It was more interesting to me as a teenager and is normally found on the required high school reading canon. It's been so long so I'm going simply by memory here (instead of going to Wikipedia and quoting verbatim) but what's stuck after 15+ years has been the themes of individualism, independence, and desire to map out one's own destiny.

I am in the same boat as you. People who love it are crazy about it. I started it on a plane flight and the guy next to me chatted my ear off about how it changed his life for 20 mins. My current theory is that if you read it in your childhood, it resonates with you. I was 25 when I read it and it did not.

I read it in my childhood and was unimpressed, so it's not just that.

I despised the book in high school. I couldn't relate to Holden.

I consider it the most harmful book ever written. It's impact on the mood and choices of several generations has been devastating if not catastrophic.

Had he been offed in the war the U.S., at least, would be a much more optimistic and forward thinking place.