Rating:  Summary: This was a funny book Review: I would recommend people to read this. I thought it was funny because today the kid would be packed full of Prozac and Ridillan, but at the time setting he is in, he is merely passed from school to school. Kids will like, because he swears a lot. That much is cool to me, mainly because I am fourteen. I'd reccomend this book and THE LORD OF THE FLIES especially for boys, but for everyone as well.
Rating:  Summary: Brilliant analysis of the adolecent psyche Review: I would recommend this book to anyone who is a child at heart, or who wants to discover how an adolesents mind works. The brilliant description of the hell that Holden went through before he realised what he needed to do in life will strike a chord with many people. The book gets to the core of what typically goes through the minds of the average teenager, and what he or she should realise needs to be done in order to be successfull.
Rating:  Summary: THE MOST FUN YOU WILL EVER HAVE READING A BOOK Review: I would say "this is one of those books where..." but i can't, because there is no other book ( besides the sequels to this ) that are like it. This book is just so fun to read from the first sentence. If you read this book, i can bet anything and everything that you will love it.
Rating:  Summary: Like Everyday Life... Review: I WOULD suggest this book to anyone who insn't interested in books with tons of action. In my opinion, this book reads extremely fast because of the casual tone. It's much like every day life which, naturally, we're all accustomed to. However, there isn't much action. It's insightful and entertaining which adds something to your own everyday life. Read it; it's great!
Rating:  Summary: Best Thematic Book Review: I wouldn't necessarily call catcher the best book ever written, all im saying is that I can't think of another one better right now. And it all has to do with the themes, the fear of change, call growing up if you want, but really its holden's fear of change that drives the book. The most important and satisfying part in the book is when Holden is walking through Central Park and is thinking about how he went to the Museum of Natural history as a young kid but than doesn't go inside when he gets to the museum as a teenager. The museum is the most important symbol/theme in the book, it represents Holden's memory, and most of all his purity which he is losing through changes forced upon him by the outside. I guess this is not really a review but also, this book is much more relevant I feel to people in their early twenties getting out of college than it is to high school students, because real life begins at 22. Changes are forced, and you wish you had a museum to go to.
Rating:  Summary: More thoughts Review: I wrote an online review over a month ago, and I wanted to point out some other points that I missed. The fact that there was no racism in the book (Holden referred to black people as 'colored', which is better than the racist word), but America didn't care. In fact, at that point of America, racism was abundant so a book filled with racism probably wouldn't turn America's head except black people, who had to face this. I see more why the book was banned. The bad language was too much. Holden mouth could've been washed out of its vulgarity alot, and America banning the book because of the bad influence it would have on kids is probably a reason to ban it, but then, alot of books could've been banned along with it, if it wasn't. Holden didn't have to stress out some parts in the book, and he should've had more concern on what he put his parents through. With the death of a brother, one who keeps messing up purposely would cause a heart attack. If I didn't put in, we do know Holden's a little mentally ill because he keeps looking at his world as phonies(which the world is, but real phoninest comes from the people who make it), his reaction to his brother's death, his depression, the things he does around his environment, andhis willing to keep making himself get chucked from one school to another. The Catcher in the Rye is the late forties version of "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" There is more I could stress on, but I don't need to.
Rating:  Summary: We've all felt like Holden Review: I'd be lying if I said that I knew exactly how to review this book. The story is meant to be a simple one, but the complexity of young Holden Caulfield, the opinions he holds, and the manner which he so candidly speaks them, keeps the reader guessing and thinking long after the book has been finished.Holden is so straight forward, so easily spoken, that I couldn't help but smile at his written thoughts, even when they occasionally seemed petty and immature. Now, don't get me wrong, I love the book and I love the character, but you have to admit, he does tend to gripe.(just a little though) I doubt there are many of us who have already forgotten our teenage years(some of our fellow Salinger readers are still in them)but if you have managed this awe inspiring feat of memory loss then I'll clue you in. They were awkward. And the author's use of sprawling, disjointed, narrative does a good job of thrusting that fact right back into our face. We, as Holden demonstrates so well, experimented with opinion, were quick to judge our peers(an unfortunate number of us were on the losing end of that trait), heard our speak grow sharper, and realized that "phonies," as Holden so casually put it, were everywhere. Then came dorm life and the first meeting with our very own Stradlater. Obnoxious, vain, indifferent, and strangely likable even with these faults. Don't you think Holden cared about Stradlater in a way? Granted, they did fight, and hurtful words were thrown around, but I found it next to impossible during my own school years to easily push someone I spent so much time with aside, even when that time wasn't necessarily voluntary. I doubt Holden would be any different. Part of me wishes I had been given the chance to find out. Salinger does something amazing with this book. He helps us remember. Even as I've been writing this ramble of a review, memories of friends I haven't seen and places I've been just keep popping into mind. Holden states at the end of his story: "I don't know what the hell to say. 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 goddam Maurice. It's funny. Don't ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody." It is funny. How things remind you I mean. And how things once so difficult seem so humorous and easy in hindsight. Folks, don't let this book slip through your fingers. Grab hold, read slowly, and soak in what it has to say. Even if it does ramble. Just like me.
Rating:  Summary: Not absolutely unbearable, but it could have been better. Review: I'd give "The Catcher in the Rye" 2 1/2 stars if there were 1/2-star ratings here. But basically, this book just wasn't as great as everyone says. It's overrated to a degree, but I still found some merit in it. There wasn't much of a plot, and it wasn't very well-written, but it does have some rather interresting, likable charcters. Holden Caulfield himself, though, is just annoying. He complains about everything, gets depressed easily, repeats phrases like "I really did" and "If you want to know the truth" at least 50 times, and swears a lot. I'm 15 years old, and I can safely say that Caulfield is NOT the embodiment of teenage cynicism. I know some kids who are pretty dense, but most of us aren't nearly as obnoxiously pessimistic as Caulfield. Yet I mannaged to choke down the book in a few days. I only read it because I didn't have anything better to read. I will say a few good things, though. Salinger, via Caulfield, makes some rather interesting observations about the different kinds of people in life, sort of like a Horacian observer with a Juvenalian attitude. I will also say that I think the writing was DELIBERATELY bad, as Salinger was trying to make it sound like a real adolescent was actually writing his book, and he succeeded admirably in achieving that effect. But by and large, I didn't like the book and probably the only reason Salinger has been so reclusive for the past 50+ years is because he's ASHAMED of having written this mostly unenjoyable book.
Rating:  Summary: Awful book Review: I'd give it no stars, but that's not an option. For me, the book was simply about a whiny teenage brat. I'm a teen, and maybe I'm just weird, but it was one of the worst books I've ever read.
Rating:  Summary: TERRIBLE! Review: I'd give this 0 stars, if possible. This book was on my Summer Reading List, but I couldn't even get past page 6! The swearing is terrible! Also, from what I've been told concerning the plot - the book only gets worse! If you have to read this, I highly recommend you read an alternitive book.
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