The Catcher in the Rye

Rating:
Summary: The best book of all time!
Review: When this book was presented to my English class by my teacher, I immediately thought, "Oh by, another boring book!" However, that thought was blown away after I read the first two chapters and became hooked on it. I began to read further and the further I read, the more interested I became. I couldn't put the book down. It was like attached to my hands. I guess you could say that I relate to the book somehow. I would represent Holden Caufield and my brother would represent Holden's brother, D.B.

D.B. is in Hollywood writing scripts for movies. My brother has an A.A. Degree in film. Holden has a boring life and he cannot think of what he wants to do. That is me. I have this thing where I can't make up my mind on what I want to do in life. There are several parts in the book where I wanted to cry, I'll admit that. I really did. :)

The story itself was outstanding. The characters had the right touch to them and the language was great. The best thing about the book was that it was based on the point of view from a teenager. I won't give away what happens towards the end of the book but I will say that I cried while reading the final two chapters! I really did. :)

I reccommend this book for anyone with a heart for reading. If your a teenager, I strongly suggest you grab a copy of The Catcher in the Rye and begin reading it to see what I have been talking about. This is my favorite book in the whole world. I believe that J.D. Salinger did a terrific job writing this book. I'm glad to have been introduced to it. It's the only book that I had to read for English that interested me.

I hope you'll take what I have said into consideration and buy this book! It truely is a great book. It really is.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent tale of teenage angst.
Review: If you would like to delve into the mind of a teenage loner on the verge of running away from his problems and in doing so better understand yourself as a "lost teenager," this is the book for you.
This wonderful story depicts the struggles of a young boy named Holden Caufield, the catcher in the rye, and accurately displays the internal angst of a confused teenage mind. The internal wanderings expressed to the reader directly from the narrator(Holden Caufield) coupled with the external adventures and many interactions with other characters show the reader a lonely boy's search to define his place in a world he neither trusts, due to the death of his brother nor feels connected with, because of the estrangement of his parents (who didn't feel that at his age?).
The book becomes a wonderful vehicle for non-nostalgic teenage memories and provides relief for all those that have come through those nasty teenage years alive to find a world we can accept and be happy in.
May the poetry of childhood come to light in darker days and dispel those destructive negative and bitter tendencies.

Rating:
Summary: a very light book... but close to a classic
Review: Listen - its a very light book. Its not the best book I have ever read, and it doesnt come close to it either. I got this book from a friend who guarenteed me that this book was the one ... - the one which would change my life. It was a nice book and all, but it just wasn't that. I suppose it comes down to the individual.

If you want to read the book, read it. Its a book complaining a lot I believe, complains a lot about life - and the people which make it up. I got a little frustrated at times, I wanted to jump into the page and really speak to this guy.. who the hell does he think he is? But I suppose thats a good thing. It makes our minds more open and aware of the fact that there are different people on earth.

The story line is simple - a boy who struggles at school, and who plans to run away from home, and doesn't. Thats it. But its the way its told that makes it different than any other book Ive read. A light read, but in short, a book that tells you something in a unique way. A boy who is very unsettled, and has a strict dislike for life. The exact opposite of me.

Rating:
Summary: If the script [stinks].....
Review: A play can have brilliant actors, brilliant sets and a brilliant director, but if the script is no good the play isn't worth a [darn].

It's much the same with Catcher In The Rye. One can posit all this book's themes as brilliant: The story of a boy beaten down by society, draining away in its downward spiral. The purity/innocnece/cutting genius of youth. Emptiness, running on a hampster wheel with nowhere to go. Wandering, lost in society's black hole. The death of being bourgeois. Society's turning of a boy with potential into a hopeless boy, searching for meaning in a world with none. The hypocrisy of labeling everyone a fake while being a massive fake oneself.

These are all great themes, but the bottom line is this: they're worth nothing if not presented properly, and Catcher is just not a good book. It packages all the above themes poorly; one feels as if one is running on that same hampster wheel as Holden with each sucessive page turn. Some might say that's part of the book's genius -it makes one feel exactly as its main character feels- but feeling that a book is pointless as one reads it just doens't inspire one to continue. Ultimately, this book does not deliver.

Rating:
Summary: What's the point?
Review: This book started out pretty good. In fact, the middle was fair, but the ending was atrocious.

This book is about Holden Caulfield, a young man that isn't enjoying a whole lot of life. He's been kicked out of yet another prep school and he's on his way back home to be chastised by his family. The book is in first person and it is Holden telling the story. Throughout, we are introduced to several of Holden's old acquaintences and what he thought of them. The story progresses all the way to the point where Holden returns home and visits with his younger sister.

And THEN.... bam.... the ending... which wasn't there.

I really didn't enjoy this book much. It reads quickly, which is about the only thing going for it. Even in it's briefness, it was wordy and had many two page paragraphs, which most high school English teachers would blow a gasket over. I enjoyed the slang, but it seemed overdone.

It's not one of the worst books I've ever read, but in it's in the lower 10%. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone who actually enjoys reading for a well thought out story with a good ending. I would recommend it to high school students who have reading requirements. Like I said, it reads quickly.

Rating:
Summary: A classic.
Review: This is by far one of my very favorite books. Even though it was written over fifty years ago, the story of depression, drinking, relationships, annoying friends, "phonies," and general teenage angst should be familiar to all of us. Sixteen year-old Holden Caulfield is kicked out of boarding school and angry at the world and everyone in it. The novel follows him through his reccollection of a few rather significant days in his life. I would reccomend this book to anyone looking to read a classic, wonderful book.

Rating:
Summary: WORST BOOK EVER!!!!
Review: I know everyone loves this book. I'm sorry. I had to read for English, and the teacher got mad at me for not liking it so bear with me here.. It was whiny, it sounded flat and cardboardy, it was confusing, it was dated and worst of all it's the "quintessential teen book." Bah. I'll take The Perks of Being a Wallflower or Speak any day.

Rating:
Summary: It's there for you to read, but I won't pick it up again.
Review: To Joseph Childs, previous reviewer, I couldn't have said it better myself. I, too, had not read this book until my 20s. And I, too, had thought I was missing something. But I echo your comments that this book was not great nor was it bad. It was just ho-hum. After I finished the book I wasn't enlightened, happy, sad, or anything on the spectrum of emotions that lie on either side of average. I probably yawned and said, "well, done with that one."

Holden is one of those characters who represent people that I have never particularly cared for in life. In fact, people like him annoy me something fierce. But, as these reviews and history shows, there are a great number of people who can relate and who love this book. I only give it two stars, because it was just an average book for me. Even so, I would still recommend that it be read, because if these reviews are any indicator, chances are you'll probably like it.

Rating:
Summary: Holden Caulfield made me want to puke
Review: I consider myself fortunate to get through high school without reading about the cynical and misanthropic Holden. No doubt, many of today's angst filled teenagers will relate, as he reminds me of a few immature fellows that I knew. The only reason to read novel this is to obtain a perspective on teenage pessimism. Unfortunately, not much about the main character is really ever revealed, except for why he seems so detached. Salinger has timelessly captured behavior of the modern disenfranchised youth. Listen to an angry teenager for about a week, and you'll get the idea. In the end, Holden Caulfield made me want to puke.

Rating:
Summary: Masterpiece
Review: You either get it or you don't. For those of you that don't, that's ok. Don't knock it though, because you truly come across as nutty. For those of us that do, what a MASTERPIECE. Holden is gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous, and I mean that in a good way.
This book is a must because it set the standard for the 21st century American teen coming of age. Nothing had been done like this before. The testament to its power? It still holds its weight today. Catcher rings louder and truer than ever before.