Rating: 
Summary: Phonies then...Phonies now
Review: There is a review on this page written by a woman named Christina. This woman is quite possibly the most ignorant/narrow minded/sad being I have seen in quite a while! Please, for the love of god, completely ignore this woman's review. She is one of the many people who are afraid of this book. Afraid of it's realism and true to life feelings. If she can't relate to this book...she was either hatched or simply born at the age of about 30 or so. Holden Caulfield is every teenager, only turned inside out. Walking through this "Phony," world putting all of his feelings on display and doing things exactly how he wants to do them. From possessing a genius level mind, to getting expelled form multiple schools, soliciting prostitutes, and experiencing a series of losses and odd situations...he has seen a lot for a 16 year old boy! Eventually all of this leads to a sort of nervous breakdown and he ends up talking to a shrink. I could and would go on in detail on this book, but some things are better off left unsaid, and this book needs to be experienced by the reader and not explained by a reviewer! This book take America's youth and paints a very detailed literary painting for everyone to see. Holden is in all of us, whether we accept it or not, is a different story!
Rating:
Summary: The Perfect Novel.
Review: There is a reason so many people (including me) have claimed The Catcher in the Rye as their favorite book ever. The reason is that it is quite probably a perfect novel. JD Salinger is an artist with his words. They're funny and moving and insightful all at the same time. Each line in the book is a thought in Holden's mind--and while reading it I never got the impression that I was reading these thoughts. It was like the thoughts were being poured from Holden's mind into my own, and the words were just incidental. Phoebe was also my sister. Mr. Ackley was also my teacher. My heart broke over the death of my brother. I wondered where the ducks flew from the park. I faked having a bullet wound in my stomach and stumbled into the bathroom. In all these ways and many many more, JD Salinger is able to make the reader feel like s/he is right there with Holden through all of it. And maybe it sounds really corny, because Holden's only a character and all, but he is so dang likeable that I would marry that guy. If you haven't read this book, you must. You have to meet Holden. And if you have already read it, read it again every year to visit Holden and to remember what the perfect novel is like.
Rating:
Summary: 5 Stars Don't Do it Justice
Review: People like to sit and extol the virtues of The Catcher in the Rye. They like to discuss the underlying meaning of family and adolescence and life. People like to debate the true placement of the climax and the real significance of the duck pond. I just like to read this book. Actually, I love to read it. I love to just sit down and let this book take me on an adventure through the mind of one young man, Holden V. Caulfield, as he manages to reveal tremendous truths about, well, about just about everything. Congress should pass a law requiring everyone to read this book at least once and maybe twice. No joke.
Rating: 
Summary: A major Disapointment
Review: I entered into this book expecting the timeless classic everyone talks about. But it's not, the writing is so-so the story is a bore, the characters are dated and the twists are so overly perfect that it couldn't be real life. The connections Salinger makes throughout the story are so obvious and forced that it made me want to laugh, I could write better then this. A complete waste of an hour!
Rating:
Summary: A disgusting look at self hatred
Review: I dispise this book. It simply portrays a boy, not quite a man, who because he hates himself and has no redeeming qualities gets himself kicked out of various schools and then ends up in an insane assylum. he is pathetic. He has no drive or redeeming actions. He is an all talk yellow person. To use his own terms. Holden Caufeild nauseates me. I forced myself to finish this book simply because it was on one of my self prescirbed summer reading lists. Despite this books other properties it is well writen and does protray a certain time in America. But I will never sympathise with the protagonist.
Rating:
Summary: A hard act to follow
Review: "Catcher in the Rye" portrayed the suffering and alienation of an otherwise privileged, middle-class young man long before such a theme became fashionable. So much of today's writing with comparable themes seems like a tepid imitation of the original.Holden Caulfield is an utterly convincing character who is not reaching out from the pages and trying to grab our sympathy. Salinger should be commended for not endowing Caulfield with bathos and excessive sadness. Instead, he presents Caulfield's state of mind in a simple, lucid narrative. As a result, this novel is very effective in examining timeless questions about the nature of happiness and the conflict between the individual and society. There is also a compelling honesty in Salinger's writing that makes Caulfield so believable that I frequently forget he is a fictional character. This book should be read by young people and adults alike. It should also be read by aspiring writers attempting to market their own tales of woe.
Rating:
Summary: An Amazing Human Portrait
Review: I was completely in awe of the way Salinger captured the human thought process and experience. I felt as if I was within the mind of Holden experiencing his stream of conciousness. The book had an increadible insight into the human mind and condition; that of uncertainty, hopelessness, self-doubt and anxiety. Through the eyes of a distraught and troubled teenager I was able to learn so much about myself. I would highly recomend this book to anyone who is facinated by humanity and has an open mind. What makes the piece so real is also what makes it so disturbing.
Rating:
Summary: Toss it in the rye
Review: This over-hyped collection of words drags the reader through the mind of a confused adolescent with tapestry generally reserved for a low brow detective story featuring the obligatory out-of-luck private investigator. The narrative presentation is as phony as the opining of the central character. No doubt the only reason this book became a popular classic is because of society's willingness to proclaim the wares of Art and Literature to be avant-garde simply for being outrageous or gross without consideration of intrinsic beauty or meaning. Escape the herd and shun the elitist dupes.
Rating:
Summary: Fresh, hard-hitting and powerful
Review: Salinger's novel, "The Catcher in the Rye" is on the one hand, an exceptionally simple novel, on the other, more complex than many others like it because it deals with the human mind. Its simplicity begins in its storyline - Holden Caulfield, a well-off teenager from new York has been expelled from his fourth boarding school because he has failed in class. Following a fight with a schoolfriend, Holden wanders out into New York and the reader is permitted to see new York through Holden's eyes, as he verges on a nervous breakdown. The story is disjointed, rambling and fascinating. Holden's mind switches form one train of thought to the other regulary. It is also an extremely honest book - Holden is honest about what he does and why he does them. The book should be read by anyone with an interest in the human mind and its workings.
Rating:
Summary: not only a good read, a brilliant re-read
Review: i've reviewed this book before, in the summer of 98. i've reread this book a few times and i love it. i really can relate to Holden especially since i have also been clinically depressed. This novel is great because it combines humor with more important themes like death and the difficult transition into adulthood. i love the scene where Holden's old teacher can chuck his exam paper on the bed. also Ackley adds humor with all his crumby habits. i really don't understand why some people hate it, i guess it's a question of taste.
|
