The Catcher in the Rye

Details
Could someone explain LI5 'The Catcher in the Rye' and why it's so controversial?

also maybe why it's related to John Lennon's death?
 * Question
 * Answer by /u/TrouserDemon

Best answer
When you get older, you'll start feeling strange; very angry and very sad and strange mixtures of the two. This is because of chemicals called hormones that your body makes to help you grow up.

The book "Catcher in the Rye" is all about growing up. Its main character, also called a "protagonist", is a teenage boy who is experiencing the full effect of hormones. As a result, he is angry at a lot of people, and sad with the way the world is.

He runs away from home after being kicked out from his school for not doing well. After this, he travels around America and has some adventures, although most of these are not good adventures, but bad things that people should not do, like stealing and lying, and doing bad things with girls. He also says a lot of bad words.

This has made some people think that the book is bad for people to read it, as it might teach them to do bad things, or use a lot of bad words. The main character also talks about a fantasy he has where he protects children from growing up. Some people think this is bad, as teenagers who are feeling the effects of hormones might be influenced to try not to grow up, rebelling against growing up as a person. Another thing that makes people talks a lot about the book is that the people who try to ban it to protect children from it are acting like the main character in his fantasy to protect children.

One thing that has made people really be worried about people reading the book is the fact that it has influenced several people who have then tried to, or actually killed other people. One of these was John Lennon, a famous musician; the man who shot him had the book with him when he did it, and called it his statement. Some people think the book made him do it, but other people think he was sick in the head and he just thought the book was influencing him.

Contributions
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Niggling point: He doesn't "travel around America," really, he just gets on a train for an hour or two and gets off in Manhattan.

Source.