The Catcher in the Rye

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Summary: the best book out there
Review: catcher in the rye is the most entertaining and enlightening novel out there. this book made me laugh a lot and see all the phoniness out there. and since i live by N.Y.C., i could relate somewhat to Holden Caufield.

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Summary: Brilliant!
Review: J.D. Salinger is a very interesting person. Although, he would not want you to know that. His views in Catcher in the Rye mirror his real life experience (i.e. his dream about escaping the real world and living in a log cabin in the middle of the woods). Salinger writes in the vernacular- a sure sign of what was to come in literature during the sixties. He writes about life as a teenager so convincingly that I thought at times he was writing about me, about my feelings, my emotions. Not that I am on the urge of a nervous breakdown like Holden; I am just saying that Salinger expressed his intelligence by writing fiction so eloquently that it seemed to be the truth. If you've never read Catcher in the Rye you are missing out. It will surely establish itself as one of the greatest American novels ever written.

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Summary: Holden really is a phoney!
Review: As one reviewer already noted, Holden is a phoney. I didn't read this book in high school, but many of my college friends did, and loved it. A few of them even started smoking because of this book! I wasn't so impressed. I like Salinger's voice for Holden, but the character isn't that likeable and nothing really happens. The book doesn't break any real ground other than its use of the vain saying "god damn." It's entertaining, but don't expect to find the meaning of life here.

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Summary: To all the Nay-sayers:
Review: You're all missing the point. You complain of having been forced to read this book, and perhaps you shouldn't have read it...you can neither comprehend nor understand it, and thus, cannot possibly appreciate it. You come from the MTV generation. You like movies with Keanu Reeves and Brandy, music like Matchbox 20 and Alannis Morisette, and books by John Grissham and Stephen King. These media have subliminally established criteria with which to judge cultural output. Not surprisingly, pop culture meets all these criteria in full. The single largest criterion is that a piece of art (movie, song, or book, etc.) must have an exciting plot, one filled with action or adventure and one that will neatly wrap up at the end, leaving no loose strings untied. The moral, usually very basic and cliche (if there is one at all) will be so blatent and overdone, that it will usually make me sick. That is why, when all of you read The Catcher in the Rye, you were dissappointed. The plot is not very important, and is non-normal to boot. The plot is not integral to the theme, so much so, that the story could have taken place almost anywhere (granted, New York was great because of such things as Broadway and Central Park), and anyhow. This story is not about plot at all, but themes about which Salinger felt he wanted to write. It is about phoniness. It is about hypocrisy. It's about a young man standing on the edge of adulthood, realizing he does not want to be a part of the adult world which he sees waiting ahead of him. Has any other author written so completely, yet at the same time so inconspicuously, about someone's mental collapse? No, this book doesn't have a surprise twist at the end, or a car chase, or anything of that sort. And, no, it doesn't have character development. Holden is, for the most part, a static character, but an interesting, even provacative, static character. Another thing you all have to realize is that it is possible to appreciate an artist's (in this case, an author's) work while at the same time disagreeing with his beliefs. If you don't feel sorry for Holden, or if you think he was a pathetic, pitiful person, you still should be able to look at Salinger's work and view it simply as a different, but still valid, viewpoint. This brings me to my last point. Open your minds. Don't let pop culture influence your judgement of art. Doing so makes you no more than a pre-programmed, conformist robot.

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Summary: A VERY GOOD READ FOR VERY GOOD REASONS!
Review: Bonjour! This book is C'est Magnifique! I highly recommend that everyone reads this story at least once. There's a reason they call it a classic. I also suggest everyone take a look at a book called PSEUDO COOL. It's a more modern coming of age tale.

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Summary: Has all the style it did 50 years ago!
Review: The Catcher in the Rye in such an American work of art. It contains situations all of us in this world will, or already have gone through. Mr. Salinger wrote this book with so much style, I read it non-stop for two days!! The real-life plot contains funny scenes, scenes that make you think, and some happy scenes. Like I always say,"There's nothin' like a happy ending!"

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Summary: Kinda boring.
Review: All I can say is that if a school makes you read this book, it's not that good. Also I have been told by my fellow classmates that they agree. Read the other posts to see what I mean.

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Summary: sarcastics of society.
Review: the catcher in the rye is a book like none other. every time i read it (and thats quite often, i should add..) i find something new. something new to think about. or laugh at. or relate to. holden seems to be a creation of every aspect of the person that we all hold within ourselves. the person who we maybe haven't discovered yet. and if we have, are running with it. i cannot praise this book enough. anyone who has never read it is at an absolute loss.

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Summary: Holden is a phoney
Review: If I had read this when I was sixteen I would have given it 5 Stars. Instead I was forced by my teachers to read fast paced thrillers like Great Expectations, Silas Marner, The Scarlett Letter and Return of the Native. It took me ten years to discover that books were actually written to be enjoyed rather than endured. Had I read Catcher in the Rye as a teenager I would have seen it as a great adventure by an angry young man. Today I read it as a cry for help from a disturbed young man. If Salinger wrote the book today I can't help but wonder if Holden, rather than taking a road trip to New York, wouldn't just steal his fathers 357 and blow away all the people who he believes wronged him. I also wonder how Holden himself, now in his sixties, would critique his own actions. Would he be ashamed of his behaviour or proud of tell his grandhildren about it? Somehow I believe even though he may look back fondly at his actions, he wouldn't share that with either his children or grandchildren.

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Summary: To accept it, first accept yourself.
Review: This book was the turning point of my life as an English student. Holden's first-person vernacular expresses the inner, repressed voice of many, something unqiue to this book alone. Holden may depress some readers, and anger others (both, in my case), but this is the strength of this book- the reader feels a strong emotional response. Beyond the initial reactions, the teenage world of conflict between isolation and acceptance is powerfully portrayed.