Catcher in the Rye

Rating:
Summary: Gawdawful Book...
Review: What can I say? I just finished reading this book, which had been hyped up beyond all belief. Anitclimax does not begin to cover what I feel. I think Salinger himself would be dismayed by all the Phonies, who say they like this book, just like they admired Lunts... Damn Phonies.. the lot of them

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Quick Read
Review: What can I say? It's a classic! I've been on a classic spree lately. After reading this, I immediately polished off Lord of the Flies. While I can say that I probably rathered Lord of the Flies, Catcher in the Rye isn't far behind.

I'm sure you've read the other reviews of this book and they've told you plenty about the story, themes, lack of themes, morals, lack of morals, and character analyzation, and all that stuff. So I won't bother.

I really enjoyed this book. It was fresh and original to me, and I am really glad I finally read it, after always hearing so much about it. If you like any sort of literature, you should enjoy this book.

Rating:
Summary: Don't say Bravo
Review: What can you say about this book without sounding phony? Praising genius is banal, praising stupidity is stupid. Salinger's Holden Caulfield is the epitome of cynical "teenage angst"--so honest and fragile, he's dangerous.

Rating:
Summary: Holden is helluva swell guy
Review: What happened in the first place was in high school we were reading Pride And Prejudice with all the phonies in it, but then the guys were complaining and this Englsih teacher her name was Miss Mishka said we can read Catcher In The Rye next. Now you don't want to hear about all that and honestly I don't want to get into it. So now I said I should walk over and pick up the good old book again and you know what I missed it! It's a darn good book for chrissakes. Holden is the main character and you keep looking for him coz he's really real and really cares and he's so genuine. I mean that kills me everytime. You have to feel sorry for him though. He's an outsider and never fits in. He's really a kid. But people think he's insane. But I think he's sane as hell. He has his ups 'n' downs but he's no phoney, if you know what I mean. The book is terrific. It's descriptive as hell and so not pretending. Gee, I miss old Holden Caulfield already if you really want to know the truth.

Rating:
Summary: Smooth and emotional
Review: What Holden Caulfield was able to tell me, was not the foul language appearance on every other line throughout the whole book, nor his stereotypical tone of a cynical adolescent or the monologue, and all 277 pages of them, but a normal teenager's sense of lost in his direction though he knew his New York city like the backyard of his house, his well concealed emotion for being a full grown man though he wept when he was exhausted, hungry and given all the "dough" his little sister had, the eight dollars and sixty five cents and all, more so, his love towards his passed Allie, brother D.B. and his "old little Phoebe". All this boy soaked with sensitivity top down was presented in front of me, foul yet as a innocent complete, that just "killed me", and it really did.

Rating:
Summary: Noooo!
Review: What in the world are you doing? Why are you reading this book. If you knew the history of this book, you lot would not be reading it at all. If you do some research into the book, you would find that Lee Harvey Oswald, Jack Ruby, Sirhan Sirhan, James Earl Ray, etc, (all assasins) were found to have this book on their person when they were caught. It is thought that this book it the code name behind the CIA MK-ULTRA program (from 1952 - 78). I would never read it.

Rating:
Summary: You'll never want to say goodbye to "Holden"...
Review: What is it about "Holden Caulfield", the troubled, adolescent narrator of "The Catcher in the Rye", that has made him one of the most famous and well-loved characters in American Literature? He will make you laugh out loud to yourself as you read his insightful and incisive comments about people and society. He will break your heart as he describes his feelings of loneliness and incompatibility with the world he lives in. His love and concern for his little sister will touch you. Holden's sense of wonder, his active mind,(which includes being a self-admitted "terrific liar"), and his self-deprecating humor will keep you hooked from his first line, "If you really want to hear about it..." to the final page. Yes, Holden,we REALLY want to hear about it, if you're doing the talking! Holden doesn't trust people much, but you, the reader? To you, he'll open up; hell trust you with his innermost thoughts, because he knows- you're no goddamned phony, for chrissake! That's what's so special about Holden; he makes YOU feel special because he confides in you and shares his fears and dreams with you. "Holden", and his story, "The Catcher in the Rye" is a gift; an heirloom from J.D. Salinger to generation after generation of readers.

Rating:
Summary: I am Holden Caulfield is me...
Review: What is so great about the book, Catcher in the Rye, which makes it such a critically aclaimed piece of work? Not some fancy language, not some fascinating content, or even some pioneering new issue. What is so great about this book is that when you read it, you realise that how Holden feels, thinks, acts, is exactly how u felt, thought and acted when you were young. Salinger is able to capture the essence of youth. I have no doubt that this book is perhaps one of the best ever written, and to me, it is my personal bible. That is what is so great about the book - that it is honest, true and ALIVE. Anyone who has ever had a childhood will enjoy this book and be totally immersed in the lead character, Holden Caulfield.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Novel! - Don't Hesitate to Pick up a copy!
Review: What is the story about? It is an improbable story, to say the least. The book begins with Holden Caulfield, the 17-year-old narrator and protagonist, addressing the reader from a sanitarium or mental hospital in Southern California. He is about to tell us about a remarkable 48 hours that happened in the last December. Then we go into a long, long flashback in Holden's mind.

Holden starts his story at Pencey Prep School, on the Saturday afternoon of the old-school-rivalry football game with arch-adversary Saxon Hall. Holden is the manager of the school's fencing team, and he loses the team's equipment on the subway, and the story goes complicatedly into a freakish but funny nightmare from there, with Holden giving us a wry (RYE?) commentary all the way to the end. The end, as we said at the beginning, takes place at a mental hospital. After reading the book you will fully understand why.

One of the main themes of the book is the struggle between that which is authentic and that which is artificial. Holden wants to cut through artificiality to truth, but it evades him time after time.

The book also wrestles with the problem of innocence. Holden likes innocence. He sees a world of corruption and he sees very few innocents in it; most are darkly guilty as if touched by a contagion. But he cannot decide where innocense really resides.

Then there is the theme of death, a consistent harbinger throughout the book. Even though Holden is only 17, we can almost hear his own biological clock ticking.

If you haven't read the book, nothing could make you understand. If you are reading it for the first time, chances are nothing will be able to make you put it down. A great, great book! Two other highly recommended titles [e-mail] by Tom Grimes, which reads like The Catcher in the Rye on Prozac (incredibly funny!) and The Losers' Club by Richard Perez, an unconventional coming-of-age story set in New York's grungy East Village. These 3 books comprise my Holiday recomendations through Amazon.com! I try to avoid long lines at bookstores when I can!

Rating:
Summary: WOW
Review: What more can I say, with the added bonus of being allowed to say 'sonovabitch'in english class - you can't go wrong!