My initial impressions of this book is that it is pure crap. And that is also my last impression of it too. I'm glad I was never forced to read this in school.
My main issue with this book is that it is so negative. The main character Holden Caulfield hates everything. Even the things he likes, he will tell you over and over again 100 different things he hates about it. It never ends. This book only spans about two days of his life (no really) from when he gets kicked out of a prep school to when he hides out in a crappy hotel over the weekend, biding his time until he figures his parents have received the letter of his dismissal.