Rating: Summary: i'm picky, but this is a good read Review: I don't read much cause it takes a something good to keep my attention. This book was suggested to me in english class, and i have to say it was a good read.
Rating: Summary: pretty nice Review: I don't really know what to think about the book. In a way I liked it, because the author just writes down every little thing he has on his mind and you really go through the mind of a teenager. (you get to see the good stuff, the bad stuff, but also the stuff of all-day.) The way Holden Caulfield has written this book is very realistic and open-minded. So that's definitely a part I liked a lot ( and I'm sure all readers who are interested in how people think, will like that to!). The happenings in the book aren't very various, but I don't think they were supposed to be, because if you want to describe the life of a teeenager in four days, it's not always that exciting and various. Also the other characters are really realistic, no drivel, just real life. All by all, it's a pretty nice book for those who are interested in human behaviour (and thinking), so read it.
Rating: Summary: I really enjoyed this book! Review: I don't really understand how people can so quickly dismiss this book! Holden experienced the same troubles and feelings that teenagers today have, so the book really is timeless. The feeling of wanting to save the world and be "the catcher" is felt by so many, yet those who don't feel it will never understand it.
Rating: Summary: Great read Review: I don't seem to quite grasp why some people just dislike "The Catcher in the Rye". One negative reviewer said just read the Cliff Notes version to spare the time. If you really want to find the true emotion in the book, READ IT. Sure, the protagonist, Holden Caufield is basically a messed up, immature person who has problems with life but if he didn't exist, there would have been no story. The basic summary is about a problematic 16 year old who hasn't lost his virginity and complains and questions things about life as he is kicked out from his fourth boarding school and tries to put things together by going to New York, his hometown. The book is well written even though he uses a lot of cuss words. It tells a message on his views on the adult world thinking that school is nothing but an ongoing path just to get a job and making money. Holden just doesn't want to accept the adult life and doesn't want to grow up and be part of society. And Holden explains this through his bad experiences in life. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to read about the rebel trying to escape from society but if you just seem to hate that and don't want to read about some guy who complains a lot, then this book is probably not for you. Not the best book I've read, but still worth the time if you're interested. It is J.D. Salinger's best work and if you want to read more of his works, read the short story "A Perfect Day for Bananafish". It's not as good as Catcher in the Rye, but with some good analysis, you'll be able to find the inside track.
Rating: Summary: A Must-Read Review: I don't think a book like "Catcher in the Rye" will ever be written again. Ever since it's publication in 1951, people have been trying to write a novel that would outshine J.D's Salinger's classic, but no one has succeeded. To this day, it is still the most significant and popular book on American youth. The whole story is seen through the perspective of Holden Caulfield; a cynical, lost 16 year old who is struggling to find some virtue in the world around him (1950's, New York City). J.D Salinger's writing is evocative and fascinating, but it is the way he creates the character of Holden with such great complexity that makes this book so extraordinary. Everyone, especially teenagers, will be able to identify with him on some sort of level. The book is almost like an emotional oddysey, everything that Holden encounters provokes some sort of thought, in him and also in us. We may not completely understand his pessimism towards life, but we do feel his intense emotions of sadness, fear and hopelessness. "Catcher in the Rye" does however end in a genuinely optimistic note, and it will leave you seriously thinking about your own life, and that there may just be true hope for everybody, even for people like Holden Caulfield. A truly remarkable novel.
Rating: Summary: So overrated... Review: I don't think there's young adult out there who didn't have to read this as part of their highschool english curriculum (unless perhaps you are from a very conservative area). It's not a bad book but I would certainly rank it as one of the most overrated books of all time. Salinger's plot techniques always struck me as pretentious and melodramatic, but considering I am one of the only people who did not "absolutely looove" this book when forced to read it in 9th grade, he obviously knows what the teenage reader wants.
Rating: Summary: Truly thought worthy Review: I don't understand how some can give this book so little credit. Since I was young I knew that "The Catcher in the Rye" was considered an excellent piece of literature, but I didn't know much else about it. For most of my life I thought it was a book on fishing in the country. I read the book for the first time several weeks ago. I chose it for an independent work in my Advanced Placement English class (Yes, high school, teenager, the point of view is different, I understand.). I was hooked (pun, I know) by the first line. Salinger perfectly captures the psyche and manner of not just a teenager, but a human person. To me, the plot was more than fulfilling. Like another reviewer, I also wondered if some crisis was about to enter Holden's path.However, I was greatly relieved that there was not. This allowed for a great study of the mentality of the character in ordinary life. Such a development would have made the story as phony as the Hollywood spew-outs that the book decries.(By the way, to this particular reviewer, "grab a gun and start shooting the phonies"? I'd suggest a good therapist.) This is what I consider writing not worthy of my time. The plot was intensely believable, and brightened by the fact that Salinger describes personalities that we know exist in perfect detail. The reader can indentify with Holden's observations because everyone shares that cynicism on some level. The reader can digest that cynism and use it to create a more accepting view of life. The ending is blessedly simple and provokes a good amount of thought on relationships in life. Holden's conclusion on life is one we can understand, but not one with which we have to agree.
Rating: Summary: one of few timeless works Review: I don't understand when people label Holden as a bad seed or an awful person. Did you not read the part where he explains his 'catcher in the Rye' theory? If more people had a heart like that-a true beneath the surface kindness- as does Holden then i believe we would all be thatnkful. Of course there are 'catchers' in all our lives. Be it a caring friend a confidant, our mother or father, whomever was there to help us through a rough time. to keep us from falling off the cliff. Unbeknownst to him, holden did live out his dream. i think his character saved many adolescents 'playing in the field'. Also, jane is so symbolic! it's amazing. I truly recomend this book. Glorious job J.D. Salinger!
Rating: Summary: Undecided and Confused Review: I don't understand why so many people are raving over this book. It wasn't bad but I didn't really see a plot. It was just a bunch of chatter. I wish I could have gotten out of it what so many people say they've gotten out of it. I love reading and am very disappointed. Maybe I just need to read it again... If you have any comments PLEASE e-mail and explain to me your feelings. Maybe it will help me "get" it.
Rating: Summary: Travel With Holden Review: I don't usually give out a full rating but with this one I did.You have to be patient with this book in the beginning. But you needn't wait too long before you fall into the actual story. Unfortunately, I found it took a lot of patience and consideration to keep up with the style of writing used. It's written in the way of a story being told by the main character with too many grammatical errors and much too much over enthusiasm and repetition. But that's the real 'colour' that J.D. Salinger provides for this book. Holden Caufield attends a long line of prestigious schools one after the other because he has a habit of being 'kicked out' or 'leaving' at his own free will. From this you can guess how strange his personality is. He is quite an intellectual when it comes to literature and the arts but he fails to show much interest or concentration to either. This is why schools keep kicking him out after a long period of trying to tell him to wake up and study-he fails most of his subjects. He is overall from what is described in his book-a very stubborn and yet free willed, impatient boy who wants to live quietly but not think too deeply about his future with any realistic sense. The whole story starts with Holden who has decided to tell us all about what happened 'last Christmas'. After being kicked out of another of his schools, Holden knows that he will have to go home on Wednesday and face his parents giving him a huge big lecture as they usually do about the way he has been neglecting his schoolwork. But what really bothers Holden is the fact that he has to stay at school and waste his time in dormitories UNTIL Wednesday. So he decides to use the time he has left before he goes home to his own benefit. He decides to go and have a good time for a change. The book talks about what Holden does to use up the two days before going home and how he decides to run away and live in a cabin next to the woods instead and not go home. This book is worth the read and worth having on your bookshelf. Holden is a very strange and interesting character and so flexible that most of us will probably find one part of him that is similar to us, you'll read the book and stop at one sentence that makes you stall because you know he's right or that the sentence is talking about you. By the time you stop reading the book you'll realise you've made the shortest little journey across the road but it'll prove to you how amazing a little imagination can be.
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