In the pre-Beatlemania world of America's 1950's, JD Salinger's novel, The Catcher in the Rye, wasn't the most popular book on the shelf. In many communities it was (and in some cases still is) looked down on to the point of actually being banned. It wasn't until after Salinger's down fall, in the early 1960's, that Catcher in the Rye started to gain its current popularity. At this time, a new craze of "counter-culture" swept the nation, a craze where Holden Caulfield, the main character of the novel, became an idol for many adolescents struggling to find a new identity.
             All this was because of Holden's rebellious behaviors. Flunking boarding school after boarding school, his foul-mouthed slang, his complete carefree openness when talking about sexuality - all these things where frowned upon at the time of the book's original release. Starting in the 1960s and up until today, we still might look down upon flunking out of school but most other things that Holden did would seem almost completely normal. I say most because, throughout the story, it's clear that Holden isn't quite right in the head. I say this not assuming it, but as readers we are aware that, from chapter one, Holden is writing from a hospital where he's recovering from a mental breakdown.
             It's ironic that Salinger should use his phrase, "phoniness," to describe so much in this novel. (I'm referring particularly to the moment before Holden admits his "catcher in the rye" fantasy when he starts to refer to everybody he's met throughout the whole weekend as being "phony".) Assuming that Holden really did consider people to be phony and is not just grumpy all the time as some may be led to believe, his views might have been different had the novel been written just a decade or so later, as the "counter-culture" revolution began to form.
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