The Catcher in the Rye

Rating:
Summary: Holden Caulfied killed me!
Review: Boy, this is about the best book I ever read - I mean this is about the best book I ever read. It really is. I admit it. Sure, Holden has a pretty lousy attitude and all, about school and movies and his parents and the phonies and all, but who doesn't hate that stuff once in a while? Nobody. He's even a little phony himself sometimes. He really is. But that's why you like him. Because he's so complex and all, and you have to read in between the lines and all. Some of the scenes killed me too. They really did. Especially some of the things he says when he knows no one's paying attention to him. Like when he orders a drink and the waiter asks how old he is and all, and he says eighty-six. That killed me. It really did. And most of the time he just gives up and all. He can't finish ANYthing! He's grand and all, all the same, though. Who wouldn't like this book? - I mean, who wouldn't like this book? Nobody.

Rating:
Summary: I was born in 1951
Review: This book changed my life. I grew up in a blue-collar neigborhood where you went to work young and school was secondary. Unfortunately, most times you were judged by your cloths, your car and how much you had in your pocket. By the time I was ten I read just about every sports book in my local library. However, when I picked up this book in 1964...I understood the true importance of reading. Salinger is a carpenter and his tools are words. This book moved an entire generation.

Rating:
Summary: I never got it
Review: Here's the problem with some classics. In order for everyone else to assume them as classics the thoughtform is that the reader wants to be or is a young White male. I am not any of those so to me Holden spent a lot of time whining. The fact that it also shows up as the book on most nutcases bookcases says a lot about this book.
Do I think it speaks to some who need attention and feel left out of the world? Sure. but so does barney if you pay close attention. My stars are for a good first person narrative and its durability over 50 years...
Though I do hate writer psychoanalyzation because the very point of fiction is that it is suppose to be made up and not projection. Therefore I consider this good fiction, but not outstanding literature and I will leave the biographical, however salacious, notes on Salingers private peccadilloes for girls that resembled boys and their resemblance to Holden Caulfield up to higher, greater minds than my own.

Rating:
Summary: Cynical Beauty
Review: Like it or not, there is a little Holden Caufield in all of us. Who hasn't been disgusted with his present situation at one time or another, with the same drab setting and boring people, the same tedious authority figures, the seemingly inescapable occupational path laid out in front of him? Caufield is our phony-exposing id, getting kicked out of school, running away from convention, and telling anyone in his path exactly like it is. I, for one, feel like there's as many frauds around now as there were in Caufield's world (New York's boarding school establishment in the 1950's)- just pick up any paper- and would love to at times similarly pack up and escape them all.

Caufield's heart is in the right place throughout this tale of, essentially, a young man's mild descent into madness (I say mild because it is accompanied by none of the gun-wielding trauma we have come to associate with disillusionment among today's post-Columbine teens). He says goodbye to a professor at the boarding school he's tossed from; he defends an old girlfriend's honor from his cad roommate; he fondly and regretfully reminisces about his dead younger brother; and he dotes on his sister Phoebe throughout, even entering his parents' house under the cover of darkness (and in a drunken stupor) to check in on her while she slept. When he visits her at school and takes her to the park the next day, right at the brink of his collapse and threatening to leave his environment forever, the scene is as touching as it is suspenseful.

I would like to have seen more resolution from this story, such as his making contact with his unrequited love, who was never mentioned after Caufield fought his roommate for dating her. However, I recognize Catcher is more about one errant weekend- albeit a very revealing one- than it is Caufield's life's story. Plus, the surprise ending merits a mere couple of paragraphs, and the merest of allusions within them, yet exceeds the rest of this book in its power.

Rating:
Summary: The Catcher in the Rye
Review: Holden Caulfield was this young man raised in the upper middle class area of New York City. His life as a young man was put into these guidelines and if you didn't do what everyone else did something was wrong with you. He became depressed by the shallow people he was around. Holden wanted to be himself and bend the rules out loud. Doing so he found himeself in alot of situations good and bad. In this wonderful story Holden finds joy in the simpliest things of life. He's a very good listner. He believes everyone and everything has a story and he wants to hear it!
If he could change the world he would..............

Rating:
Summary: there's more to this than incessant whining...
Review: ...despite many reviews of this book i've seen and heard. this book is about holden, an unbelievably controversial character; many hate him for his hypocrisy and "whining", but i believe that these people are simply unwilling to read farther into the book, for whatever reason. i know that holden is hypocritical, i know that he whines, i know that he is immature; i am willing, though, to see what he has to teach me. this book is not striking for its plot, no. salinger gives the reader a look at the world through holden's eyes, the running commentary that is his thoughts, because salinger obviously thought that holden had something to tell us. i read this book in an english class, and it is possibly more enjoyable that way, taken in doses of a few chapters at a time and constantly analyzed throughout. however, yes, holden does have a lot to say if you're up to listening to him, and he is heartbreakingly human and adolescent for all his faults. he is not, though, a typical teen, even though i'm sure many teens see themselves reflected in him. it's not every teen who so vocally detests the "phony" adult world, and perhaps holden makes us more aware of the part of ourselves that recognizes this more socially accepted behavior as pretense and helps us decide to reject pretense.

Rating:
Summary: Most overrated book of all time?
Review: Well, my first exposure to this book was back in High School. You could say I was sorta the depressed type. My teacher, she thought this book was just wonderful.. and she thought I would just love it to death. After reading a few chapters I found myself almost sad, was it because this book wasn't as good as I thought it would be? ..maybe it was because my teacher thought this book would rock my world and I'm realizing how simple she thought I was. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone I know. Mainly because this book really doesnt offer anything special. Here is why you shouldn't read this book. First, there is no real decent story, nothing clever or anything. When it comes to the plot, there are a vast ammount of books that are far superior. So, whats left? People like this book because they think its relatable and funny and satirical. The humor and satire are very tame, I never really laughed at anything in this book. Dont buy it expecting to be happily entertained. Now, the main problem I have with this book is simply the intelligence of it. Nothing about this book made me think... it just isn't smart or clever or anything. Not to really offend anyone, but this book is most likely to impress dull people. Bottom line, do not bother with this book if you are somewhat intelligent. This book is just the only somewhat relatable book you read in school, perhaps the only reason for its popularity.(If you want intelligence, humor, and satire, try Chuck Palahniuk or other authors like him.. surf thru amazon's listmanias, its a great way to find a book to read)

Edit: I originally gave this one star, but I bumped it up to two because I do actually like the sections that involve Holden's sister.

Rating:
Summary: best book i ever read
Review: i ussually hate reading. but when i read this book in my english class i couldint put it down. its very interesting. it is about a 16 yr old boy who gets kicked outta school and he leaves and spends the rest of the time traveling around the city pretty much. but he runs into all sorts of crazy things.

Rating:
Summary: this stays in your mind for a long time
Review: i reviewed this right after i finished it and gave it four stars. but after a while i realized i was still thinking about this book. and usually after i read a book i stop thinking about it after a day or two. but this one stayed in my mind for weeks. so i still agree with most things i said in the first review i'm just changing it to 5 stars, because of its staying power. if you want to read my original review keep reading.

well i read this because i am a 16 year old male. so i was supposed to really identify with holden, and i did at some points in the book, but at others he was a bit too cynical for me and i can be pretty cynical. my favorite was near the end when he was with phoebe, his little sister. that got to me the most. sometimes though his problems became a little bit too much. I also think the word "corny" was overused. all in all though it was a good book. i am definitely going to check out salinger's other work.

Rating:
Summary: A masterpiece of the anti-hero
Review: After you read this, Holden Caulfield will live on in your mind, hanging around, speaking through you, informing the way you think of yourself and others. It's a masterpiece of writing, in which the author clearly and completely presents to you another person's mind and soul.

It is an incredible exercise in empathy. It really was. As I read it, I realized that Holden was far from perfect, but I cared so much what happened to him, I could feel his loneliness and could see him resisting getting the help he needs. Salinger's recreation of a boy headed "to a fall," as Mr. Antolini tells him, is an amazing opportunity to be someone else for awhile.

The colloquial speech of the novel is well suited for reading aloud, and I really enjoyed that aspect of it. I really did. We read it like madmen whenever we could. I'm not kidding.

I guess I just want to say that I love and care for Holden Caulfield and I hope, somewhere, he's alright.