Rating: 
Summary: Interesting
Review: When this book came out, it caused quite a stir in the conservative community. People didn't like Holden Caufield because he was a "rebel" and said "damn" a lot. I've heard pundits denouncing this book as a piece of garbage littered with the F word. This book is not a piece of crap, it actually is entertaining. The F word is almost nowhere to be found, and the one place it does appear is when Holden observes some grafitti. I cannot see what the fuss was about. I felt Holden was a good character. The book lets you know that the slacker who always sits in the back of your class and/or who takes all the easy courses in high school is not such a detestable nobody after all. Like Caulfield, he or she may be deep, analytical individual, who will do something nice if the opportunity arrives. I thought Holden showed a high degree of honor and integrity when he gave $10 of his shrinking money supply to two nuns. If you're reading this book just because of all the flak it's recieved in past years, you'll be disappointed. Salinger has written a thorough story of a few days in the life of an "outcast," Holden Caulfield.
Rating:
Summary: The best book of all time!
Review: When this book was presented to my English class by my teacher, I immediately thought, "Oh by, another boring book!" However, that thought was blown away after I read the first two chapters and became hooked on it. I began to read further and the further I read, the more interested I became. I couldn't put the book down. It was like attached to my hands. I guess you could say that I relate to the book somehow. I would represent Holden Caufield and my brother would represent Holden's brother, D.B. D.B. is in Hollywood writing scripts for movies. My brother has an A.A. Degree in film. Holden has a boring life and he cannot think of what he wants to do. That is me. I have this thing where I can't make up my mind on what I want to do in life. There are several parts in the book where I wanted to cry, I'll admit that. I really did. :) The story itself was outstanding. The characters had the right touch to them and the language was great. The best thing about the book was that it was based on the point of view from a teenager. I won't give away what happens towards the end of the book but I will say that I cried while reading the final two chapters! I really did. :) I reccommend this book for anyone with a heart for reading. If your a teenager, I strongly suggest you grab a copy of The Catcher in the Rye and begin reading it to see what I have been talking about. This is my favorite book in the whole world. I believe that J.D. Salinger did a terrific job writing this book. I'm glad to have been introduced to it. It's the only book that I had to read for English that interested me. I hope you'll take what I have said into consideration and buy this book! It truely is a great book. It really is.
Rating:
Summary: Hmmm...A Review of a book...weeeeee...
Review: When was the last time you met a truly satisfied and happy sixteen-year-old? I can honestly tell you that it has been quite a while for me. The Catcher in the Rye focuses in upon that particular aspect of teen life: depression and self-gratification. The main character, Holden, wants to be a "catcher in the rye," a savior of the innocence missing in the world around him, a world that has let him fall over the cliff into adulthood alone. He is tossed into a world that he knows very little about and must survive. This book is an excellent story and a masterpiece. It never should have been banned anywhere, but I can see why it was. Local color seems to play a big role in this book, the dialect and slang used by the characters like "ya" "trynna" and other "lazy American" talk. The presence of nightclubs and their role in New York's society is blatantly shown as incredibly important to both sexes. The illegal obtaining and consumption of alcohol is also a tie-in and customary past time for teens in the early fifties. Prostitution also ran rampant around that time, providing a multi-million dollar per capita business in New York alone. The recovery from WWII is also present as many women are still working and men coming home from the war are basically left at home, lest they force their wives out of their only chances at earning some money. Another direct reference to subjects taught to me in History class is when Holden attends a movie at Radio City Music Hall about WWII and his reference to the Atomic Bomb. This was present in the minds of most Americans at this time, the horrors and sheer power of the atomic bomb, and the fear that Russia and Germany may turn their scientific advancements in the atomic field on America during the Cold War. I have always dreaded any English teacher's favorite words: "This book is due…" Being an honors student I have heard this many, many more times than I ever wanted to in my life. I have always made it a point to NOT read the book because they always said, "Oh, you'll love it! It really is a good book, I promise you." To tell you the truth, I was seriously considering not reading this one either, but then I thought of the previous experiences with novels assigned to me by my history teachers. I couldn't think of one bad book I had ever read for History class aside from the textbook, so I read it and I am immensely glad that I did. This book embodies everything I stand for: misery, depression, solitude, atheism, and just plain not caring. Throughout this book, Holden proves the ignorance and stupidity of mankind and their uncaring and unthinking nature. For example twice he attempts to start conversations with his cab driver. Each time they either showed apathy or contempt to his attempts to brighten their days. How often I have tried to make conversation with someone I didn't know just so they couldn't say that I hadn't and virtually every time I have been snubbed while their noses stayed upturned to the world. This book is an excellent novel for anyone who is missing something in this world and wants to be a champion and help others while the rest of the world stands by and watches with apathy. This book opens all its readers to the world of a teenager, something that few books I have ever read have been able to do accurately. I have read books from my Mother's bookshelf about the psychiatry of the teenage mind. I would like to ask the authors of books like that one thing: If every teenager is different, as you have blatantly stated in you book, then how can you make generalizations like you do? This novel makes no generalizations, it is not about every teenager, it is about one, and that one experiences different people in his time in New York the same age as him, and they are all different. J. D. Salinger is a true magician. For anyone who wants to be a Catcher in the Rye, you should all read this book before you yourself have a nervous breakdown and end up in a rest home writing a novel.
Rating:
Summary: Living in Oblivion; Not Holden Caulfield
Review: When you pick up this novel, you've really got to give it a thorough read. Not just read it. But really sink your teeth into it. The whole way through it. Read it twice even. Holden Caulfield is a supremely intelligent teenager who can't deal with what knowing what he knows. He understands the world and that is what makes him so afraid. To understand Holden you have to pick something which you can relate to him. A connection. His philosophy is so simple but it it such a hard thing to accomplish. In everything he must 'catch' the children before they cross over to the phony side. He is so bitter because he knows the phony side and refuses to cross the LINE. His brother's death triggered something in him that he never realized. A hatred and a vow to never let another fall through the cracks. He dropped Allie symbolically. If you read it, like really read it, then you will understand me. Because it is the best book I have ever read.
Rating:
Summary: Piece of work here
Review: Where do I begin? Wow, what a great book. In Holden Caulfield's life, he is surrounded by phonies, teachers whom had flunked him, and how he doesn't care about how he looks in his SWEET red-hunting hat (with ears!). Holden is a little distraught with his younger left-handed brother dying, and his older brother, D.B., a writer, so Holden feels like he must make something of himself...After getting kicked out of Pencey, he decides to go to New York for a few days, until it is time to go back home. One of a very Holden-ish sayings is when he is leaving Pencey, early morning and yells, "Cya later ya bastards!" or something like that. What a great way of expression! Holden continues on, and experiences love, and well, you'll have to read what happens. Definitely a great book, so pick it up and give it a read. Then get surrounded in Holden's world and go buy a red hunting hat!
Rating: 
Summary: The Wonderfully Sad Houlden Caulfield
Review: Whether you have heard of the book or not is irrealavent. It has, for better or for worse, become one of America's pop-culture cornerstones -and for good reason. Salinger's "The Cathcher in the Rye" is, in fact, a magnificent read. It is at once funny, thoughfull, and even tremendously upsetting at some points. The cynical and loveable protagonist is a mere boy - and a delinquent at that. Not the type of kid that kills neighborhood cats or anything, but certainly not a boy scout, either. Everything about Houlden is a contradiction. He is a child. He has the thoughts of a man. He is in the prime of his youth. He is terribly jaded. He loves his ablility to live and learn, yet he hates his contemporary excuse for an education and scoffs at the materialism around him. He is all of us in one way or another. Houlden is the profound truth we all glimpse so suddenly. He is the frustration we feel when we see profanity scribbled on a public building's wall. He is the pain and confusion we all understand when we're isolated. In many ways, a variety of readers can relate to this child who is so much more. I find Houlden truthfull to the point of agony. He finds fault where fault is to be found -- everywhere. His inability to cope with the world is a sentament many are familiar with. So, while I respect and remain intrigued by him, I also imagine him to be utterly melancholy, completely alone. Upon my first reading of the novel, I found myself wishing to be as completely honest as Houlden. I thought that the world could use that sort of truth. Then, after thinking it over, I came to the conclusion that though the truth is honest (as by definition it must be) it is also the lonliest and hardest road to travel. We close our doors and Houlden comes knocking. We don't ask the questions we should ask while Houlden serves up nothing but those questions. You'll either love him or hate him. You'll either convince yourself that you are exactly like him, or that you're his antithesis. Either way, you'll hear what he has to say. That is all he ever seemed to want anyway.
Rating:
Summary: ONE OF THE BEST IN AMERICAN LIT.
Review: Whether you're a teenager or retired, you'll more than likely see a bit of yourself in Holden.
Rating: 
Summary: Tripe...
Review: While I doubt that this book would rate as meaningful, or powerful enough to be subversive, I wouldn't recommend it. Maybe it's because I can't relate to a spoiled preppie kid. Maybe it's because I read it when I was too old to appreciate it's message. Whichever the case, Holden Caulfield is nothing more than a snot nosed crybaby. I fail to see why Salinger is such an acclaimed writer, either. It's nothing more than an exercise in self indulgence.
Rating: 
Summary: Slow, but Holden is incredibly realistic
Review: While I found the story itself slightly dull I found the character development to be spellbinding. Being a teen myself, I have often suffered through many author's ideas of how teenagers think (which are NEVER accurate), but Holden is the exception. I can name ten people I know who could be him. If you enjoy deep, complex characters, I reccomend it. Otherwise, I don't see what all the fuss is about.
Rating:
Summary: Hardly a great book, but still thought provoking
Review: While I understand why Catcher in the Rye is a classic, I would have never given it that honor myself. It is certianly no mystery as to why many serial killers have enjoyed this book. Its protagonist is utterly discusted with life, and stays that way throughout the entire book. These feelings of utter disdain are exactly how I would imagine a killer's being. While this may reinforce the attitudes of the criminally insane, it comes over as sickeningly pessisimistic to me. Another problem is the utterly low level of writing quality. He uses the same phrases over and over again until it becomes frustrating. I never want to hear the phrases "Phony" or "Goddamn" again! Even moreso, I don't want to hear "It really is." or "I really am." once more, or I'll scream. I'm also suprised at the extreme amount of profanity. Sure, it's mild by today's standards (although the F-word is used a couple of times). But by the st! andards of the ninteen fifties, I'm sure it was extraordinarily shocking, and was probably one of the primary reasons that it was banned in many places. In the end, though, despite the juvenile writing and feeling of utter depression that it evokes, it still is quite thought provoking, and is worth a read (it's only about two hundred pages, so you should be able to finish it in a day or so). It's good, but hardly classic material.
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