Rating: 
Summary: Two perspectives of the novel
Review: I read this book twice. When I was 19 I read the book, and in all honesty I didn't like it. When I turned thirty, I read it again. Now I understand why I didn't like it. I was a spoiled kid who was too self-involved to understand Holden Caulfield. Yes Holden is self involved and self-important. He develops into exactly what he hates by the end of the novel. The truth of the matter is that I was too ignorant to understand the novel. To the point - this is a great novel. I hope every teenager who reads this in school has a teacher who properly explains the character. Without a true understanding of Holden, one cannot apply the book to one's life. And let's face it, if you can't apply the book to the real world, why read the book?
Rating: 
Summary: Out of touch with today's youth.
Review: I read this book two years ago, at the ripe age of 17 for school. I was excited at first to finally read J.D. Salinger's "masterpiece" of teenage angst and disconnection. I myself, felt out of touch with the world. I didn't want to grow up, but stay a kid as long as I possibly could. At first, I was able to relate to young Holden and his lack of maturation. Then, after about fifty or so pages, I realized that Holden is too childish. Salinger does not succesfuly create a simpathetic character. In fact, Holden's repetitive ranting and raving over male-female sexual relations led me to lunacy. I was in tears, pulling out my hair. If I was reading this book for pleasure, and not for a class assignment, I would have thrown it out the window. I felt no connection with Holden, nor did any of my classmates the following day at school. Salinger's work may have been more powerful back in the fifties, but no longer holds up to today's standards. I only recommend this book to nostalgia buffs.
Rating:
Summary: Vitamin K
Review: I read this book two years ago, when I was 18. It was really easy to identify with Holden, that's what makes this book so great! It's about growing up and innocence. Innocence under pressure. When you're a kid you are taught many things and made to understand many things and when those things turn out to be not true or 'fake'. You feel sick about it. That's how I felt and I probably would have to been to afraid to find out what's 'real' in this world, if I hadn't read this book. In a way I was able to learn from Holden Caulfields mistakes. For that I am forever thankful to JD Salinger. I think he's a great artist. And for those people who don't like the profanity, you are missing the POINT, completely.
Rating:
Summary: A book I'll never forget
Review: I read this book when I was 16 and it is one that I still think about a lot. I must have read it at least 10 times and each time it has just got better and better. I found myself relating to certain bits of it as a confused mixed-up teenager trying to discover themselves. A great deal of it still sticks in my mind years later.
Rating:
Summary: A confirmation of what it is like to be a teenager
Review: I read this book when I was 16 or 17, and felt that Holden was articulating everything I was feeling. It helped me grow. I'm 26 now, and I still remember the book fondly. Not because I still relate to it, but because I remember being able to relate to it at a very volatile stage in my life. I read other people's comments at this site, and all I can say, to those people who are reading it later in life for the first time, is "whether you remember or not, this is the way many teenagers feel about the world. It is a tribute to them. A confirmation. Acknowledgement."
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Summary: Simply put: The book of the century
Review: I read this book when I was 16 years old. It was the best book I ever had read up to that point and still is today. The true message of the book has to do with one of the most perplexing aspects of life and adulthood. Understanding the implications could be life-changing.
Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Read
Review: I read this book when I was 17 and it absolutely blew me away. Holden's sad desperate angst and terrific need for answers to this phony world is exactly what hooked me. His gradual breakdown is terrible to watch but, like a traffic accident, you can't turn away. Yes, It has pretty raw language in it but this only enhances the book's realism and makes it that much more real and true.
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Summary: Whiner in the Rye
Review: I read this book when I was about 14 or 15 and I just re-read it at the age of 48, thinking I probably would get more from it now that I'm older. I didn't. I am an educator and I can't help but wonder why in the world this book is on so many recommended reading lists. There are scores of much better written and more worthwhile books. Try reading "The Perks of Being a Wallflower," for instance. I can't help but wonder if "Catcher" was part of Salinger's journal at some point. It sure didn't take any stretch for him to create the plot, setting, or characters in this novel.
Rating:
Summary: A Grrrrrreat Read!
Review: I read this book when I was thirteen years old and I fell in love with it. I read it for twenty four hours a day, page after page, reading it through everything, putting it in a plastic bag in the bath...going to all extents to finish it. I finished the whole book in two days and I absolutely loved it. The whole story is witty, funny, sad and you feel really involved with the story and you know the character like a friend, perhaps even part of your family. It is hard to believe the book was written such a long time ago but it is definitely one of my all-time favourites. It brings out the best in J.D Salinger.
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Summary: American Masterpiece
Review: I read this book while sick in a Paris hotel during high school. I was pretty bummed out that I couldn't see the sights, but this book is so powerful that I forgot that I was in Paris on vacation, read the book in one sitting, and remember it as one of the highlights of that vacation. Salinger pulled off the very difficult task of writing good colloquial dialogue. The words of Holden are very natural and extremely engrossing. This is the kind of book that stands out as being extremely unique among the American greats. It's in its own league. I highly recommend this book to people of all ages and backgrounds.
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