Henderson the Rain King just seemed to jive better with me.