A schoolboy was so captivated by J.D. Salinger’s “Catcher in the Rye” that he accidentally wandered into Russia while trying to find a quiet place to read the classic.
News agencies cited the Federal Security Service (FSB) office in the Krasnodar region as saying that the teenager had been intercepted while attempting to recreate his own cross-town journey, but with different results.
“The 14-year-old trespasser explained his violation of the state border by a desire to read his favorite book in the quiet outdoors,” the FSB was cited as saying by the state-run TASS news agency on Monday.
The unnamed teenager was detained on the Russian side of the border after he was spotted crossing the river that divides the Krasnodar region from the breakaway Georgian republic of Abkhazia.
“He didn’t expect that his search for an appropriate place would violate the laws of both states,” the FSB said, noting that they had turned the teen over to the Abkhaz authorities.
