Catcher in the Rye

Rating:
Summary: Proof of Salinger's genius
Review: There are so many writers who have tried over and over again to somehow capture teenage angst in they're books and failed not so with Salinger's Catcher in the rye. Holden Caulfield, the narrator of the book is a troubled teenager, struggling in school and hating those phonies who attend it. His grades stink, but we can tell that he is one bright kid, and the way he or should i say Salinger wrote this book is raw and non-candy coated wich was the point all the other writers out there missed. Salinger wasn't out there to write something that has that cliched good ending at the end of the book, nor a love story between two struggling teens, he wrote about the rebel inside all of us, the guy who screams to be heard. Holden listens to that voice, sure it gets him into trouble, but he's honest and true to himself, and all those times we've neglected to listen to ourselves, we live through Holden. Honest and dark, sad and moving, some chapters are hard to get through, and just when you think Holden can't sink any lower: he does. A book for all types of people (hey this is the book John Lennon's killer raved about).

After reading it for the first time, you'll start reading it all over again up to a certain point (those who've read know wich one), since you know what's ahead second time around it will make the dark parts even harder to take. The least this book will do for you is remind you of the days when it was you against the world, when everyone around you was fake, that sure is alot.

Rating:
Summary: Teenage Angst -- a great read
Review: There are those who can't progress much further into a book once they see the F word in print. I feel sorry for those people. Holden Caulfield is not a bad kid by any means. He's troubled. He had to suffer watching all the horrible situations the people he knows go through, and can't do anything about. He had to suffer through a death. He's frustrated that he can't fix the problems in the world. These are what all who've read this book should've seen. Salinger deals with a lot of symbols in his books. Understand what lead Holden to call these people phonies. Understand why Holden believes what he believes, and then you'll understand why this book is a great must-read classic.

Rating:
Summary: -
Review: There are times when I need a book to while away a few hours in between things. That book is The Catcher in the Rye, the masterpiecce of first-person American fiction.

Rating:
Summary: A book i like
Review: There are two kinds of books in my opinion, one is the kind of book which you hope it never has an ending, but it ends quickly. The other kind of book is the one that you want it to end quickly, but it¡¦s so boring and looks like takes forever to finish it.
The catcher in the rye is the first kind of book. It ends so quickly before you start to realize it. The author J.D. Salinger portrayed the character so well that it almost sounded like the book is written vividly through the mind of a 16-year-old teenager. The book explores character¡¦s mind but not really showing the motive of his actions. Therefore there is a lot of space for the reader to kind of guess of what is going on in the character¡¦s mind. Salinger uses little symbolism and he doesn¡¦t focus on imagery descriptions.
The theme of this book grabs the reader in; it is dealing about how teenager always think there believes are correct and would not accept other people¡¦s opinion or think about challenging their own. This kind of viewpoint that is used to look at the world will create and cause the generation gap to occur.
The generation gap is often used to express the contradiction and the dispute between parental expectation and teenager¡¦s behavior. Most of the time teenagers are facing lots of unknown and can¡¦t figure the way out. The harder they tried the more depress they might get. That¡¦s the depression which is all that mattered. You can retreat to the shell for safety or try again facing another unknown or even go to diminish yourself. It¡¦s not so easy for the signs of depression to ware off. Nevertheless you have to live with it and each time when one faces a different situation they have to take it in an optimistic way or either a negative way.
What¡¦s more, J.D Salinger imitate the writing style of an immature narrator and thoroughly captured his emotions which are why I appreciate this book so much that not only it is well written but I can also relate to Holden Caulfield who are one of those teenagers who are very conservative and wanting to keep the innocence of childhood alive. Sometimes I feel the same way too from which captures me and fascinated me about how this book is written so the reader can judge the narrator with their own perspective and experience. Because I believe that everyone has their own story to tell and uncertainties in life.

Rating:
Summary: Misunderstood
Review: There are two types of people that read The Catcher in the Rye. Those who fall in love with it, lauding it as one of the greatest books of all time, and those who deem is as messy garbage: the thoughts of an ugly character whom they had no interest in, much less want to read a book of his whining.

I enjoyed The Catcher in the Rye. I found much truth in it; everyone knows a Holden Caulfield, and Salinger nailed the personality. Some passages I would read and think, "That is so true! That is a true piece of thought!" Too often novelists will have their characters speak to a plot, rather than actually have human attributes. Holden Caulfield comes to life in the book.

Although I enjoyed the book and appreciated Salinger's truthful writing, it is not a work of literary genius, much less of the best books I have read. It's mildly contemporary, which can be forgiven. But the main quib I had with the book is that Salinger held to the one personality and ran with it too long. In making Holden come to life, he also ran it to the ground, making him flat. Salinger tried to undo this near the end, but I think it was weak writing.

All in all, a great book with many truths, but not a complete portrait of a human. Perhaps only the greats, such as Joyce, can write as such, but isn't that what the 5 stars are for?

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Summary: Holden Caulfield is still alive after fifty years.
Review: There are two types of readers, I believe, who tend to criticize this Salinger classic. The first is the frustrated student who finds it in their summer reading list and second, a pretentious reader that will criticize it for it's simplicity [naturally remarking that the book is overrated].

This classic, which follows a day in the life of Holden Caulfield when he gets kicked out of yet another private school, is truly one of the foremost literary fictions ever written. First published nearly half a century ago, it's story is still relevant to every young generation that has followed since. Holden's anti-heroic personality manifests itself in popular film and literature even today [and often]. On the surface the story is simply about a clever, but volatile, teenager that can't seem to stay sane in his own skin; a coming of age story. But more than that, "Catcher" is a look through the eyes of a misfit, an individual gifted/cursed with a hightened sense of the world, who cannot rectify in himself how he could stand to be happy in this world he sees as corrupt and full of hypocrisy. And yet he desires to be accepted. For all liberalists, this is a story that will touch that part of you that has looked at the unjust world and wondered whether or not you, as an individual, fit into it. It is a critique of family, friends, teachers, and essentially, human flaw and the struggle to accept it, all seen from the eyes of Holden Caulfield, a young man who simply can't pretend he doesn't notice that things around him are wrong. But the brilliance of the book lies in the fact that the entire book begs the question, What is wrong with Holden Caulfield?

Rating:
Summary: A masterpiece
Review: There is a big, big problem when one finishes reading "The Catcher in the Rye". Every other book you read after Salinger's will not have the same effect on you. Holden Caulfield is as true as your father or as true as your brother. A teenager growing up in a world of adults. A teenager who wants to be free in a world of adults, of rules. Salinger was trying to understand what was going on the earth on those days. Rock and roll, beats, drugs, No war make love, the power to a new generation. Bau he gave no definitive answers, he just showed the difficult road one has to follow if he or she wants to be free, to be free in society. It's a book, a poem of the difficut passage of a youngster who is growing up in a world of adults.

Rating:
Summary: The Perfect Novel.
Review: There is a reason so many people (including me) have claimed The Catcher in the Rye as their favorite book ever. The reason is that it is quite probably a perfect novel. JD Salinger is an artist with his words. They're funny and moving and insightful all at the same time. Each line in the book is a thought in Holden's mind--and while reading it I never got the impression that I was reading these thoughts. It was like the thoughts were being poured from Holden's mind into my own, and the words were just incidental. Phoebe was also my sister. Mr. Ackley was also my teacher. My heart broke over the death of my brother. I wondered where the ducks flew from the park. I faked having a bullet wound in my stomach and stumbled into the bathroom. In all these ways and many many more, JD Salinger is able to make the reader feel like s/he is right there with Holden through all of it. And maybe it sounds really corny, because Holden's only a character and all, but he is so dang likeable that I would marry that guy. If you haven't read this book, you must. You have to meet Holden. And if you have already read it, read it again every year to visit Holden and to remember what the perfect novel is like.

Rating:
Summary: Phonies then...Phonies now
Review: There is a review on this page written by a woman named Christina. This woman is quite possibly the most ignorant/narrow minded/sad being I have seen in quite a while! Please, for the love of god, completely ignore this woman's review. She is one of the many people who are afraid of this book. Afraid of it's realism and true to life feelings. If she can't relate to this book...she was either hatched or simply born at the age of about 30 or so. Holden Caulfield is every teenager, only turned inside out. Walking through this "Phony," world putting all of his feelings on display and doing things exactly how he wants to do them. From possessing a genius level mind, to getting expelled form multiple schools, soliciting prostitutes, and experiencing a series of losses and odd situations...he has seen a lot for a 16 year old boy! Eventually all of this leads to a sort of nervous breakdown and he ends up talking to a shrink. I could and would go on in detail on this book, but some things are better off left unsaid, and this book needs to be experienced by the reader and not explained by a reviewer! This book take America's youth and paints a very detailed literary painting for everyone to see. Holden is in all of us, whether we accept it or not, is a different story!

Rating:
Summary: The other reviews are either 1) trite or 2) miss the point
Review: There is much more to this novel than mere 'teenage' relations. You can read Archie comics for that. There is much more to this novel than Holden's 'course' language and intemperate disdain. The books outlines something lost; the lost innocence of society. Today, we no longer meet a body in the rye-- we merely pass it by with our narrow and flattened vision.

We've lost all our Holden Caulfields...