The Catcher in the Rye
by J. D. Salinger
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Book Reviews of The Catcher in the Rye
Book Review: If a Body Meets a Body...
Summary: 5 Stars
The Catcher in the Rye is tied for my favorite book of all time. This one is about the coming of age of one Holden Caulfield(?) after he runs away from school. The novel is told through his point of view and allows you to know everything he's thinking which is excellent for this story. Holden is smart, hilarious, and sensitive in a way that allows you to connect with him instantly because he tries to hide how vulnerable he actually is. He reminds me of a kid version of Chandler Bing on Friends. Basically, Holden wanders around what I think is New York if memory serves and gets into all sorts of fiascos. He has a keen eye for observance and is wise beyond his years. Though he is but a teen, I constantly found myself thinking him to be a young man much older. Along the way Holden meets various friends and people, most of whom he dislikes. Those he doesn't dislike are special indeed though. Salinger uses these people to tackle greater themes through Holden's relationship with them. A quick example would be the girl that Holden met and played checkers with. He repeatedely says throughout how she "never moved her back row" or something to that effect which doesn't make much sense until you meet Holden's athletic and womanizing schoolmate and learn that he has a date with her. Holden desperately wants to know from him if she still never moves her back row. She represents something pure and virginal for the boy and he doesn't want her tainted because he cares about her. Something else I really enjoyed was when Holden met his sister Phoebe. She is a few years younger than him and their relationship is beautiful and touching. He really goes on and on about he before we ever see her and it's obvious how much he loves her. Once they do meet, he angers her and what happens as they make up is something special. There is alot of symbolism in this novel, too much to talk about here. Check out the significance of Holden's hat and also his baseball glove. My favorite part comes when he explains what the Catcher in the Rye truly means and when he'd done that, I knew this book had gone beyond. If you want a nostalgic look back at childhood and growing up that is filled with humor and wit and also well-written relationships, this one is for you. You can't go wrong.Book Review: Want to punish yourself? Read all 214 pages.
Summary: 2 Stars
I am 54 years old and avoided reading this book for over forty years. So why did I relent?
First, because my 15 year old had to read it in Lit class, and I wanted to have something to talk with him about. He hated it. Really, he did. My wife hated it too. That killed me. So I really HAD to read it now.
Back in the 60's and 70's lots of conceited literati phonies kept saying how *Catcher in the Rye* was "The Great American Novel", "Salinger's literary triumph" and other such baloney. They said that. Really, they did.
I ignored my *39-page rule* for two reasons----
1. if my son actually had to had to read the whole thing so did I; and --2. I thought after 39 pages Salinger would turn it around. But no, he didn't. He really didn't. If you want to know the truth about it, I found *Catcher in the Rye*, wasn't all that those phonies cracked it up to be.
I slogged through to the bitter end, all the while suffering as that conceited b-stard Holden Caulfield incessantly whined and complained about everyone and everything in the world. It depressed the hell out of me, it really did. The little rich boy should have been complaining about his laziness, absence of character, or inability to see the world and others beyond the range of his annoying petulant whine.
It depressed me even more reading old Holden's monologue, spouting the word `g-ddam' practically every 25 words. (That got old VERY quickly.) And at the end of the book, around page 200, he drags out the dreaded `F' word. That must've made quite a stir back in 1945.
Maybe *Catcher in the Rye* doesn't travel so well anymore because it's the 21st Century and all. The world is so much bigger now, and somebody saying `g-ddam' every other sentence isn't so unique and different. Actually, it's rather tame for these times. Really, it is.
Legend has it that after writing a few novels and getting so much attention for this book, old J. D. Salinger kind of disappeared. He dropped off the face of the earth. Really, he did. Maybe I'd kinda `disappear' too if I wrote a book this dreadful and then it got all kinds of acclaim from those same phony literati scum-suckers that so disgusted my protagonist
Book Review: Salinger's Catcher will Catch Your Attention
Summary: 4 Stars
At the age of seventeen, most adolescents have to make a decision as to what they will do with their life. Holden Caulfield, the protagonist of J.D. Salinger's novel The Catcher in the Rye taking place in New York in the 1950's, is no different. He decides that he has to "catch everybody if they start to go over a cliff - I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I'd do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd really like to be". Holden is in the process of transitioning into adulthood; however, he wants to preserve his childhood innocence. He watched as his brother Allie died of leukemia at a young age and can't bear to think of anyone else missing out on the virtues of childhood. He wants to protect his sister Phoebe from the evil adult world as he encourages her to ride the carousel. Holden himself attempts to venture into society, but can never seem to manage. Going out late at night, drinking, and getting involved with prostitutes are things that Holden tries to do to make the difficult transition. However, Holden faces many internal conflicts that prevent him from entering adulthood. He has flunked out of four preparatory schools and feels abandoned by his parents because he knows they will just send him off to another one without trying to understand the problem. Holden continues to search for his identity, and an answer to where the ducks go when the lagoon in Central Park freezes. All readers will be able to relate to Holden's frustrations, disappointments, thoughts, and decisions. He proves himself to be complex, sharing the mentality of teenagers today. The audience can connect to Holden's feelings of isolation and fear of growing up. The theme of Salinger's book is timeless because Holden's concerns match those of teenagers everywhere in every era. The Catcher in the Rye is a classic that is truly deserving of praise. It is a book in which the reader can't help but connect to the main character. The audience can see themselves in Holden Caulfield, with his obscure thoughts, insecurities, and opinions. The Catcher in the Rye will surely catch the attention of all of its readers.Book Review: Inner Turbulences of the Teenage Mind
Summary: 4 Stars
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.
Book Review: Rye Review
Summary: 2 Stars
The Catcher in the Rye Review
The Title of the book is " The Catcher in the Rye". The author that wrote the book is J.D. Salinger. The story is taken place in New York City.
I don't think that this book had an intended purpose. Unless the purpose was to make you feel sad. Nothing stood out to me. I thought that this book was pointless. It was about a kid that went around doing stuff. Usually bad stuff. This kid was emo. He hated everything in the world.
The characters in the book are Holden, Phoebe, Stradlater, Ackley and Holden's parents. There is some other little characters like the nuns, the pimp, and the prostitute.
Holden, the main character, swears in almost every sentence. Here is a quote from the book when Holden and Stradlater are fighting. "You don't even know if her name is Jane or Jean, ya goddame moron"(Page 44). Holden is very upset through the whole book. Holden likes to pick fights with people. In that part of the book Stradlater told Holden to be shut up, but Holden wouldn't do it. When his sister phoebe asks him what he likes, Holden couldn't think of anything that he liked.
In the book, Holden uses very cheese sayings. For example, "That kills me." In the book, the characters swear too much. It is a very depressing book.
I think that J.D. Salinger was very troubled when he wrote this book. Maybe depressed, or something else, I don't know.
My teacher told me that this book is famous. She also told me that the book was banned for some reason, and nobody knows why. You couldn't get it in stores or in the library. But when you could get it people wanted to read it. I think the only reason that people wanted to read this book was because it was banned and you couldn't get it.
I really don't know what people would want to read this book. Maybe it's your characteristics that want to read this book. Or you might have some problems, I don't know. The only reason I read this book is because I had to, and I didn't find this book interesting at all. Other people might think differently, don't let this review stop you from not reading this book. I probably don't even know what I'm talking about. I just didn't like the book.