The Catcher in the Rye

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding!!!
Review: This is a fantastic book, a true classic if there's ever one. Salinger has a way of writing that brings the characters to life, and what's more, is that they're characters that we care about, and want to read about. The reader can't help to identify with most of the characters.

One of the characters that we can all identify with is the main character, Holden Caufield. As the reader, we're able to get have the treat of spending two or three days with him. We see how negative he is, but yet we wish him the best of luck. Why's what do you ask? It's simple....we can see some of ourself in Holden. We can't help to care about him, b/c he's us. Maybe we're not as negative as Holden, but at times, we're him. We're him b/c he's an honest character. Holden could be our neighbor, a family member, or a friend. That's how strong of a writer Salinger is. He has the power to hold us to the page. We want to see what Holden's going to do next.

We see Holden getting kicked out of school and spend the next two days with him, and are able to look at his life. I like the ending b/c it makes you think.

I highly suggest this book. Once you start, I promise you won't be sorry.

Rating:
Summary: A classic worth reading
Review: Everybody is a big phony--well, at least to Holden Caulfield. "The Catcher in the Rye" is one of those books that it seems everyone dreads having to read in high school but for no understandable reason. I was never forced to read it in high school and now that I am in college and have started reading on my own, I decided to check out this classic work.

Holden, going through what can be considered normal teen emotions, appears to have a real chip on his shoulder. After being kicked out of yet another school, Holden becomes depressed. Wandering around New York until it is safe to go home, he is left to wallow in obscurity. The only people or things he cares deeply for is his little sister, Phoebe, and his dead brother, Allie. Holden's relationship with Phoebe, my favorite aspect of the book, is the only thing managing to keep him sane. Borrowing a phrase that Holden likes to use, Phoebe really "knocked him out." The other characters, such as fellow Pency students Ackley and Stadtler, have limited roles and only further add to Holden's disillusionment.

From the beginning of the book it easy to identify with Holden, even though his view of the world is almost exclusively negative. Holden confides in you and it feels very easy to confide in him. At first the ending seemed empty, as it if was lacking a denouement. However, if you read between the lines, the ending is very fitting. This is the theme throughout the rest of the book too--it is an average story when taken at face value but further inspection reveals greatness.

I did enjoy reading this book. The only reasons I didn't give it the final star to signify true excellence was some of the harsh language used and the depressing nature of the book. It really isn't the best book to read if you are feeling down on your luck. Otherwise, if you have never read it or were forced to read it in high school and didn't like it then, I recommend you pick up a copy now.

Rating:
Summary: something u can relate to
Review: this is my favorite book. it's hard to exaplin why. just read it and why it's my favorite will make sense. holden caulfield is my hero.

Rating:
Summary: The catcher in the rye
Review: The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

What's not to like about this book? A young, cute, very honest guy goes through all of the thoughts, problems, and relationships of teenage life. His name is Holden, Holden Caulfield and boy does he have problems! He can't find a college he likes. He's either getting kicked out, getting into trouble, or just not liking it enough to even try. But all he can think about is what he can do not to tell his parents right away. This book was published along time ago as in my parents even read it, but is still a very good book. It has lots of things in it that still happen a lot today. This book is a great read and I'm not the only one that thinks so The Catcher in the Rye is #9 on the list of the best english-language Fiction books of the twentieth century. It has a unique ending and you're not going to want to miss it! -RachelOrazem

Rating:
Summary: Fabulous
Review: Holden Caulfield is a cynic in every sense of the word, but beneath his abrasive and self-depreciating nature resides an intelligent, insightful, misunderstood teenager, who embodies the awkwardness of adolescence. Full of contradictions, Holden remains my favorite protagonist. Although he swears 'like a sailor', the thought of children being exposed to profanity sickens him. He thinks he's a nymphomaniac, yet he's a virgin. Throughout the novel, Holden voices his hatred for 'phonies', and at times it seems that Holden embodies that which he despises. As the book opens, Holden is failing out of his prestigious boarding school full of phonies. He decides to arrive home early for Christmas vacation. Thus begins his odyssey toward his beloved sister, Phoebe.
J.D. Salinger is a literary genius. His ability to capture human behavior is astounding. The Catcher in the Rye is one of my all time favorite books; I read it every Christmas. Brutally honest, hysterically comical and heart-breakingly tragic all at the same time, The Catcher in the Rye is a rare achievement in literature.

Rating:
Summary: The Book Kids who Hate Books Love
Review: It might be that Salinger invented adolescence. Previous to this American standard or classic, whichever you choose, we were a less adolescent-obsessed and preoccupied society. That maligned condition has since expanded by many years- starts around 11 and ends around 32.
Give or take.

The book transforms kids from book bored to book possible. I have never come across, in 30 years of work with kids, one young person, in any culture, of either gender, who having read the book, (implying they could,) did not love it. They claim it, and feel as though it were a personal match, "that's how I feeel!" They are still, of course, in a state of complete selfcenteredness. They join it in symbolic affiliation.

No matter how desperately close, the imitators have gotten, there just is no other book that generates this kind of response. It is a one shot deal, but often sufficiently positive to further attempts with the literary life.

ONLY IN AMERICA, could a Holden Caulfield come along and capture generation after generation. Just as Huckleberry Finn did before him, they work our forms out a little more, sculpt us a little bit firmly.

Rating:
Summary: inspiration
Review: i read this book for the first time when i was 14 (over a decade ago)....and haven't managed to delete it from my memory even to this day...its left an unimaginable impact on my mind as it depicted the trials and tribulations of a teenager with such genuine accuracy....that as a teenager i was overwhelmed to read that i wasn't the 'only one'. Perhaps the teenage years of one's life are the most lonely that one goes through....and to find someone else who identifies with you at that point in time seems ineffable....even today i enjoy reading this book as i can now at this age understand the finer tones and nuances that were missed at a younger age....i recommend this book highly....

Rating:
Summary: Catcher in the Rye Review
Review: Holden Caulfield is a depressed nervous boy who undergoes a rough learning process following his expulsion from school. His complicated situation is caused by his continuing search for a true meaning or quality of life. Holden is tired of the "phonies" that surround and have daily contact with him. He looses interest in school and quickly falls into trouble. Failing to maintain his grades in private school force him to be dropped from the program entirely. Holden then commences his search for his true self and wanders the streets of New York while battling his growing depression. He meets new people and runs into past acquaintances that simply confuse him even deeper rather than helping him sort out his emotions. At one point, Holden tries to just go home but cannot bear his mother's disapproval and his father's constant lecturing. Instead, Holden goes to the one person who seems to be able to clear his mind of troubles, his sister Phoebe. Holden's depression is temporarily lifted during a conversation with Phoebe, but quickly returns and forces him to move on. Holden experiences both mental and physical trauma and realizes that he must find professional help soon, which is exactly what he ends up doing.
Holden Caulfield is my favorite character. He represents what most teenagers go through at one point or another. I can very much relate to him. I have also run into the "phony" people that Holden did. "Phony" people are those who appear to be one thing when they are clearly another. These "phonies" portray false images to gain acceptance in the crowd. These false people end up hurting themselves and sometimes the ones surrounding them. I understand Holden's disgust towards these false people and appearances.
I like this book very much. My favorite part is when Holden returns to his hotel room after a night of heavy drinking and socializing. He meets Maurice the bellboy on his way up on the elevator. Maurice is secretly an amateur pimp. He agrees to send a girl up to Holden's room in a few minutes. What I like about this part of the book is the whole action and dialogue coming from Holden. He really acts like a drunken 16-year-old. When the girl finally arrives, she has a fight with Holden over her price. Maurice ends up having to come up to the room and punch the lights out of Holden. I think it is a very well developed story with an excellent plot and great characters.
I honestly recommend this book to every one. It will give readers a chance to look inside the developing mind of a 16-year-old boy and see what it goes through. Parents and teenagers alike will enjoy this book very much.

Rating:
Summary: The most amazing book ever
Review: I think a lot of people miss the most important meaning of this book. You can love it; you can hate it; you can feel indifferent towards it. However, the one thing no one can deny is that at one time in all of our lives we have felt exactly as Holden Caulfield did. The Catcher in the Rye is a timeless novel of teenage emotions. No matter how you feel about the book, you must admit it is an accurate depiction of a teenager's mind. Sometimes we all feel like Holden Caulfield.

Rating:
Summary: The Difference Between This Book and Other Books
Review: I first read this novel in college. That was forty years ago. Ever since, I have always had a copy of Salinger's novel in my library. I think about it every so often.

The difference between this book and other books is the immediacy of the writing. From the famous first sentence, Holden Caulfield talks to you as a real confidant. You are immediately his best friend. He confidies his private thoughts to you without any hesitation as to your relationship to him. There is an unspoken conclusion that he needs you to talk to. And he needs you now.

David Copperfield, which opens with that other famous first sentence, addresses you formally. His verbs are properly conjugated. and his diction is polished. David does not get close to you. He tells you his story from the podium.

Holden sits right next to you, leans against you, and talks to you. He language is informal and his diction is not so great. You don't care. Suddenly, someone is confiding in you. You want to hear him out.

That is why the novel works. Holden immediately accepts you, blemishes and all, as his best friend. He tells you his story even though he just met you. He is a stranger confiding in you.

Thomas Hardy tells a good story. He converses plainly and directly to the reader. Dickens addresses the reader. Salinger confides in the reader. This is the immediacy of the novel.

That is the difference between this book and the others. We all want to be someone's confidant.