The Catcher in the Rye

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Quick Read
Review: What can I say? It's a classic! I've been on a classic spree lately. After reading this, I immediately polished off Lord of the Flies. While I can say that I probably rathered Lord of the Flies, Catcher in the Rye isn't far behind.

I'm sure you've read the other reviews of this book and they've told you plenty about the story, themes, lack of themes, morals, lack of morals, and character analyzation, and all that stuff. So I won't bother.

I really enjoyed this book. It was fresh and original to me, and I am really glad I finally read it, after always hearing so much about it. If you like any sort of literature, you should enjoy this book.

Rating:
Summary: A lonesome phony
Review: The Catcher in the Rye, a novel about Holden atypical boy's sense of isolation and distrust. It is apparent through the episode that he is lost and cannot accept the responsibility time and age bears on him. In doing so he claims people and acts to be phony and uses this pretext as a means of justification. Instead of acknowledging that adulthood scares and mystifies him, Holden invents a fantasy that adulthood is a world of superficiality and hypocrisy ("phoniness"), while childhood is a world of innocence, curiosity, and honesty. Nothing reveals his image of these two worlds better than his fantasy about the catcher in the rye: he imagines childhood as an idyllic field of rye in which children romp and play; adulthood, for the children of this world, is equivalent to death-a fatal fall over the edge of a cliff. His created understandings of childhood and adulthood allow Holden to cut himself off from the world by covering himself with a protective armor of cynicism.

"Phoniness," which is probably the most famous phrase from The Catcher in the Rye, is one of Holden's favorite concepts. It is his catch-all for describing the superficiality, hypocrisy, pretension, and shallowness that he encounters in the world around him. In Chapter 22, just before he reveals his fantasy of the catcher in the rye, Holden explains that adults are inevitably phonies, and, what's worse, they can't see their own phoniness. Phoniness, for Holden, stands as an emblem of everything that's wrong in the world around him and provides an excuse for him to withdraw into his cynical isolation.

Though oversimplified, Holden's observations are not entirely inaccurate. Although Holden expends so much energy searching for phoniness in others, he never directly observes his own phoniness. His deceptions are generally pointless and cruel and he notes that he is a compulsive liar. For example, on the train to New York, he perpetrates a mean-spirited and needless prank on Mrs. Morrow. He'd like us to believe that he is a paragon of virtue in a world of phoniness, but that simply isn't the case. Although he'd like to believe that the world is a simple place, and that virtue and innocence rest on one side of the fence while superficiality and phoniness rest on the other, Holden is his own counterevidence. The world is not as simple as he'd like-and needs-it to be; even he cannot adhere to the same black-and-white standards with which he judges other people.

Holden's loneliness, a more concrete manifestation of his alienation problem, is a driving force throughout the book. Most of the novel describes his almost manic quest for companionship as he flits from one meaningless encounter to another. Yet, while his behavior indicates his loneliness, Holden consistently shies away from introspection and thus doesn't really know why he keeps behaves as he does. Because Holden depends on his isolation to preserve his detachment from the world and to maintain a level of self-protection, he often sabotages his own attempts to end his loneliness. For example, his conversation with Carl Luce and his date with Sally Hayes are made unbearable by his rude behavior. His calls to Jane Gallagher are aborted for a similar reason: to protect his precious and fragile sense of individuality. Loneliness is the emotional manifestation of the alienation Holden experiences; it is both a source of great pain and a source of his security.

Lying and Deception - Lying and deception are the most obvious and hurtful elements of the larger category of phoniness. Holden's definition of phoniness relies mostly on a kind of self-deception: he seems to reserve the most scorn for people who think that they are something they are not or who refuse to acknowledge their own weaknesses. But lying to others is also a kind of phoniness, a type of deception that indicates insensitivity, callousness, or even cruelty. Of course, Holden himself is guilty of both these crimes. His random and repeated lying highlights his own self-deception-he refuses to acknowledge his own shortcomings and is unwilling to consider how his behavior affects those around him. Through his lying and deception, Holden proves that he is just as guilty of phoniness as the people he criticizes.

Rating:
Summary: Still a great read!
Review: This novel has truly withstood the test of time. Holden Caulfield remains my favorite book character ever. What young man hasn't suffered the teenage angst he has? A true classic.
For fun and laughs, though, you may want to read "No One's Even Bleeding".

Rating:
Summary: A Great Milestone
Review: If there is a book to rival HUCKELBERRY FINN as the "Great American Novel," it is surely J.D. Salinger's "Catcher In The Rye".

This book has been lauded to the high heavens and banned to the brimstone of hell, but it keeps on selling and enthralling readers, mainly young readers, year after year. It is hard to believe that the book turns 50 this year. Holden will still be around long after Harry Potter has turned in his union card at the Home For Retired Wizards.

Slamming into the American consciousness with all the subtlety of a herd of bulls in a china shop, CATCHER took the reading public by storm with its publication on July 16, 1951. It hasn't stopped since. Why?

Essentially, it is because Holden Caulfield, the voice in the book, touches a nerve time after time in the book and that nerve alternately is connected to the humorously hilarious and the absurdly sad parts of the reader. I must admit, it helps to have a sense of humor and a sense of irony, but if you have that you are already a long way into the book.

What is the story about? It is an improbable story, to say the least. I think this is one part of its astounding power: the fact that it seems so vapid and powerless until you get into it, and then the hurricane-force power of it hits you and won't let go.

The book begins with Holden Caulfield, the 17-year-old narrator and protagonist, addressing the reader from a sanitarium or mental hospital in Southern California. He is about to tell us about a remarkable 48 hours that happened in the last December. Then we go into a long, long flashback in Holden's mind.

Holden starts his story at Pencey Prep School, on the Saturday afternoon of the old-school-rivalry football game with arch-adversary Saxon Hall. Holden is the manager of the school's fencing team, and he loses the team's equipment on the subway, and the story goes complicatedly into a freakish but funny nightmare from there, with Holden giving us a wry (RYE?) commentary all the way to the end. The end, as we said at the beginning, takes place at a mental hospital. After reading the book you will fully understand why.

One of the main themes of the book is the struggle between that which is authentic and that which is artificial. Holden wants to cut through artificiality to truth, but it evades him time after time.

The book also wrestles with the problem of innocence. Holden likes innocence. He sees a world of corruption and he sees very few innocents in it; most are darkly guilty as if touched by a contagion. But he cannot decide where innocense really resides.

Then there is the theme of death, a consistent harbinger throughout the book. Even though Holden is only 17, we can almost hear his own biological clock ticking.

Confusion and/or ambivalence about sexuality is a major part of the book as well. Holden is deeply heterosexual, but he is open to gay people; indeed people of all kinds when it comes to sexual chemistry. This was a bold move for Salinger, but
It moved a lot of people in the end; in post WWII America it was a tack to take straight into a whirlpool, but CATCHER caught something and stayed afloat.

A whole generation---actually perhaps two or three-- were influenced by this great book. If you've never read it, you owe it to yourself to immerse yourself in it. You will find yourself laughing and nodding. If anyone asks you what you are doing, just say, "Oh, I found this perfectly BORING book written 50 years ago. It's about this young kid and, well, you know." If they don't know the book they will probably shake their heads to humor you and go on, muttering ,"What's so interesting about an old book written 50 years ago?"

If you haven't read the book, nothing could make you understand. If you are reading it for the first time, chances are nothing will be able to make you put it down.

Also recommended: THE LOSERS' CLUB by Richard Perez

Rating:
Summary: Growing up by his experiences
Review: I did not like this book when I first read "The Catcher in the Rye", because I thought that he is telling his domb life after he was expelled. However, it wasn't. This book was about Holden having new experiences in different views as he had. As he stays in New York,he is telling all the bad things about everyone whoever he meets and said everyone are phony and stuff. But at the end of this book, he begin to think how other people will think if he says or think somethings. That was shown when Holden tells Phoebe that he is not going to West anymore. Even though his journey is only 4days long, he grows up a lot. In this book we can know and feel Holden's growth.

Rating:
Summary: an ordinary life story
Review: I am an english learner and my teacher told me to read this book for summer.many of you would think that this is a very good book but i don't think so. the book is about a boring story, the only thing that makes it good is the writing. the author has used a very informal language which makes the book natural and more real.if the plot would be more exciting this writer would rule!

Rating:
Summary: A superb and touching book...
Review: Catcher in the Rye is certainly one of the most compelling books I have ever encountered. The narrator, Holden Caulfield, has a style of thought and language which sticks quickly - the writing sits with you or doesnt as a personality may. Caulfield is now the archetype of the cynical adolescent, and J. D. Salinger manages to illustrate him with great depth and sensitity. The large majority of people who read Catcher in the Rye will find an affinity and connection with Holden Caulfield - if not this, then they will recognize aspects Caulfield in themselves or others. He is irrationaly critical and cynical in his judgements of people he does not know, however he is an extremely sympathetic and generous person.

I highly recommend this book to anyone. Catcher in the Rye is very readable and certainly has a huge impact on its readers. Whether it is a condemnation of immaturity, an account of a few days in the life of an adolescent, a critique of society (in general or in the books context) or an example of the misinterpretations of good and admirable people - It nevertheless remains an essential text, guaranteed to resonate with something in your bones.

Rating:
Summary: "Such a swell book worth every penny of your dough!"
Review: I keep talking to myself in Holden Caulfield's language. Here are my thoughts about Catcher in the Rye in a language Holden might have used: Boy, do I feel great! The escapade of Holden Caulfield just killed me. The story starts when Holden, the protagonist, gets kicked out of his high school. He decides to leave the school early; however, for he cannot return home early, he decides to spend several days in New York City. He talks about how he spends his time and dough in bars, parks, cabs, hotels... While telling his story he makes very keen observations about people and adds his own view of them, which is what killed me the most while reading this book. His keen observations and ideas about people make you discover your own dormant ever-observant self. The way Salinger put Holden's adolescent still-evolving frame of thoughts into words is very simple yet so captivating that you cannot put the book down. It is this story that captivated me and took me to a smooth journey full of laughter, tears, reflections, flashbacks... I cannot really put how highly I recommend this book into words. Holden would probably say: "Such a swell book worth every penny of your dough!"

Rating:
Summary: There's a little Holden Caulfield in all of us.
Review: I feel lucky not to have read this literary masterpiece in school when I was younger, because I think my lack of understanding of the book may have lead me to never read it again. Entering a few short days of a 16 year-old young man, I was reminded of my own teenage life and the feelings it stirred in me. The level at which Salinger portrays the thoughts, the feelings, and the level of understanding of a 16 year old's mind is wonderfully fascinating. Having finished the book, I can see why it's on so many banned book lists, and it's not because of the crude language that comes out of Caulfield's mouth. It's because the book is real, the characters are so real, and that level of realness can be scarry. Read it. Get scared.

Rating:
Summary: What a complainer!
Review: I began this book expecting it to be supremely deep and completely understandable. What I found was that Holden was a pain in the rear teenage boy whose mission in life was to complain about everything except his stupid red hat. I was sorely disappointed.

As I got deeper into the book, the more I wanted to just beat some sense into the boy for being such a complainer. He thinks that the world should bow down to him and it just doesn't work that way.

I also don't understand why this book was banned. Holden has feelings that every teenager has and complains about everything. How is that different or bothering in any way? We have to go through it everyday, why not be allowed to read about it? Read it if you want, but please tell me if you find the point that makes this book so important.