I never read this book as an adolescent/teen, so maybe it would have made a greater impact on me if I had. As an adult, it is hard for me to see why this is such an influential book. Salinger's very conversational writing style lends itself to developing the character of Holden Caulfield, but it is also distracting and sometimes hard to follow. I wish Holden were a more sympathetic character, and I wish that he had found peace (or even just a date with Jane) before the end of the book so I would have a reason to cheer for him, but instead I found it difficult to care very much about his fate.