霍尔顿是出身于富裕中产阶级的十六岁少年，在第四次被开除出学校之后，不敢贸然回家，只身在美国最繁华的纽约城游荡了一天两夜，住小客店，逛夜总会，滥交女友，酗酒……他看到了资本主义社会的种种丑恶，接触了各式各样的人物，其中大部分是“假模假式的”伪君子。 霍尔顿几乎看不惯周围发生的一切，他甚至想逃离这个现实世界，到穷乡僻壤去假装一个又聋又哑的人，但要真正这样做，又是不可能的，结果他只能生活在矛盾之中：他这一辈子最痛恨电影，但百无聊赖中又不得不在电影院里消磨时间；他厌恶没有爱情的性关系，却又糊里糊涂地叫来了妓女；他讨厌虚荣庸俗的女友萨丽，却又迷恋她的美色，情不自禁地与她搂搂抱抱。 因此，他尽管看不惯世道，却只好苦闷、彷惶，用种种不切实际的幻想安慰自己，自欺欺人，最后仍不免对现实社会妥协，成不了真正的叛逆，这可以说是作者塞林格和他笔下人物霍尔顿的悲剧所在。

口语渣渣要开始读这篇小说啦，欢迎大家指正

5.28

If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth. In the first place, that stuff bores me, and in the second place, my parents would have about two hemorrhages apiece if I told anything pretty personal about them.

38'

They're quite touchy about anything like that, especially my father. They're nice and all--I'm not saying that--but they're also touchy as hell. Besides, I'm not going to tell you my whole goddam autobiography or anything. I'll just tell you about this madman stuff that happened to me around last Christmas just before I got pretty run-down and had to come out here and take it easy.

27'

I mean that's all I told D.B. about, and he's my brother and all. He's in Hollywood. That isn't too far from this crumby place, and he comes over and visits me practically every week end. He's going to drive me home when I go home next month maybe. He just got a Jaguar. One of those little English jobs that can do around two hundred miles an hour. It cost him damn near four thousand bucks.

30'