The Catcher in the Rye

I mentioned in the thread on defining a classic that I'm not entirely sure whether or not The Catcher in the Rye is a classic. Whenever I think of what a classic is, I think of a book that doesn't lose its relevance or meaning over time, that the theme endures. I read The Catcher in the Rye, and I felt like it was quite irrelevant to my generation, however with other books much older than Salinger's coming of age novel, I've felt like the theme and characters were very relevant to obstacles teens face today. All that said, why or why not do you consider The Catcher in the Rye a classic?

I have the perhaps very negative reason, that I have, previous to seeing recent LT threads, never in my life imagined that it might NOT be a classic! That much, apart from any personal reasons I might have for deeming it a classic, and I do have those (personal) reasons. I donʻt LIKE tCitR, I LOVE it.
I was born in 1931, Holden, I suppose, was born in that same decade. Whether it
speaks to generations born in later decades, Iʻm not qualified to say, though I think my children, born in the 60s and 70s would agree that itʻs a classic.

I studied Catcher in grade twelve as assigned reading where the year's theme was "alienaton" (we also tackled Death of a Salesman). This was around 1991 or so, and I found I could relate to Holden though he was in a time and place removed from me. I didn't grasp all the phoniness stuff, but I did understand the feeling of being caught between childhood and adulthood, longing in some ways for the former and not feeling especially impressed with the latter. I think while the times can and do change, some sentiments remain eternal.