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Summary: Best book ever!
Review: I'm not much of a reader, but this is probably the best book I've ever read! It's so well-written and the story is very realistic! I can't explain how good this is, so just buy the book and read it, and I GUARANTEE you that you will NOT be disappointed in any way!
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Summary: This is the best book....
Review: I read this book back in high school when i was 16, english was my second languege then, and i wasn't able to understand some of the vocabulary, but by the time i finish the book, i was like, WOW this is the best book i ever read(and yet i only read about 4 book before "The Catcher In The Rye") and it STILL the BEST book i ever read today, i'm now 22, i had read hundreds of book now, but Salinger and really catch my heart with this book. I recommend this book to any body, especially teenagers, if u want to know why i love this book so much, you just have to read it in order to understand.
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Summary: Not about Baseball!
Review: Yogi Berra said it best....to paraphrase "I thought Catcher in the Rye was about baseball, but it was just about some whiny kid."That being said, the book, released in the early 1950's, portrays Holden Caulfied as the paradoxical "all-knowing/totally confused" adolescent. The story takes place over a period of several days after Caulfield has been expelled from prep school. His cynical observations on his sorry state of affairs and his contempt for teachers, phonies and apparently all adults in general ring amazingly contemporary despite the book's being nearly 50 years old. I read this book in college, then later as a married adult and parent. It speaks volumes to the alienation of youth in a fast-paced engaging prose. For those who read this growing up, it is worth another look from an adult perspective. You'll be amazed at how different your reaction will be from the first time you read it.
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Summary: Best book I've ever read
Review: Holden Caulfield is the most loving, caring, beautiful person I have ever come across. He criticizes the bad, hypocritic, inhuman ("phony") aspects of human nature, but is constantly falling in love with the truth and beauty that people exhibit. He's in so much pain and is so depressed, and yet he still has an overwhelming desire to save others. He is a saint. I think that anyone who has read this book and did not like it (like me, the first time I read it) must either be too immature to understand it or must be looking in all the wrong places for something that doesn't exist in Catcher in the Rye. To anyone reading it for the first time, forget everything you've ever heard about it. Just sit back, read, and analyze for yourself everything that Holden says and feels. I've found that people who are like the "phonies" that Holden criticizes are too caught up in hating Holden for his depression and confusion that they don't listen to the real messages in the novel. It is important to see Holden's profound love for humanity, as well as his pain, underneath his professed hatred. Anyway, do what you want. But I'll say that, if you're not interested in what it means to be human, you might want to consider reading something else.
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Summary: The Catcher in the Rye
Review: The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger is a timeless classic in which a young boy tries to find himself while living in his Ivy League world. The young hero of the book, Holden Caufield, tries to reestablish a relationship with his younger sister, and decide what he wants to make of him self. Holden has been expelled from Pencey for academic failure, and after an unpleasant evening with his self-satisfied roommate Stadlater and their pimply next-door neighbor Ackley, he decides to leave Pencey for good and spend a few days alone in New York City before returning to his parents' Manhattan apartment. Upon reading The Catcher in the Rye I had high expectations. As I have never met a person who has not only enjoyed the book, but has been able to relate themselves to Holden, I only hoped that my expectations could be met. I read the book with ease, the riveting plot keeping my attention, I not only realized that my lofty goals would be met, but far surpassed. I have never before been able to relate my self to a character such as Holden in Salinger ís masterpiece. Holden ís witty humor and deep thoughts leave you in disbelief of his personality. Is he a poor rich kid? Or a person trying to discover himself before making the final steps into the real world? The readers of the book will make their own opinion of why Holden seems to suddenly have psychological breakdown at such an early age. Although Holden is intelligent and sensitive, he narrates his story in a cynical, jaded voice. Though he never says so outright, he longs to live in a beautiful and innocent world, and finds the hypocrisy and ugliness of the world around him almost unbearably painful. The Catcher in the Rye is not only a timeless classic, but also a story about a young boy on the brink of adulthood, finding the world full of hypocrisy and ugliness and wondering how he will fit in.
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Summary: The Length May Be The Best Thing
Review: I read the book first when I was fourteen and surprise surprise, I identified with it. Now several years older, I don't think exactly like Holden does, but it doesn't prevent me from seeing how sincere and sensitive this character is. Although I admit I was sad when the book was finished (and each time I read it, I experience the same regret) but I still think, as I thought then and as I think of all books that leave me feeling like that, the length of the book may be the best thing about it. Many readers wished it had gone on longer and I know what they mean--Holden's charm is very quick to communicate itself--but Salinger knows his stuff. He gave us enough and not too much--the best things in life are best just tasted, not devoured whole. The Catcher in the Rye (for those who might be interested: I couldn't beat Holden's job title; my own is "Professional Human," you may laugh all you like!) offers a fresh perspective; anyone who has a fresh mind, an open mind, an empathetic mind and a good heart--because hearts aren't underrated in Holden's world, even if they are denied in our self-consciously cynical world--should read this book. It will be an experience of a life time. In Forster's words, Only Connect--this book will show you how.
Rating: 
Summary: A classic
Review: I once heard that John Salinger's Catcher in the Rye is one of the most frequently banned books in US High Schools today, right up there with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and Farenheit 451. Not surprisingly, all of these books are on the reading list at my school. Catcher is a real classic, a book that manages to offer an insight into the mind of a depressed teenager who feels that the world has alienated him. Many children may read this book and think about how Holden Caulfield was a sullen loner who isn't like them at all, but upon frequent thought they will discover similarities between Holden and themselves, and realize that, at heart, he is a normal teen: trying to grow up in an unfriendly world.
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Summary: A Timeless Classic - Masterpiece of adolescence
Review: I first read this book in college in a class about banned books. I immediately fell in love with it. It was an assignment that was delightful and thought provoking. Over the years I still go back to this book and discover new insights every time I read it. Catcher is a tale of an ordinary teenager (and a quite sensitive one) trying to make sense of the world. I truly wished it was longer because I didn't want to stop reading about Holden. Ok, if I haven't convinced you yet, I named my son Holden! This is a must read!
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Summary: For those with a functioning mind
Review: It takes a certain amount of personal struggle to understand and appreciate this novel. A mental health issue may also help. I am merely a 17-year-old, so possibly my opinion doesn't matter to you, but this book matters to me. Everyone is looking for someone to connect with, and Holden Caulfield has transcended his "innocent" era of the Fifties to speak to many a troubled teenager. And, no, not just to schizophrenics. His days alone with the world are the ultimate description of the most difficult stage of life. It is absolutely necessary for this to continue as mandatory reading, if only for those select few who will look past the "goddamnits" to see the true spirit of a boy struggling to grow up and still hold on to his childhood. Holden keeps his dead brother's baseball mitt; I keep my Barbie doll. What do you hold on to?
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Summary: Smells Like Teen Angst
Review: If there ever was a book that should be required reading for adolescents it's The Catcher in the Rye. You know how when you were a teenager you believed you were the first person in recorded history to experience the emotions your hormones were imposing upon you? When I first read this book in high school I was surprised to see that someone understood me and what I was feeling and then incredulous that everyone else around me had the same kinds of feelings. Hmmm... maybe the world didn't revolve around me. This is the kind of book that takes a teenager several days to read and leaves him or her a year or two wiser. Now if only we could do something about those hormones.
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