Almost 60 years after it was published, "Catcher In The Rye" continues to be banned by a number of school districts across America.
And why not? Holden Caulfield challenges the establishment, he questions authority, he laughs at social norms, he smokes, he swears, solicits prostitutes and thinks for himself.
This is apparently dangerous to some adults, many of whom were required to read J.D. Salinger's precedent setting book in the 50's, 60's and 70's.
In the 1950's it was banned in almost every high school in America. After all, The Hardy Boys were enough fun and adventure for America's conformist students. Those with a daring side could try Ernest Hemingway, at least those of his books which were approved.
Maybe it was Holden Caulfield that ignited the rebellious spark in that generation which refused to trust their government and protested America's involvement in other countries' civil wars.
Book banning still goes on in America. Strangely enough, "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" used to be banned because its main character was a smart-ass, rebellious child character who didn't care what adults told him to do. Today, the same book is banned for a different reason. It is now politically incorrect. Because the book uses a dialect and concepts which we now consider racist, it is considered insensitive and unreadable.
Of course, when it was written, it actually was satirizing racist people of its time.
You can find a reason to ban any piece of literature if you try hard enough.
