Rating: 
Summary: Life exposed by Salinger in masterpiece!!!
Review: Hi, first you should know I only gave this book a
9 instead of a ten in the vain hope you would notice this review among the dozens of 10s which will surround it. Secondly, I am a 15 year old male
from a suburb of Seattle and I read this book today for the second time. I read it first a year
ago; immediatley it became my favourite book and
Salinger my favourite author. I now read it again for an english assighnment and was once again awed
by it's irrepressable truth. I love this story not because I admire Holden ( I
don't, even though I see traces of him within myself), but because I admire J.D. Salinger's awesome ability to reach deeply into the inners of
humanity and American civalisation and return having produce a lump sum of what is to be found
by an underachieving 16 year with a pocket full of
cash and a shattered sence of idealism, walking lonely the streets of New York. To deny Holden's city is to deny the land we claim home. To deny his observations is to deny ourselves.
Rating: 
Summary: this book has been responsible for so much pain and sufferin
Review: Hi, I've read this book, and I must say that I have read the damage that it caused, according to stories I have read. This book was linked with the murders of John Lennon, and actress Rebecca Schaeffer. How could this book be around, when so many nutcases use it for such things?
Rating: 
Summary: Good - looking for the book ONLINE!
Review: Hi. I really enjoy the book, "The Catcher In the Rye". I am currently reading it with my mother, AND I'd love to read it with my boyfriend. I am looking for it on line. If any one knows where I could find it, please send me an e-mail. I would be soo thankful. Thank you very much!
Rating:
Summary: Enticing, Wonderful, Sincere - Flawed, Riddled, Defeatist.
Review: Hmm... I read this book during my early adolescence while at high school and I was surprised and bewildered and perplexed. I then got involved in reading it for a second time whilst looking out for other works by this writer, the short stories and "Franny and Zooey", I even wrote a class assignment essay about it and later on at the University I put myself through the tortuous task of authoring an overview of J.D. Salinger's work, his main themes and preoccupations. I seem to have misplaced both of them and cannot find them, and I stand as speechless as I did the first time I acquainted myself with the author.What I can say with certainty, is that this novel is Art in every sense, not a character sketch per se, not an alienation novel either, but a work of art that masterfully eludes all criticism in that it cannot be contained in one person's critical viewpoint without having a fundamental element of the book being overlooked and compromised in the process of analysis. My tentative observation, at this point in life, is that it is a prolonged haiku, a meditation on being young, idealistic and confused, a delicately drawn between-the-lines depiction of an uncaring, and hypocritical ("phony") society afflicting the sensitive individual with both its vices and virtues, a starting point for endless adolescent discussion. But I would also like say to all young readers out there to not take this book too seriously, it can be as deadening and nihilistic as it can be sensitizing and sincere. Salinger is very talented writer but he is also deeply uncertain and troublesome, enigmatic as well as poetic, self-defeating in his world view, caring for the world and despising it at the same time, of this world and unable to live in this world or compromise even a minute part of his thoughts for a greater community value, a religion, a philosophical system of thought, a human relation, a cause etc. Good God (and this is only a figure of speech.), that was tiresome. Keep an open mind and doubt mostly everything. Good luck with reading this book.
Rating:
Summary: great--of course
Review: Hmm...Having your privacy invaded (your personal letters put up for auction, your love affairs made public) is good for sales, I guess. Oh, well, this was a great book then, and it's a great book now. Just to be sure you don't misunderstand it, you might like to read some other J.D. Salinger works as well--at least the delightful "Nine Stories". Also recommended: PENTATONIC SCALES FOR THE JAZZ-ROCK KEYBOARDIST by Jeff Burns.
Rating:
Summary: great--of course
Review: Hmm...Having your privacy invaded (your personal letters put up for sail, your love affairs made public) is good for sales, I guess. Oh, well, this was a great book then, and it's a great book now. Just to be sure you don't misunderstand it, you might like to read some other J.D. Salinger works as well--at least the delightful "Nine Stories". I also very much recommend PENTATONIC SCALES FOR THE JAZZ-ROCK KEYBOARDIST by Jeff Burns.
Rating:
Summary: Inner Turbulences of the Teenage Mind
Review: Holden Caufield - The ultimate image of a confused, contradicting, moody, iconoclastic, adventurous, brutally honest, and searchingly rebellious teenager perplexed by the flatulating, artificial behavior of his peers stuck in their "good school" pre-Ivy league training environment known as Pencey prep school. After a final betrayal from his roommate concerning a girl, Jane, he knew very well, Holden knowing that he is going to be expelled for flunking 4 out of 5 classes decides to hit the road early.
He arrives in NYC, his hometown and in a period of 2 days, this seventeen years old goes on a spending spree amusing himself with all the glitz and glamour that NYC has to offer. Barhopping, girl scouting, cigar chain smoking, and reuniting with people from his past, Holden goes through a spiraling swirl of experiences with most of them leaving him left in the dark with only a beer in one hand, regret in the mind, and a trickling, diminshing wad of cash in the other hand. Dealing with depression, trust, a longing for escape from dependencies and repetative life, an attempt to find one's passion, interests, and right environment, and lastly girl, girls, girls, Salinger strikes a chord with a lot of people who have doubted whether the by-the-book, staight-edged course that has been set out for them to complete, is really the right and rational passage on should take.
The fact that Holden finds a rejuventated spirit in being with his upbeat and insightful younger sister when he's faced with the reality of how his negative actions disrupt her mental focus, he reconciles with his rebellious nature and seems to learn be on a path to learning the importance of patience and discipline, something all rebellious independently minded young adults have had to learn, many times through such a hazy, spinning, rollercoaster-riding, tornadic ride that saw Holden Caufield exemplify the inner workings of a teenage in American Society in only a matter of two days. This book is a right of passage and must be read by every questioning, doubting, mystified teenager as well as those looking back on how they've changed/not changed by re-reading and reminiscing on their own lives in their later years.
Rating:
Summary: Timeless Tale of Teenage Angst
Review: Holden Caufield has easily become a name familiar to most teens experiencing trouble on their quest to adulthood. J.D. Salinger represents the pain, struggle, and confusion of being sixteen through the eyes of Holden, an expelled prep school student. The book takes place during the course of the days immediately following Holden's expulsion through his last minutes with his "phonie" roommate and his journey through New York City. He struggles with being able to define himself to his parents and to himself. In Holden's search for truth his own physical and mental state become endangered. Holden stays in different locations in the city and wants to just return home; however, feels that he has lost his chance at being a dutieful son. In visits back to his favorite childhood spots, Holden confronts his coming of age and realizes that its just not the same anymore. He spends great time focusing on his sister and appreciates her for her childlike innocence and kind-nature. Salinger brilliantly captures the mind and voice of a misunderstood teen through the use of informal, almost conversational speech. Inside every person, there was once a lost teen exploring the world as they know it and reaching out beyond the grasps of the familiar and the expected.
Rating: 
Summary: Depressing
Review: Holden Caufield has problems. He is feeling sorry for every one else, and can't see that he can't help the whole world.
Rating:
Summary: American Classic (and it's easy to read!)
Review: Holden Caufield is a young man who doesnt always fit in. He's no loser, but he's not the life of the party either. The book follows his search to find his place in life. As boring as it sounds, he has all the awkward moments you've ever encountered as an angst ridden teen (remember high school?).
The overwhelming angst isnt quite as annoying as it is inspiring. He's going through everthing you had to deal with when you were that age. We're not all that different and it's ok to feel all the stupid things you feel. If you want to read a more grown up version of this genre, take a look at Jack Kerouac's "On the Road". Also highly recommended.
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