Catcher in the Rye

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Summary: Quite possibly the greatest peice of comtemporary literature
Review: The style of writing used to create this masterpeice is amazing. The Characters-- interesting. Every aspect of this novel is perefectly done. Recommended!!!

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Summary: Catcher in the Rye Review
Review: The theme of J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, centers on adolescence and the loss of innocence. The protagonist and narrator is Holden Caufield, a sixteen-year-old boy from a wealthy family in New York City. He has just been expelled from another boarding school for academic failure. Holden's pessimistic outlook on life makes the reader think he has no hope left in the world. Yet, Holden is only shielding himself from more damage to his early loss of innocence. This moody, yet sensitive character foolishly spends his money, hoping to find a temporary haven from his emotions. Holden's emotions only escalate and nearly cause him a nervous breakdown. In many ways Holden can be compared to Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn. Both teenage-boy runaways, they are keen observers upon unplanned travel routes. Salinger's stream-of-consciousness style of writing makes the story very real. The reader can relate and keep up with the narrator's thought process, even when he rapidly changes subjects. Salinger's dynamic characters become genuine people in a believable setting. Salinger's capture of adolescence in this novel is profound. There is much in Holden's irrational decisions that make this novel very truthful. Salinger's creation of a teenage boy, who constantly debates with himself on decisions of morality, is a character with which all adolescents can relate with in one way or another. Though some may find The Catcher in the Rye, offensive or controversial, it is representative of an adolescent and his struggles to find assurance in a world of doubt.

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Summary: Holden Caulfield as an American saint
Review: The theme of this novel is the confession of a truly innocent, unselfish young person who believes he is guilty of failure in his responsibility to people. Holden Caulfield has not been able to continue for any length of time in a number of prestigious schools his parents have sent him to, because he cannot accept
their standard of striving for material success. And yet nobody seems to sympathize with his spiritual goals, particularly his ideal of subordinating everything to love, by the example of Jesus. He eventually finds refuge from his extreme crisis of despair when he rejoins his baby sister Phoebe, an "ordinary" little child with the genius of a spiritual sage who makes Holden resume his life.

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Summary: It doesnt get better than this !
Review: The way I see this book, it aint the story of teenage angst at all. Instead, it beautifully describes the author's point of view on everything from faking it and hiding your bald spot through social standardization ('you shouldnt room with anybody if your suitcases are better than theirs') to religious rivalary ('you could tell he would have enjoyed it more if he knew you were catholic') I dont know if i am taking it too far but if J.D didnt even mean any of that stuff he had written to have any insight, it would still be a nice and entertaining book that deserves full rave.

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Summary: The catcher in the rye
Review: The way the book starts, it grabs your attation, at least it did to mine. You get so in to the book you forget all about how much you have to reed for your english class. If you have not read this book go, go now and read it. Some of the thing the authr talks about is how teens handles their problems.

so go go now and read the book.

thanks for reading

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Summary: If you are a cynic...
Review: Then you'll love this book! Holden Caufield is a cynic who thinks everyone and everything is a phony. The entire book is based only on three days that Holden spents wandering around New York City, after being kicked out of a fancy prep school. He is trying to avoid telling his parents he's been kicked out, and therefore won't go home yet.
So we follow Holden as he wanders around New York City, meets different people along the way, and laugh at how he calls them all phonies in his head. Because, you know, EVERYONE is a phony!
It's quite humorous at times, I certainly laughed out loud a few times.

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Summary: Reader-Character gap diminished.
Review: There are a lot of things I want to say about this book,and I dont know how it would turn out.Besides,ive already submitted a review of this work once & it never appeared,so if this still doesnt,amazon can eat crumbs.

Anyway,this book has moulded me into a lot of diff. emotions & outlooks since my initiation into it.The first thing that has struck me after re-browsing through it so many times is how much I could relate to the lead character in almost totally anything,except for his looks.His feelings,thoughts,& overall attitude & reaction to the modern world around him has blended a a bitingly poignant similarity with the reservoir of my life essence.The precise detail of the language in close tasks of observation towards movement,human behavior,the insight a single place brings,events & others is so blindingly accurate to the person conscious & involved in these life scenarios.A lot has been said about Holden's personality,but one thing id like to point out is that Holden may not represent the teenager in general,but there are a lot who are like him.Your nerds,your outcasts,the people you spit,bully & make fun of are but a few classic examples in this.The boy at the back of the classroom.

The fact that this book is one of the most reviewed books in this site & has never ceased in its popularity is a testament on how a work of art that has touched an inert origin & unflappable realistic view on man & life respectibly can endlessly fascinate & arouse the most natural of human instincts,fans & detractors alike.The most important though,is that it is able to erect a benchmark where someone could go back & continously solidify his/her relationship with it,gaining more incomparable insight with the passage of time.And this book succeeds in it all.

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Summary: Not "a" classic, but "the" classic!
Review: There are a number of books out there in the vast sea of literary experience and imagination. However, when it all comes down to it, a book of gritty realism is what really gets us going. Something we can and have related to personally. There is no doubt "The Catcher In The Rye" is the classic book for young and old. The old can reflect and the young can think "how the hell does this old crote know that!?"

Truly the most wonderfully written, marvellous pieces of literature ever, up with Jane Eyre, The Oddyssey and The Great Gatsby! As a seventeen year old, I can relate with millions of others.

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Summary: Good, But Not Worth All the Hype It Gets
Review: There are many good things to say about "Catcher in the Rye" and no bad things that I can think of. It is very well written, Holden Caulfield is very realistic, the dialogue (now forty years old!) is still up-to-date and believeable, and the story is coherent, logical, and meaningful. It does a good job of capturing adolescent thinking, feeling, and life, especially for an adolescent who has no particular exceptionality or talent.

Many people call it a classic, or the best of its kind. That baffles me. For all of the nice things I wrote above, I can give it only a B+; it never grabbed my interest. When I read a story I really like, it pulls me into its world and I walk side-by-side with its characters. I see what they see, hear what they hear, and, while I might not always think what they think, I can usually see where their thinking comes from. That just doesn't happen for me with "Catcher in the Rye". Perhaps it's because I don't like Holden Caulfield. Adolescent can be narcissistic and cynical, but Holden is too extreme in these areas for me to like him or identify with him. As far as being the best of the coming-of-age stories, my vote goes to S.E. Hinton's "The Outsiders".

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Summary: The Greatest Character study in Literature!
Review: There are plot-driven books and there are character-driven books. The Catcher in the Rye is definitely a character-driven, minimal plot book. BUT, it is the GREATEST CHARACTER-DRIVEN novel EVER! It took the author ten years to write this book, and the character of Holden Caulfield is so distinctly, three-dimensionally rendered (with particular speech patterns and personality nuances) that you will swear this character is a real person! You MUST read this book at least once! It is simply unforgettable! Also recommended: [e-mail] by Tom Grimes, The Losers' Club by Richard Perez