Catcher in the Rye, Post 4: A Different Perspective

I was talking to my mother about the book today. I was telling her my reasons for disliking Holden, and how it was coloring my liking for the writing and the book. She gave me the perspective of someone who read it thirty odd years ago, as a 10th grader. She said two things that I want to discuss. First, she said that the book made her feel grown up, because it was the first book she'd read that had swear words in it. To that, I just want to say I think it's amazing how different books have become in about thirty years. I rarely read a book that doesn't swear multiple times in it, aside from older books. It just goes to show you how much life can change in 30 years. And, even more so, in 60 years, from when the book was originally written. It's one of the biggest things I've noticed. Small things, like using records as opposed to downloading music, going to the museum, even the kids (Holden, and his sister) being allowed to wander the city by themselves with no one questioning them. It's just amazing how much cultures change over the years. The second thing my mother told me she thought about the book, was that it was a good example of teen angst. And, this "angst" is what annoys me so much about Holden. Maybe the change that occurs over time is just what it is, but I have not ever been in such a place of "angst" where I feel depressed  over everything for days at a time, and I happen to be very teenaged at the moment. Maybe it's just me, but I don't see the angst angle. That was just another perspective, and some of my thoughts on it.