Home :: Books :: Teens  

Arts & Photography
Audio CDs
Audiocassettes
Biographies & Memoirs
Business & Investing
Children's Books
Christianity
Comics & Graphic Novels
Computers & Internet
Cooking, Food & Wine
Entertainment
Gay & Lesbian
Health, Mind & Body
History
Home & Garden
Horror
Literature & Fiction
Mystery & Thrillers
Nonfiction
Outdoors & Nature
Parenting & Families
Professional & Technical
Reference
Religion & Spirituality
Romance
Science
Science Fiction & Fantasy
Sports
Teens

Travel
Women's Fiction
Catcher in the Rye

Catcher in the Rye

List Price: $25.95
Your Price: $16.35
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 .. 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 .. 229 >>

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: hmmmm.......
Review: WEll, I sure wouldn't want to argue with so many favorable opinions, but I just finished reading this book for the first time and I just thought...hmmmm..o.k. I really was not moved in any way and found the repetitive...."I really did" etc... a little annoying. The relationship Holden had with his sister was a bit strange too.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Most overrated book of all time?
Review: Well, my first exposure to this book was back in High School. You could say I was sorta the depressed type. My teacher, she thought this book was just wonderful.. and she thought I would just love it to death. After reading a few chapters I found myself almost sad, was it because this book wasn't as good as I thought it would be? ..maybe it was because my teacher thought this book would rock my world and I'm realizing how simple she thought I was. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone I know. Mainly because this book really doesnt offer anything special. Here is why you shouldn't read this book. First, there is no real decent story, nothing clever or anything. When it comes to the plot, there are a vast ammount of books that are far superior. So, whats left? People like this book because they think its relatable and funny and satirical. The humor and satire are very tame, I never really laughed at anything in this book. Dont buy it expecting to be happily entertained. Now, the main problem I have with this book is simply the intelligence of it. Nothing about this book made me think... it just isn't smart or clever or anything. Not to really offend anyone, but this book is most likely to impress dull people. Bottom line, do not bother with this book if you are somewhat intelligent. This book is just the only somewhat relatable book you read in school, perhaps the only reason for its popularity.(If you want intelligence, humor, and satire, try Chuck Palahniuk or other authors like him.. surf thru amazon's listmanias, its a great way to find a book to read)

Edit: I originally gave this one star, but I bumped it up to two because I do actually like the sections that involve Holden's sister.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: THE BEST BOOK EVER
Review: Well, okay... maybe not quite, but it's pretty damn good. I was indeed forced to read this book for school, but I'm glad that I was. Holden is just soooo right about everything. Read it, hopefully you'll see what I mean. Some people say that it's a depressing book, but I would say the opposite. I was feeling somewhat down when I started reading it but by the end I felt much better. (Yeah, I read it in one sitting, it's that kind of book--read it now.)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: what's with that crummy rainbow on the cover?
Review: well, this is a pretty good book and all, but i wouldn't go
calling it "grand" or anything like that. if i heard someone call this book "grand" i'd probably do something crazy like go kick a tree in the park for chrissakes. i'm a madman for this book, i really am..

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great
Review: Well, well, well!! I am reassured!! In a world where literature's importance seems to be shrinking second by second, and the average person reads less than a book a year, it thrills me to see that the reviews below number more than those posted for the video of TITANIC (but less than those for the MATRIX...can't expect TOO much, I guess). This is a great novel, of course.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Amazing Longevity
Review: What a fantastic novel this is. Salinger works in deceptively simple ways: as the book is going along, the reader is not surprised by any pyrotechnics, but rather is gradually pulled into Holden Caulfield's mind and is life. Readers, especialy younger ones, can relate intimately to Holden's turbulent emotions. Since the time Catcher in the Rye was written, only a few books have so perfectly captured what it's like to be young and disaffected. The most recent example is Asher Brauner's Love Songs of the Tone-Deaf, a modern-day equivalent to Catcher in the Rye, although nothing will ever match this classic.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: This guy needs to get out more.......
Review: What a load of over-hyped rubbish.The main character seems to just have a problem with everything. I can't believe I read the whole book, I was waiting for it to get good then, all of a sudden, it was finished ! Some people need to wake up and smell the coffee and this guy's one of them.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: The Quintessential Teenager? Puh-leeze!
Review: What a prison of pessimism. Reading Catcher in the Rye felt like bathing in a toxic waste plant.

T.S. Elliot said, 'April is the cruelest month of the year' because the sun reveals some things we'd rather not see. Likewise, Salinger's work conjures up the darkest memories of adolescence'memories I'd ceremoniously burned (along with my acid wash jeans and Debbie Gibson cassettes) years ago.

Of course, I must recognize that my response is perhaps reflective of my aged removal from young adulthood. As an educator, it is imperitive that I am tuned in to what makes my students tick. If there's one redeeming element of the book, it is that I was reminded of what a potential time bomb is the teenage brain. Regardless, I'm sure that point could have been made without harping on the most banal aspects of adolescent existence.

Having recently observed the teaching of Catcher in the Rye in a high school classroom, I experienced first hand student's reactions of apathy and distaste for the book. Student editorials discussed Holden's narrow character development. One student made the point that if Caulfield is a character adults use to peer into the adolescent mind, they are largely misled. The common consensus among the students held that Holden is not the quintessential teenager.

So I think it unfortunate that students suffer through the Catcher experience. While I cannot speak for everyone, the specific classes I observed were most turned off by Holden's language, poor decision making, and overall depression. Many explained that Holden is not a character they would like to strive to be like. Rather, he is merely someone to feel sorry for. And who wants to read an entire book where the primary emotion invoked is pity?

I will acknowledge that there are certain themes in Catcher that are universal. Themes include loss of innocence, rebellion from society, mental instability, death, immaturity in sexual relationships, and resentment towards parents. While these are issues most any teenager can relate to, presentation is of the essence. Unfortunately, based on my HS classroom observations, Salinger's writing style and characters have little to offer today's breed of students.

I wonder if my reaction to the book would be different were I ten years younger. But as for now, I already know how bad raw sewage reeks, so why expose myself to such noxious fumes page after page? The masochists can have their Catcher. I'd rather drink my tea with two sugars, thank you.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Oh, Holden, why are you so sad?
Review: What can a person really say about _Catcher in the Rye_ that hasn't already been said? Everyone in the world believes that they are Holden Caufield, and so it seems like everyone should be able to enjoy this book. It is an quick and relatively easy read that has enough depth and feeling to keep the reader moving, and every once in a while, an insight that made me take a deep breathe. It is clearly not the greatest book of all time, but it is easy to identify with Holden as he feels isolated and alienated. It is fun to smile as we see him denounce a type of behavior in someone else, then immediately act in the way he just railed about. It is a good reminder of what it is to be a teenager, and how doing seemingly incomprehensible or destructive actions feels like the only way to fight back against a society that is conformist and authoritarian. It's too bad that the Holden Caufield we all possess passes so quickly from many members of human society. If we could hang on to just a little of his spirit, it might do us a world of good.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the Best
Review: What can I say that has not already been said. The most telling thing for me is that absolutely everybody I have talked to about this book has loved it, not one dissenting vote in he bunch. One of the few you can read over and over and get something new out of it as your life progresses and changes.


<< 1 .. 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 .. 229 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates