Catcher in the Rye

Rating:
Summary: Boring, written in teenagerish slang.
Review: Perhaps I am too old for it (I am 26) but I found the book extremely boring. Three days in the empty life of a teenager simply do not interest me. Moreover the book is written in a very irritating teenagerish slang. If your novel is about an ox, you should not write as an ox would.

Rating:
Summary: Depressing maybe?
Review: Perhaps I'm missing the point of this book. I picked it up a few years ago and tried to read it and couldn't get into it. So, this year, I decided to try again in an attempt to plow through some of the "classics" of literature.
I do like how Salinger really gets into the mind of a troubled teenager who is searching for meaning out of life and never really finds it. I like the personal writing style...informal and not stuffy and distant.
However, I was disturbed by the book. In delving further into Holden's mind shows a person who isn't satisfied with anything, is deceptive, sneaky, phony himself, and depressed. I seriously kept waiting for a suicide attempt to happen in the book, or something equally horrid.
This book is worth the read if you really want to ponder the human mind for a while. I can only give it 2 stars because I was left bereft from it.

Rating:
Summary: Why all the fuss?
Review: Perhaps the most overrated book I have ever read. Holden Caulfield is a slacker. I didn't give a darn what happened to him.
Go ahead and read it so you can hold your nose when others start to wax poetic about how they relate to it.

Rating:
Summary: A book that offers so much
Review: Personally, I think this is one of the greatest books ever written. The themes it teaches are just amazing. My perception of the theme was to live life to the fullest. Holden was trying to say that you should cherish your childhood, don't grow up too fast. Another theme in this book is things don't always work out the way you want them to. That's not much of a lesson, but it is true.
Another reason that this book is great is because Salinger does a great job in describing his characters. You really get a vivid picture in your head of Holden when reading this book. My only complaint is that Salinger didn't write more than a few books.

Rating:
Summary: a real catcher
Review: Personnally, I really liked it. It's all about this teenage boy dealing with teenage problems like: what will my future be like and also pressures from his parents. the author wrote just like a teenage boy would talk. This book is extremely alive and refreshing but at the same time, a book that encounters the problems of adolescents.

Rating:
Summary: Smoke Gets in your Eyes
Review: Phoebe gets on the carrousel at the end of The Catcher in the Rye and suddenly the carrousel is the rye field with the kids playing in it. Only this time instead of Holden, (Hold-on), wanting to catch any kids that fall, even though he is afraid of Phoebe falling as she reaches for the gold ring, he decides not to do or say anything because if they want to grab for the gold ring,(grow up), you have to let them. Holden at the end here is no longer the catcher or savior Christ figure. In fact in a way he is more of a Buddha figure sitting there feeling so damn happy, having a Satori-like experience of acceptance of change and impermanence very much the same insight as Siddhartha sitting under the Bodhi tree. Suddenly, as it rains like a bastard on Holden, the carrousel changes from rye field to the great wheel of birth and death with Phoebe, Holden, Salinger, and all the rest of us holding on and going round and round. ((( ))) Somewhat speculative I know but I do know this much. Those literary critics who can't see the carrousel as the rye field are going to miss a little too much. Oh and it's no accident that the song "Smoke gets in your Eyes" is playing on the carrousel. Here are the words to the song for those who don't know it. THEY ASKED ME HOW I KNEW.... MY TRUE LOVE WAS TRUE? I OF COURSE REPLIED, SOMETHING HERE INSIDE, CANNOT BE DENIED, THEY SAID SOMEDAY YOU'LL FIND, ALL WHO LOVE ARE BLIND, WHEN YOUR HEART'S ON FIRE, YOU MUST REALIZE, SMOKE GETS IN YOUR EYES, SO I CHAFFED THEM AND I GAYLY LAUGHED, TO THINK THEY COULD DOUBT MY LOVE, YET, TODAY, MY LOVE HAS FLOWN AWAY, I AM WITHOUT MY LOVE, NOW, LAUGHING FRIENDS DERIDE, TEARS I CANNOT HIDE, SO I SMILE AND SAY, WHEN A LOVELY FLAME DIES..... SMOKE GETS IN YOUR EYES.

Rating:
Summary: The Phony in the Rye
Review: Phony. It's the only word that can actually describe this book. Most of the reviews I have read tell me its such a great book because it truthfully describes a teen's life. Some people even tell me that they are in love with Holden Caulfield, but that's another story... I had to read a book of my choice for my English class. I chose The Catcher in the Rye because I had heard so many great things about this book from movies and people. After only ONE page I became bored with this book. I don't like how Holden always begins to think about something else when he is already thinking of something. For example, on the second page he keeps talking about being at the football game and then starts to think about past games for no apparent reason. The profanity in the book was not that much of a bother to me. The only reason someone should ever want to read this book is if they have to do it for an English assignment or for their job. I rate this book with a star because of its poor story, and boring style. Finally if Amazon would of let me give it zero stars I would have because I truly believe that is what it deserves.

Rating:
Summary: Poop
Review: Poo

Rating:
Summary: Teen-angst Rules!
Review: Poor Caulden. Will he ever get laid?

Rating:
Summary: catcher in the rye
Review: possibly the best book ever written. incredible symbolism and use of images. Recommended for preteens to adults.