Catcher in the Rye

Rating:
Summary: Cynicism at its peak
Review: I'm not going to get into any detailed analysis of the great aspects of the book because that job has already been successfully done by the other reviewers. What I am going to say is that I highly recommend this book for teenagers, solely on the basis that I am one and I think this book has totally changed my viewpoints. Teens can really relate to Holden because of his sarcastic and cynical views on life. For me, it was amazing because I would read something from the book and then I would think, 'I can totally relate to how he's feeling or what he's thinking'. It was almost a revelation for me. No book has ever been able to capture my attention as much as this one has. So, to everyone, ESPECIALLY TEENAGERS, I highly recommend this book - Salinger's a literary genius.

Rating:
Summary: THE MOST RELEVANT BOOK OF ANYONE'S LIFE!!!
Review: I'm not going to write a book report. I'm just writing for the purpose of a review- to tell you my opinion. This book sets itself apart from all other books in one special way- it's real. No, I'm not saying it's non-fiction. If J.D. Salinger says it's fiction, it is. I'm telling you the emotions are real. The personalities are real, and the situations are real. Everyone at one point in their life has felt themselves caught in a downward spiral, that they can't get out of. Everyone has lost motivation for life, and has felt lost and without a purpose. Salinger took these emotions everyone experiences and put them in a book. And the result is a book that will in one way or another have and impact on your life.

Rating:
Summary: Best book ever!
Review: I'm not much of a reader, but this is probably the best book I've ever read! It's so well-written and the story is very realistic! I can't explain how good this is, so just buy the book and read it, and I GUARANTEE you that you will NOT be disappointed in any way!

Rating:
Summary: Interesting, but not as great as some may suggest.
Review: I'm not one of those "phonies" who will complain about lack of plot and such in this book. The language that Holden uses is amazingly fresh, even today. It sounds just like the way I talked with friends as a kid (I'm 24). Still, I'm just not sure that accurately capturing the language and the emotions of youth is all that groundbreaking. This is a decent read, it will entertain you. But it won't change your life or anything. It actually reminds me a lot of books by Douglas Coupland (Generation X, Life After God, etc.). Except Coupland also deals with more interesting ideas.

Rating:
Summary: Waste of Time
Review: I'm not the kind of person who reads a lot of books and this book is a reason why. First the story is not interesting and also the way it's told is very stupid. It takes you hourst to read it and then find out you just read about some stupid 'adventure' of a young lad which i don't even believe, even if it's fiction. Just reading about a young depressed kid, makes me depressed, not just because i wasted my time reading it, but because it's just not a good story. The last thing i want to say is that the repetition in this book is terrible. Every 5 sentences the same word: Chrissake, goddam, sunnavabitch... Just read the first 5 pages and then you read the whole book.

Rating:
Summary: Generation Whatever
Review: I'm reading this novel for my English Literature coursework, and find that Holden is just representing every generation after him. We all go through some form of not understanding ourselves and he represents that, even though he can deem misunderstood.

For a girl reading this, he reminds me of some shy guy who sits quietly in class wishing he was somewhere else, somewhere larger than life, soemwhere he can do something without being used or bullied. However, like me and a few million other young people he can't because society won't let him. That's why he's so weird and philosophical, he wants out of the 'phony' life people box him into.He is probably trying to tell all the corporate investors that he dos'nt want to be spoon fed into society.

If anything I feel sory for him because I can relate, but then he can also be abstract and not really give you anything. Because of this his real truth is underneath his pride, or his lack of asteem, so in turn he seems superficial and lacking something. He's complex with the contridictions, so his character is deeper than a whiny little kid. This can sometimes be misunderstood, as just the weirdest guy ever, but he just does'nt know what's out there for him. He's scared of himself, and what is ahead, which is true of all of us.

Apparently Salinger had to study young people for the character of Holden, rather than writing form his own point of view. It works, however many of our older generations tend to disregard our intergrity, in a way Salinger did not.

Rating:
Summary: oh my god!!
Review: I'M SOOOO ANNOYED with all these ... who say "OH! what so classic about this? Some stupid kid who hates the world, hates life". ARRRRGH!!! okay, i'm sure a BOOK is judged from many different angles. could be the content, could be the style, could be the IMPACT it leaves on readers after reading it. if you're gonna start ... about the content ["stupid spoilt unappreciative kid yakk yakk yakk yakk"] then fine, i don't blame you for being annoyed with how holden's mind works. BUT!!! what the ... is wrong with it in the first place? He always makes sense behind all his grudges, and not only that! he does it in a super super hilarious manner! you want some extracts? okay let me give you some extracts to stop you from bitching about it being a classic okay? --> "Anyway, it was the Saturday of the football game with Saxon Hall. The game with Saxon Hall was supposed to be a very big deal around Pencey. It was the last game if the year, and you were supposed to commit suicide or something if old Pencey didn't win"
"I damn near puked listening to him. His date kept saying "No - please. Please, don't. Please". But old Stradlater kept snowing her in this Abraham Lincoln, sincere voice and finally there'd be this terrific silence in the back of the car"

OKAY so those aren't exactly superb extractions yadayada but i'm too lazy to go through the whole book and find the best laugh i could get. average ones will do, no? ANYWAY!!

STYLE wise, Salinger is a MASTER in this book. C'mon, i dare you to even admit the first paragraph of the book didn't grip your attention for at least until you finish the first chapter. Oh do they have an extract in amazon for you to see? I think so. well go read it quick! and tell me that -that- intro wasn't a good one. OKAY, so if you didn't even give a little giggle reading it, heck, yeah i understand how boring your life must be without any sense of humour. and i completely understand how you could give this book 1/5 stars. nevermind these ... read on.

IT'S HILARIOUS!! from the start till the end!! it's not some smart-pants humor. it's plain, it's straight forward, it's like some crazy clown talking straight at you and you can't help but laugh. oh did i mention that Salinger writes this book like he's TALKING to you? yeap! this book isn't your regular [insert popular author's name] . Salinger doesn't use bombastic words like most books do. He TALKS to you. i swear. he uses simple witty conversational english like "and all that stuff" , "it killed me". you know? or you don't know? either way, you gotta read it right?!

RIGHT!

what else..

ooh it's pretty touchy too. like towards the end, his sister Phoebe does all these cute stuff you wish your sister [or you wish you'd have a sister] would do.

WHAT ... ME OFF IS...

Salinger writes -SO- well that it makes you wanna know what happens next more and more and more. So the ending makes you go like, "ARGH! HOLDEN! don't stop THERE!!" :)

well if you'd like to know what the book is about, it's ... so i'll drop that here. i just wanna defend this book because it's SUPERRRRRBBB!! and it's the kind of book you could just pick up and read anytime. you could also even just open ANY part of the book and start reading there just to get a few laughs on the way Holden talks to you. it's the kind of book you wanna bring with you everywhere.

do you even wanna hear me going around the bush? okay, my point IS!!

THIS BOOK IS GGGGREEEEEEEAAAAATTTTTTTTT and ignore those ... who say there's nothing classic about it [yadayada, you know the rest] because this book is DEFINITELY, [i assure you!] for everyone. no need for some exclusive taste or something. the main thing about it is that IT'S ENTERTAINING. it's laugh laugh laugh from the starttt to the ennd!! this book is one of its kind. WAY TO GO Salinger!

Rating:
Summary: This book doesn't even deserve a star....
Review: I'm sorry but I hate this book. It was horrible! I'm not a person that likes constant swearing so I guess that's one reason why I didn't like it very much. There was no climax to the book whatsoever, and barely a plot. I understand all the symbolism and I admit that it is great in this book, but I hate the book anway.

Rating:
Summary: What is the big deal about this book!?
Review: I'm sorry but this book is completely overrated! I kept reading hoping it would eventually get better but it never did. It was boring and even though I could vaguely relate to the "teenage angst" aspect, it certainly didn't enlighten me or change my life in any way. I can't believe anyone would make such a big deal about this dull and uninspiring book. I had to force myself to finish it just to say I'd read "the classic" Catcher in the Rye!

Rating:
Summary: I'm sorry!!!!
Review: I'm sorry, but I didn't like this book. It is supposed to be some amazing adventure into the everyday life of a teenager, full of shortcomings, pressures, angst and grief. IT WAS NONE OF THAT. I thought that it was a horrible peice of literature. I believe that it showed a whiny young man, who couldn't take responsibility for himself. He stayed mired in this self-pity and couldn't see why nothing went his way. I didn't care for this book at all. I beleive that the only reason that it caught fire was because it was so "bad" when it was published that it was banned. This being banned added a little mystique to it. Everyone read it and it did well. Oh, by the way, so there is no misinterpretation of my comments, I am a 17 year old male in California. Yes, a teenager actually hated the Catcher in the Rye. AMAZING! I welcome any comments at my e-mail address: [e-mail]