Catcher in the Rye

Rating:
Summary: One of a Kind!
Review:
The storyline is remarkably intriguing and is exceptionally simple. The reason for this book's success, in my opinion, is the way the story is told. Since the story happens to be so common (adolescent escapades) Salinger had to make the book standout in his own way. His formula for success in this case was speaking in a truly original dialect. The slang that Holden speaks, is still edgy to this very day. Salinger is a master of dialect, and it really shines in The Catcher in the Rye.

Salinger's characters are also among the main ingredients in his recipe for success. Each character with it's own trademark. He really captures the different personalities in the world. The characters are written about in such a way that keeps you entertained, and interested. The emotions portrayed by the characters make such a strong impact. When someone is annoyed you can empathize, when someone is angry, you feel bad for them.

I really can't emphasize enough, the talent that Salinger has. He is so fresh, so unique, so smart. The conflicts he comes up with really make you think. The whole story makes you think, and it doesn't stop at the last word. The Catcher in the Rye will leave you in puzzlement for many days. There are so many questionable actions, and so many questionable reactions.

If you like an intelligent and clever entertaining novel, check out The Catcher in the Rye. If you've read some of Salinger's work, and you liked it, you have to read The Catcher in the Rye, it's by far his best work. I really can't stress enough how important this piece of literature is in the fabric of today's books.

Quite frankly, this book was breathtaking. I was truly astonished by the fact that something written in 1951 was this fascinating. Who would have thought that a book about a cynical adolescent would become one of the greatest bestsellers of all time? If you're in the mood to learn a lot of lessons from an entertaining perspective, you should read The Catcher in the Rye. Another, more recent book I enjoyed is The Losers Club by Richard Perez -- which reminded me of The Catcher in the Rye.


Rating:
Summary: A pure exploration of character
Review:
What is wonderful about Catcher in the Rye is what you don't notice. You do not notice that nothing is actually happening, that there is no beginning, middle and end. At the end you feel as though have been left in the middle of Holden Caulfied's story, as in true character, he gets bored with telling us. He only half tells us tales, we never know how his brother dies or why he wished he had let him come with him that day. Yet not knowing, not having a series of neatly tied up tales of a boy's life is refreshing and intriguing. Who needs a plot when you are given a whole series of clues about the person that is Holden Caulfield?

This book is about a person's self-discovery, or lack of it, and the power you feel as the reader is the knowledge you hold from a distance. That the tragedy and the pathos of the novel is that Holden Caulfield has yet to realise his place in the world. All the way through he doesn't know why he thinks things and feels things and for all his failures you like him because you know he has the potential to become a good man.

It is easy to see why this book offends people and why people find the book difficult. It is after all the self-indulgent ramblings of an immature teenager. At times Holden is dislikeable, he fails to see the effects of his behaviour on the people around him. He becomes absorbed by the idea of what is real and is constantly disappointed by the "phony" people that surround him. The fact that the book obsesses with this may be tiresome for some.

However, this is the heart of what is brilliant about this text. As teenagers we all wondered around scared to death because we didn't know who we are, that we felt phony ourselves because most of the time we acted as we thought we should in order to survive. This is what Holden is doing throughout. He joins the secret fraternity because he feels he ought to and then hates himself for it. He looks out at those who are excluded and feels pity for them and hatred for himself. At times he tries to be himself, which is actually quite sensitive. The fact that he wrote his composition on his dead brother's baseball mitt is evidence of this. The fact he later violently attacks his room mate in defence of a girl is also strangely sensitive as you can clearly see his motivations.

What is most impressive is the truth of the voice. The narration is obviously first person; therefore we are hearing the thoughts of a teenage boy. It would seem perverse then to endow him with an impressive ability to articulate his world when the whole book aims to reveal how little he yet realises about his world. There is a repetition of the same phraseology throughout but this is true to a generation that distinguishes itself with catch phrases that seek to exclude older generations.

Therefore the language and the plot are limited. These are sound criticisms of the book but to dismiss it because of these is to miss the point. The book is meant to explore Holden and to explore you. You knew exactly what the ex-English teacher was trying to say to him and you wish you had that bit of paper to refer to as well. Get offended if you wish but then try and understand too. This book is just very honest; you need to face up to it. Pick up a copy! Another wonderful book I recommend is THE LOSERS CLUB: Complete Restored Edition by Richard Perez


Rating:
Summary: Teenage Confidential
Review: There's a charm to this story that apparantly outlasts the generation it was written for(those people are now in their 60's?) Amazing, because when I picked up this book recently--after years of reading it some 15 years ago--it sounds just as fresh as if it were written today--the VOICE-- that is.

Holden totaly engages us and pulls us into his world, reminding us that a sign of enduring literature is when a story manages to be just as lively years and years into the future as this book will certainly become. What inspired me to re-read this classic, though, is another gem, a more contemporary tale dealing with the late adolescent today-- the wry & hilarious SIMON LAZARUS. One significant difference, though, its its depth and compelling story. I so totally recommend along with Salinger's here. Worthy of careful comparision. It's that good.

Rating:
Summary: This Book Changed My Life
Review: "Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around - nobody big, I mean - except me. And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff - I mean if there running and they don't look where they're going" [224]. That is the fantasy of Holden Caulfield as he describes it to his younger sister. It is the desperation to achieve this goal of the preservation of innocence that leads to Holden's mental destruction.

Holden Caulfield has been the only character in a novel that I have been able to relate to as closely as I have. I go to a prepschool in New England and the relation to what goes on at Pencey Prep [the prep-school of Holden] is very similiar to what goes on now at the prep-school I attend. It is the way this book can be relevant and current so many years after that makes it a classic.

I would recommend this book to everyone of all ages and I think it would be hard not to enjoy this novel by J.D. Salinger. Masterpieces and classics will last forever.

Rating:
Summary: An enjoyable book
Review: "Catcher in the rye" is a novel about adolescence. It is the story of a fugitive, a sixteen year-old boy, Holden, who is expelled from his school three days before Christmas and doesn't dare come back home to face his parents. Three days of vagrancy and sordid, touching adventures, with worries and anxiety, in search of himself or the others. The story of a lost kid who looks for reasons to live in an hostile and corrupt world.
I think that it is not so much the outcome which is important and interesting in this novel, but the functioning of the mind and feelings of this teenager who, beyond his teenage immaturity, understands the life with a spontaneity and a truth that a lot of adults do not use anymore. With his own words, he describes the world and the people. As he refuses to loose his own innocence, just the children (and especially his little sister Phoebie) enchant him. He wants to be a catcher in the rye to keep the kids from falling off the cliff: to keep them from the "phonies" of the world.
In this book, we have a complicity with the narrator because he writes like he speaks and like he thinks, which also gives a humorous touch to the novel.
"Catcher in the rye" touched me a lot by the worries and difficulties Holden is confronted with and the point of view he gives on the world.

Rating:
Summary: A hard act to follow
Review: "Catcher in the Rye" portrayed the suffering and alienation of an otherwise privileged, middle-class young man long before such a theme became fashionable. So much of today's writing with comparable themes seems like a tepid imitation of the original.

Holden Caulfield is an utterly convincing character who is not reaching out from the pages and trying to grab our sympathy. Salinger should be commended for not endowing Caulfield with bathos and excessive sadness. Instead, he presents Caulfield's state of mind in a simple, lucid narrative. As a result, this novel is very effective in examining timeless questions about the nature of happiness and the conflict between the individual and society. There is also a compelling honesty in Salinger's writing that makes Caulfield so believable that I frequently forget he is a fictional character.

This book should be read by young people and adults alike. It should also be read by aspiring writers attempting to market their own tales of woe.

Rating:
Summary: Who is Holden Caulfield
Review: "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 stuff, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth," Holden states (Salinger 1). That's how J.D. Salinger starts off his book The Catcher in the Rye. Have you ever heard or read a book or anything for that matter that starts like that? I don't know about you, but that's the thing that got me to want to continue reading this book, and it's also what made me like it. The whole story takes place in the late 1940's and happens in less than 7 days. Holden Caulfield is our main character and throughout the story he struggles with being an outsider, phoniness, and the pains of growing up. For me, it's really hard to connect to a book; however I connected with Holden's character because we have a lot in common. People in the book keep asking Holden pressing questions and his response is," It's such a stupid question, in my opinion. I mean how do you know what you're going to do till you do it? The answer is, you don't," (Salinger 213). I don't know about you or anyone else who has read or will read The Catcher in the Rye, but I enjoyed this story and connected with what Holden did, the choices he was faced with, and the decision he made. A great book. Another book that I enjoyed a great deal is called The Losers' Club by Richard Perez. Without a doubt, these are my 2 favorite books, so far.

Rating:
Summary: The Catcher in the Rye By J.D. Salinger
Review: "If you want to know the truth, I don't know what I think about it. I'm sorry I told so many people about it. About all I know is, I sort of miss everybody I told about. Even old Stradlater and Ackley, for instance. I think I even miss that Maurice. It's funny. Don't ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody." -J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, page 213- 214

The Catcher in the Rye is a great book that can really hold your attention if you get into it. Holden Caulfield has trouble staying in school. He went to many schools before going to Pencey. He has an annoying, self-centered roommate who could care less about him. Holden was kicked out of Pencey for bad grades and not trying. He only passed English. He decided to leave Pencey earlier than scheduled and live in New York for awhile. There, many funny things happen to him. You have to read the book to find out the different kinds of people he meets there.

I would definitely recommend The Catcher in the Rye to anyone who likes to read. I would give this book 5 out of 5 stars because it was so fun to read and kept me wanting to read more. It really lets you get to know Holden and his very different perspective of the world.

Holden Caulfield is definitely the protagonist of The Catcher in the Rye. You really get to know him as a person throughout the book. Holden is a really unique person. He thinks almost everyone in the world is a phony, except for, maybe, his younger sister Phoebe and his dead brother, Allie. As I said before, Holden is not a very good student. He likes to read and writing is okay, but he really doesn't like school. Holden is kind of stubborn, he doesn't want to go back home. Holden often times speaks the truth. When he has something on his mind he usually says it. Holden Caulfield is a fun guy to get to know through this novel.

One of the best parts of this book was when Holden snuck into his house to talk to Phoebe. They start to talk about the play Phoebe is acting in as Benedict Arnold. After talking, they decide to listen to the radio. Then, they start dancing, it turns out Phoebe is a great dancer. They love each other so much, it is a great scene to picture. Another scene I liked was when Holden was on the train going to New York. On the train he met a nice woman who turned out to be a mother of a Pencey student. He started telling her information about Pencey that was incorrect. He had the best time talking to her. It was also very fun to picture as I read.

The Catcher in the Rye is an awesome novel to read. I absolutely loved it. If I had the time, I would have read it in one sitting. One thing I wished would happen was that Holden would call Jane. He kept saying he would but never actually talked to her. I was waiting to find out what they would talk about. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to read books written in first person because you really get to know Holden Caulfield as a real person. You definitely have to read this book sometime in your lifetime!

Rating:
Summary: Given Far Too Much Credit
Review: "The Catcher in the Rye" is a book told in the first-person by a cynical, confused, and angry adolescent named Holden Caulfield. He has something against everyone it seems, doesn't know what he wants in life or anything, and criticizes everyone around him for flaws that he himself owns.

Many are led to believe that "The Catcher in the Rye" is a grand work of literature because it's very direct. This is incorrect. "The Catcher in the Rye" has gained all this notoriety for one simple reason: it's got plenty of cursing about everything you can think of.

Holden Caulfield spends the vast majority of this book complaining. It was a true struggle to read this in high school, and I was amazed at first that my friends were thinking so highly of it. Then it hit me: they love the cursing. The fact that the protagonist of something they have to read in school has a foulmouth, despite the fact that there is nothing of any merit or worth of praise in this book, is what sells it.

I don't have a problem with cursing. I do it myself a bit. The problem is that this book has no material. The cursing is the only substance in the book, and it's not enough to fill a short story, let alone a novel. There is nothing holding it together except for the fact that Holden is there and he is every 12 year old who goes through puberty, except he's 16 and has major psychological problems, none of which are interesting or realistic at all. A book in this fashion could have been written about almost any other adolescent and been more interesting.

Critics praise this book for being honest. This really wasn't any sort of breakthrough that needed pointing out, especially the fact that there's nothing here worth reading. The only thing I see in this book is Salinger's own immaturity. Not worth your time, but you probably already read it in high school or are going to. Just get through it, pass, and then you won't have to look back at it. Those who are done with it already... hurray for us, we're done with it.

-Escushion

Rating:
Summary: Great, classic book
Review: "The Catcher in the Rye" is a first person narrative by J.D. Salinger. The point of view is through Holden Caulfield's eyes, a sixteen year old junior in high school. Holden has just been kicked out of his school, Pency Prep. for bad academic scores. He decides to leave before his parents find out he has been expelled and goes to New York City, where he grew up. The story is mostly set here, and this is where Holden goes through an internal conflict. He cannot decide whether he wants to retreat back to his childhood or interact with people as an adult, ie: have a sexual relationship. The story mainly tells of his interactions with others and the conflicts inside his mind. He cannot decide if he wants to interact with them as an adult or retreat from them like a child, calling the adult world "phony." Holden changes a lot throughout the story, he cannot decide if he wants to become an adult or recede to childhood. He knows that on wednsday he will have to face his parents and become the same child again, yet for the moment he is free and having somewhat of an adventure. The story can be boring to some, however many will find it very interesting. I dont want to ruin the rest of the book for you, as if you have not read it already i encourage you to read this classic, wonderful book.