The Catcher in the Rye

Rating:
Summary: Catcher in the Rye
Review: I am only half way through this book and I already know I am going to love it. It tells a story of a boy who gets kicked out of high school for failing too many classes. It is very easy reading if you are a teenager, as you will be able to relate with the characters without a doubt! I highly recommend this novel!

Rating:
Summary: Good? No. Bad? No. What then? I don't know? Who cares?
Review: This was one of those books which it seemed to me everyone else had read but me. So, I got it. This book elicited from me the same emotional response that I would also feel if attending a party of a friend of a friend of a friend; that is to say, slightly out of place but not in an unpleasant way but, not something to look forward to either. It was, the complete absence of feeling yet without being a sort of numbness. I felt neither highs nor lows. I realized upon completing this short tome of mediocrity that I realized I had not missed out on anything nor had I felt an intellectual or emotional loss. I will say that if anything, I perhaps felt pity...for myself and for Holden, but only slightly.

This little literary jaunt firmly re-established in my mind a thorough understanding that the absence of pain is not pleasure and the absence of pleasure is certianly not pain either. As a former co-worker would answer to the "How are ya" question on Monday morning, this book is an emphatic "medium." A thoroughly break-even book.

I neither encourage nor discourage. There are certianly books which make you feel smarter (or at least accomplished) upon completion and there are other books which make you feel dumber when you close the back cover. "Catcher in the Rye" is neither. I will say, however, with great enthusiasm, that, in my opinion, this is not a love/hate book but I would have prefered to have read something else.

Rating:
Summary: My favourite
Review: Some may say this is not a great book, its overhyped, unrealistic, juvenile, out-of-touch, passe, stupid.

I think its moving and it made me cry.

I will not attempt to explain why I like it so much - I am not sure. I recommend it to everyone I meet and even pass my own copy around (sacrilege, as per my personal library rules).

So, let me put it like this: in all probability, after having read this book, you will feel that its much better having read it than not.

Rating:
Summary: Holden Caulfield is still alive after fifty years.
Review: There are two types of readers, I believe, who tend to criticize this Salinger classic. The first is the frustrated student who finds it in their summer reading list and second, a pretentious reader that will criticize it for it's simplicity [naturally remarking that the book is overrated].

This classic, which follows a day in the life of Holden Caulfield when he gets kicked out of yet another private school, is truly one of the foremost literary fictions ever written. First published nearly half a century ago, it's story is still relevant to every young generation that has followed since. Holden's anti-heroic personality manifests itself in popular film and literature even today [and often]. On the surface the story is simply about a clever, but volatile, teenager that can't seem to stay sane in his own skin; a coming of age story. But more than that, "Catcher" is a look through the eyes of a misfit, an individual gifted/cursed with a hightened sense of the world, who cannot rectify in himself how he could stand to be happy in this world he sees as corrupt and full of hypocrisy. And yet he desires to be accepted. For all liberalists, this is a story that will touch that part of you that has looked at the unjust world and wondered whether or not you, as an individual, fit into it. It is a critique of family, friends, teachers, and essentially, human flaw and the struggle to accept it, all seen from the eyes of Holden Caulfield, a young man who simply can't pretend he doesn't notice that things around him are wrong. But the brilliance of the book lies in the fact that the entire book begs the question, What is wrong with Holden Caulfield?

Rating:
Summary: Controvertial (lots of bad language)
Review: Be warned, this slim book is controvertial because it contains foul language. I am not particularly sensitive to such language, having grown up around some wonderful, earthy characters, however even I found this excessive -- puerile even. Perhaps shocking for the sake of being shocking? I was turned off and just stopped reading it after a while (which is unusual for me). I did not see enough of the expected "artistic merit" to spur me on further. By all means give this book a try -- you now know what to expect, perhaps you'll have better luck. Either way, write you own review -- maybe I will be inspired to try again!

Rating:
Summary: Not quite what I expected
Review: Well, first off, when I heard we had to read this book for my English class I wasn't too happy. I'm not much of a reader of anything not Sci-Fi or Tolkien, so when I started reading and 'as hell' or 'phony' popped up every few sentences I wasn't impressed. BUT, I kept at it because of the sheer fact it was required. So, after about an hour of reading and 6 chapters to go I was ready to die. It was just a bunch of words on paper driving me nuts. Once I finally finished I sat there thinking and realized that even though there were 23 chapters worth of nothing to me, I got this weird feeling that I had learned something out of the other two chapter that made sense. If I hadn't endured the 23 chapters which meant nothing to me, the other two chapters worth of writing and ideas wouldn't have sunken in as deeply.
I don't expect many to have the same opinion or feeling I do because I am not much like anyone else but I do recommend this to anyone who has strayed from their path, needs help finding one, or just need to see what all the commotion is about.

Rating:
Summary: Why read this book?
Review: This is probably the second most overrated book in American Literature. I do not understand why people think this book is so great. I quickly tired of the protagonist's well-heeled puerile whining . I kept thinking, "Grow up, for God's sake." In short, I would argue that Salinger's insights and themes are stunted and trivial at best. To teh people who love this book I would say
Grow up and find out what real life is like and maybe read some real books

Rating:
Summary: The best protagonist ever?
Review: Why not add another review to the already hundreds in favor of Catcher in the Rye. Why do we all keep adding our opinions even though we know they'll be buried in the abyss?

Read this book and you'll see why.

Holden Caufield, our protagonist, speaks as honestly and openly as the youth of our culture today. This book could have been written a year ago and you'd likely never know. The satirical bite of the main character rings true to your soul and when you finish the last page, you're either sorry it's over and you go back to page one and start over again. This is one of the original page-turners.

Rating:
Summary: why ARE you reading this?
Review: if you're reading this or any of the reviews for the catcher in the rye stop. people always complain how it is soo overrated and hate the book especially holden...with a passion. so just give it a try, trying not to include other people's opinions when you read. . if you like it, congrats, i do too. if you don't, stop being annoying and read something else.

Rating:
Summary: Oh, Holden, why are you so sad?
Review: What can a person really say about _Catcher in the Rye_ that hasn't already been said? Everyone in the world believes that they are Holden Caufield, and so it seems like everyone should be able to enjoy this book. It is an quick and relatively easy read that has enough depth and feeling to keep the reader moving, and every once in a while, an insight that made me take a deep breathe. It is clearly not the greatest book of all time, but it is easy to identify with Holden as he feels isolated and alienated. It is fun to smile as we see him denounce a type of behavior in someone else, then immediately act in the way he just railed about. It is a good reminder of what it is to be a teenager, and how doing seemingly incomprehensible or destructive actions feels like the only way to fight back against a society that is conformist and authoritarian. It's too bad that the Holden Caufield we all possess passes so quickly from many members of human society. If we could hang on to just a little of his spirit, it might do us a world of good.