Rating: 
Summary: Good book, but overrated
Review: I remember reading this book in about three days when I was in high school. I think the reason most people like this book is that they can imagine themselves writing it. The plot is non-existent, the dialogue is very straight-forward and there is lots of subtext that can be deciphered in a million ways.
We can certainly all see ourselves as Holden Caufield. He does a lot of the things we wish we could do. He's like the narrator in "Fight Club". Sounds like a great idea until you have to live there. You can't imagine Holden as a grown-up, and you certainly can't see yourself taking this book seriously if you're over the age of 30, unless your a Lit professor.
The best thing about this book is Will Smith's speech about it in "Six Degrees of Seperation".
Rating: 
Summary: Being a Catcher in the Rye
Review: Holden Caulfield is beautiful. He's a real person and I think that's why people love this book so much; why teenagers love this book so much. That's why I loved it. It presents us with the options that say there's more to life than what's thrown at us. We don't have to give a damn about phonies, and that makes it easy because the world is full of em. This book is Caulfield, it relies on his observations and his description. He sees and recounts things the way only an induvidual could, he's totally independent, and caters to nothing and no one but himself, and yet he's not selfish, he truly cares for people and has a sweet sentimental side that pushes through. He's easily revolted and seems to seek a better world apart from the trash he experiences. And though from the outset you may think of him as a stereotypical cynical and rebellious teen, and where he is, he's more than that, and I think that's what Salinger wants you to discover, he wants you to have preset prejudices, so he can take you a step further into Holden's world which hunts "phonies" and challenge your perspective and priorities. This book is unbelievably well written in a way that baffles you with it's talent and makes you smile. The words are lyrical and phrases priceless and it's full of hope and humor despite the mean and connivingly treacherous world presented. We're shown a cynical and harsh life for those who don't conform, and yet when Holden describes what he wants to be, a person who stands in rye grass catching people before they fall off the cliff even though "they don't exist", we see how it's so terrible to be a "phony" in a world full of people.
Rating: 
Summary: Overrated? But of course. Classic? Not exactly
Review: After sifting through the mountains of good reviews this book has recieved (and the intriguing title) I decided to check it out. Bad move. (Most of) The characters, particularly Holden Caulfield, are flat, boring and Holden is not, as some reviews gush, "identifiable with myself" at all. Rather, he's made out to be a lost, confused (read-annoying) teenager with no direction of where he's going, leaving a large, empty hole in the plot. Phoebe, Holden's sister, is an (rather, the only) exception.
Maybe I just don't get the book. Whatever. Just let me say that this was a serious letdown.
Rating:
Summary: Holden Caulfield is my hero
Review: Most, if not all, people who have read "The Catcher in the Rye" have said that the book changed their life. It changed mine. The change for everyone is different, but for me, "The Catcher in the Rye" gave me faith in the materialistic world we live in today. Being a cynical adolescent myself, I can relate with Holden. Although he does not exist in the outside world, he exists in my heart. Exisists in my heart as friend; as someone who knows what I'm going through. Written with wit, sarcasm, and humor, "The Catcher in the Rye" is one of those books that you can read over and over again. JD Salinger portrays with brutal honesty a young man fed up with rules, with standards. A young man who had everything in front of him, yet nothing at all. A young man, who, despite all the adversity he faced, came out strong and with a new perspective on life. Holden is cynical. Holden is sarcastic. Holden is, well, a jerk when he wants to be. However, there's something about him and the way he is written that makes it obvious why he is one of English literature's most beloved characters. Throughout the book, Holden goes through his share of adventures; from getting expelled from his private school, to an awkward (and humorous) night with a prostitute, to the end of the book where we learn where Holden is telling his story from. Each chapter is skillfully written and unique. JD Salinger is one of, if not the best, writers to ever grace American literature with his presence. "The Cather in the Rye" *is* a timeless classic that will please the nihilist in all of us.
Rating:
Summary: Two Old Maybe?
Review: The entire time I was reading this book I was expecting the next page to become "The Great Book". It however failed me. I guess I may be too old or distant from my teenage years to fully understand Holden. (Wait, I am only 23.) I can however say it may have taught people lessons about life, especially young adults or it wouldn't of become this "GREAT MASTERPIECE" everyone has been talking about for fifty years. To me it was like phantom of the opera, although I really didn't want to read the book, I did, because it was supposed to be a great Literature Masterpiece. Maybe I should stop being a follower. I am wasting too much time.
Two Stars because 1. I liked some of the dialouge and 2. It only took me three hours to read.
Rating:
Summary: great book
Review: This was truly a great book. One of the best books I have read in my life. I read it in 9th grade, and it just made me see that some people just have it much worse off then me. It made me see that the things that I considered problems would just be seen as childish to me in the years to come. This young boy had to face all these obstacles on his way to becoming a young man, his problems were adult problems of some sort. Also, he had a lot of phsycological problems, that he managed to hide from a lot of close people really well. Im not going to recommend this book to everyone, but i will say that this is a book for anyone who 1. likes classics 2. has a lot of problems on their mind 3. likes the kinds of books that talk about life. 4. is a phsycologist 5. just wants a good read.
Rating:
Summary: The Truth About Teenage Angst And Cynicism
Review: I regret that I am reading this book for the first time at age 25, and not 10 years earlier, because it feels like it was written either to: 1) placate teenage insensibilities and insecurities;
or
2) urge parents to make peace with incomprehensibly rebellious
children. The result of my perusal is that I am unable to identify with either audience and hence, felt utterly disconnected with Holden Caulfield's travails and misery. In fact, I detested the protagonist and found it hard to sympathize with what felt like self-wrought despair. Therein lies the mystery of literature -- I suppose if I ever harbored thoughts similar to Holden's, I would be embracing this much-loved anti-hero. It was not until the final chapter that I found myself feeling sorry for Holden. Come to think of it, he does not even fit the official definition of an anti-hero. An anti-hero tries, but fails. He is defeated by the forces of nature (which includes human nature, in my book). His downfall is sometimes the undoing of an unsuspecting individual. Perhaps the closest Salinger comes to defining the anti-hero in his piece de resistance are the early references to Thomas Hardy's The Return Of The Native. Sadly, Holden does not even come close to the tragic heroes that are Clym Yeobright and Eustacia Vye. But in a strange and probably effective way, that disconnect sums up the person of Holden Caulfield. He is an empty shell of a boy, as compared to his peers, and the irony of it all is -- for all that Salinger tries to convince us being "true" is about, you realize that truth is manifest as a human being that amounts to nothing, one who has been defeated by his own principles and beliefs. Prejudices against Holden Caulfield aside, there is no denying that the writing is sharp, engaging, and brilliant... it does unlock the part of me that identified with Holden at some point in my life. I don't like this book because of its irrelevance to me, now, but I applaud Mr. Salinger for putting into words what every 16-year-old has always found it hard to say aloud, especially to adults. For capturing so succinctly the experience of growing pains and the disease of socialization and acclimatization, that the anti-hero has become a hero.
Rating: 
Summary: Vulgar lingo and ill placed phrases
Review: ... This work is a compilation of ruined sentences and ill placed phrases which are so out of sync
with each other that the reader becomes bored before finishing the sentence. I was of the
fortunate few, who weren't forced to read this debauchery as a teenager, thank God for Catholic
school. Unfortunately as an adult I ran across a copy. I wound up throwing it in the trash as that
seemed the logical resting spot for the waste of paper the writing had become. The book was flat,tasteless, and Holden seemed more like a cardboard character than a real teenager. So much for this piece of so called "classic literature."
Rating:
Summary: I loved it!
Review: I read this book in one day, it's so good. I know to many of you avid readers out there, reading 1 book in a day might not be that much of an accomplishment, but hey, I don't read all that much. Maybe it's just because I'm a 14 years old boy so many of the things in this book I can connect with, but this book, IMO, just has everything. It'll make you laugh out loud time and time again and it has writing that is actually clear and easy to understand (unlike a lot of my reviews). I definately recommend this book to anyone and everyone, but especially to guys like me that can actually connect with many events that are happening within the book.
Rating:
Summary: If this is on your summer reading list - you are stoked!
Review: I can't imagine a literate teenager who would not enjoy this book. Salinger perfectly captures the adolescent worldview: most people are "phonies"; the world is more twisted and sick than our parents and teachers would have us believe; and, the prospect of sex is altogether pervasive, exciting, and scary. Holden Caulfield, the book's protagonist, relates an adventure that is no less compelling because it is realistic. Who wouldn't want to escape into the underside of New York City for a week or so after being tossed out of prep school? Be careful of your peers who take this book too seriously, though: Mark David Chapman, after he shot and killed John Lennon, pulled "CATCHER" out of his pocket and calmly sat reading it while he waited for the police to arrive. Best line: Sickened by a woman who pretends to be moved by an artistic performance, while treating the children with her unkindly, Holden remarks that she is "as compassionate as a goddamned wolf." [The book, of course, was written before people *liked* wolves.]
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