The Catcher in the Rye

Rating:
Summary: perfection
Review: j.D Salinger's book, althoug nearly 50 years old, is a timeless piece which displays evrythign from the thought process to the mind patterns of a teenager to someone who is depressed, what's more even if you arn't either of these you'll be able to get inside of them. This book absorbs and takes over and you literlaly feel like you've know Holden (the protagonist) for years. You can go back and back.

Rating:
Summary: A pleasent surprise - My new fave book!
Review: An excellent portrayal of a young male (Holden), Mr. Salinger makes this book come alive as you read it. It only took me a couple hours, and I was able to finish this book-I couldn't put it down! All through the story I found myself laughing out loud. Originally, I had to read this for class, and I figured it would be confusing and boring. However, I was delighted by the easy reading, and am now Mr. Salinger's biggest fan.

Rating:
Summary: Cynical teenager hates everyone and everything.
Review: Not what I expected, this young man comes across as a 50's anarchist. Except for a few passions in his life, he rebels and criticizes everyone and everything. A true pessimist, his observations have a painfull truth to them that readers can identify with.

Rating:
Summary: Top Five
Review: I've read this three tomes. Definitely a classic. In my mind ione of the top five books of the modern era. Brash and honest, Holden Caufield is a young man every old man should look up to. He sizes up his life and finds out what most people don't realize until its all over. Everyone must read this. The sooner the better.

Rating:
Summary: Probably the only classic I ever enjoyed!!
Review: I have been forced to read many terrible books in school and this is the only one that I truly liked and is one of my favorite books I have ever read. It's very enjoyable but can be hard to understand. You have to read between the lines for this one.

Rating:
Summary: Simple
Review: I haven't needed to be so simple about any book except this book. In fact, most of my reviews on other books fill half the page with my views. Yet, this book is simple of pure genius. It is about a depressed soul, Holden Caufield, but it creates many stereotypes. In reality, many of us of often Holdens. We often share his view. And that is why it is so insightful. This book isn't just about some 16 year kid, it is about ourselves. It is about us. It is about youths. This book was rated to be one of the 100 best English novels ever writeen this century. If a person doesn't enjoy it, or doesn't understand it, then I suggest that they take a literature course in university or take high school English all over again. It is pure genius. We cannot find this a bad book because it depresses us. Of the greatest books ever written, they are often about a world of horrid nature, such as Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World" or George Orwell's "Nighteen Eighty-Four."! ; It is very important to note that if you don't find the character satisfying, there is a reason. He's not satisfying. Holden's a loser. But he was meant to be that way. To read this book, one must understand literature. A character who is pathetic is meant to be that way by the author. It is used to show an aspect of human nature. I won't give a literature lesson, J.D. Salinger is a genius in communicating human nature in his book. I would recommend all young adults to read this book once in their lives. And if they really understand it, it is always beneficial. The complex genius of J.D. Salinger and the revealing of how it's like to be a youth is what makes this book so special. A simply must read.

Rating:
Summary: A classic that can still be enjoyed by many people today.
Review: I had to read Catcher in the Rye in a Young Adult Lit. class in college a few years ago. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and hung on to it so I can reread it someday and enjoy it all over again. I was surprised reading through the customer reviews on here that quite a few people actually detested this book. Although there were also many people who loved it. I guess it's just one of those books that you either love or hate...

Rating:
Summary: changed the way of adolescent life in the 1990s
Review: The Cathcer in the Rye not only opened our High School English classroom into a realm of unexplained thoughts and language, but it made most of the students realize that literature (required reading) isn't always dry. Holden expresses himself the way children in today's society do, with explicit actions and vulagarity, and if people aren't willing to except the morals and lifestyle of their youth, then they can band it, and similary books of extraordinary thought -but reality. It is the only book I read twice, and the first book that I thouroughly enjoyed, both times. To be honest, it changed the way I act in society, instead of behaving like a turtle in my shell, protected and shy - Now, whether it is exceptable in society or not, I say what I think and act on instinct, and many more people respect that then they do a scared turtle. Thanks Holden!

Rating:
Summary: Have things really changed?
Review: Think about it. Has the life of a teenager really changed from the 1950's to the 1990's? Holden proves to me that it has not. His arrogant "I know everything" attitude is masterfully detailed by Salinger. The sex, alcohol, and "don't give a damn" attitude of Holden is really the reality of just about every teenager, even today. That is what makes Salinger's book a classic. Holden is someone we either were or someone we knew at some point in our lives. We ALL sympathize with Holden, yet at the same time we say to ourselves, "what the hell is this kid thinking?" Yet, we all know exactly what he is thinking, even if we don't like to admit it! If you open your mind and your heart to Holden Caulfield, you are really opening up to yourself!

Rating:
Summary: Perhaps the biggest literary dissapointment I have ever read
Review: I had thought for many years I was missing something by not having read the 'classic' Catcher in the Rye. After suffering through this highly, unsatisfying, cynical read, I have to pause and wonder how we have come to this point as a society. Here we revere a character that has not a positive word to say about anybody and who laughably ruminates on the essence of phoniness in his world, all the while whining about his deep-seeded depression. Holden Caulfield is the epitome of the phoniness he holds in such contempt. Of course the baby boomer generation relates to this moronic, critical, lazy character who brazenly takes opportunities given to him by his parents, namely a quality expensive education, and squanders them one after another. Then this lout has the unmitigated gall to take Christmas money from his little sister. Holden Caulfield is a vapid, soulless character, much like the entire baby-boomer generation that has venerated Salinger and never grown out of t! heir own adolescent, self pitying depression. Let it be known that I am 35 years old, not some old codger compaining about the younger generation. For the sake of future generations, I beg with informed readers everywhere to reveal this sham of considering Catcher in the Rye a classic for what it really is - a pathetic piece of drivel.