Rating: 
Summary: The best book I have ever read
Review: The Catcher in the Rye is my favorite book. I'm fourteen years old, and I first read this book about 2 months ago. I really connected with Holden Caulfield more than any other character I've read about in a story. At the time I read this novel, I had basically dropped out of school; I hadn't gone in over a month (I have since returned), and I was feeling really depressed, just like Holden was in many parts of the book. Reading this book made me feel better because it made me realize that there are many other kids just like me; There are lots kids who don't like school and don't have the best relationship with their parents. Many kids don't agree with all of society's rules and values. I realized that other teenagers also felt that the people around them were phonies. It was very interesting to read about Holden's adventures in Manhattan as well. Holden Caulfield is an amazing character. This truly is an excellent book.
Rating: 
Summary: a life of our own
Review: Catcher in the Rye is the type of book that few people will understand. You will either love it or hate it, and it all depends on your state of mind. If you can identify with a character who feels out of place from society, who doesn't really have plans for the future, and who sometimes finds himself to be his own best friend, you will love this book. If you can't set your mind to think this way, you will either hate it, or respect the author's point of view, but not connect with it. Holden is more than a prep school drop-out, Holden is a generation. A generation that looks at society and says, "Why can't it be different? Why do I have to follow these rules, or standards?" Holden is ultimately a character who strives to gain a life much more simple than his own, a life that is much more of his liking, a life that many of us wish to have.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic!
Review: I first read The Catcher in the Rye in 9th grade, and immediately fell in love with the voice of Holden. The style in which it is written flowed so easily in my mind because it sounded- if only the language and not all of the opinions, like the voice inside my head. Salinger is subtle, and yet wonderfully blunt. He goes out of his way to explain the details of Holden's thoughts, but does not reach to extend to you the actual events surrounding the beginning and end of the book. I find this to be a blessing now, though it was frustrating at the time. I frequently read online journals in which the events surrounding a particularly difficult patch in life are described in painful detail, but the thoughts of the person writing during those times are not adequately explained. It makes the events seem almost unreal even though they are supposedly accounts of real life. This account of teen angst, however, is believable. Holden's character and story are tangible to the reader. Never for a moment did Holden seem unlike Holden, nor the significance of a thought or event become less significant than it should. The Catcher in the Rye is an absolute a classic. Salinger so perfectly put himself into the shoes of an angry and depressed teen that it's almost impossible to think that anyone but Holden actually penned the novel.
Rating:
Summary: Only a MORON would hate this book!
Review: J.D. Salinger's classic novel about the adventures of a cynical, depressed teenager is nothing short of brilliant. The dialogue, though written a while ago, speaks as human as today. The message gets across because we can all feel for the character, Holden. We were all at that stage of uncertainty and madness and it [stunk]! "The Catcher in the Rye" is the most honest and thought-provoking I have had the pleasure of reading. It remains one of my all-time favorite novels. It's a must for any fan of fiction, anxious teenage boy, or anyone.
Rating:
Summary: Not another boring classic
Review: This is the first book assigned to me for school that I actually liked. After being forced to read dreadfully boring books like Jane Eyre, The Once and Future King, the Odyessy, and then some, I went in to this book with the mind set that it was going to just be another boring classic. It wasn't though. It was great. I laughed out loud at some of the things Holden said; I'm sure if it was supposed to be funny though. He was just so random. It was great. It was so cute how he was always putting on his red hunting hat and asking everyone where the all ducks went when the lake froze. Aside from the comic aspects of the book, Holden was clearly a depressed invidual. Even though he flunked out of Pency, the school he was going to, it was obvious that he was really smart; otherwise he wouldn't have noticed all the little things that bother him so much causing him to be depressed. I recommend this book to everyone. It's easy to read and very interesting. I loved it.
Rating:
Summary: An Emotionally Difficult Time made even more Difficult
Review: I really do not see where all the confusion lies in getting the point of the book. Holden is having a very difficult time trying to work through the death of his younger brother. As adults, we can more predictably go through the stages of grief, but, as adolescents, we struggle through the death of loved ones in the context of our struggle for identity. We not only try to find a career for ourselves but also prove our loyalty to our friends, imitate role models, solidify our sexual identity, and form ideologies. Often, we say and do the opposite of what we mean because we find our feelings are so intense that we could not admit it straight out to the people around us and ourselves yet still be accepted. Imagine how hard it would be to go through your teen years having lost a sibling. Holden really does try to reach out to all the people he meets, but unfortunately, cannot express concretely what he is feeling; instead, he acts out with smoking, drinking, losing sleep, and searching for sexual escapades. Eventually, he runs himself down physically and mentally. Sadly, many adults do not see, or do not want to bear the responsibility, of getting teenagers to better express themselves and instead shame them. This book is a wonderful portrayal of an adolescent as he journeys down a path of depression and self-destruction until his family and the health-care profession intervene with acceptance and love.
Rating: 
Summary: The Catcher in The Rye
Review: After finishing this book, I'm still not sure if I liked it or not. I agree with one of the previous reviewers, that the last 3 pages were the best. I got tired of Holden's whining throughout the novel and was waiting for something fantastic to happen. It didn't. I can understand the turmoil Salinger was trying to portray, but the resolve could've been better.
Rating:
Summary: A Book Review. It Really Is.
Review: What would you do before you had to confront your parents after just getting expelled from yet another school? The Catcher in the Rye, by Jerome David Salinger, is a book about a teenage 16-year-old boy named Holden Caulfield who has a problem staying in this all-boys prep school called Pency but then gets exempted from the school. Now he must confront his parents. Instead of deciding to face them with his failure, he decides to: take an early vacation, wander around the streets of New York City, and come into contact with some interesting characters.
The majority of the novel takes place in New York City during post-war America which is in the early 1950's. The start of the novel takes place at Pency prep school. When Caulfield leaves Pency, he goes to various places in New York City, some of which are pretty popular. Areas of New York are very much like ghettos. An example description from the book would be, "The whole lobby was empty. It smelled like fifty million dead cigars. It really did." The journey begins just a week before Holden's Christmas break. But the real setting doesn't come till you read to the end. This is where the book's popularity comes from.
The narrator here is Holden Caulfield, the main character, who is an egomaniac because he thinks too highly of himself as not being "phony" and the only genuine person in mankind. As the story goes on he meets these strange, yet interesting characters he barely knows and criticizes them. He criticizes everyone! Not himself, just everyone else. He's a pretty smart guy, I'll give him that, but he's not so buff and tuff. Actually... he's very much a pacifist. His reputation is a bad one. He has flunked almost all his classes and has gotten the boot from three different boarding schools. The only class he's good at is English, and this is because he thinks all his other classes are "tedious" and "phony". Throughout the story Holden is pretty much the same because he can't let go the thought of his phony society around him. I like how he critiques all the common things done by the common people, it really makes me think.
The strange thing about this book is it doesn't have a real sticky plot. What I mean is... there is no plot! Hah! What kept me reading was the no plot idea and the unpredictability of where the book was headed. Holden is supposed to leave Pency and immediately tell his parents at home of his expulsion. He doesn't do it; instead, he wanders around in NYC. Then his favorite teacher betrays him. Mr. Spencer, one of the few teachers Caulfield liked, broke the news to his parents. This makes him even more terrified to go home so he travels incognito. Holden also gets into bizarre situations in the slums and hotels of New York. He feels like he can't speak to anyone except to his 10 year old sister named Phoebe, and he frequently recalls memories of his deceased little brother. At times, he even thinks about suicide or running away because of the "corrupt society around him".
Salinger has an interesting way of writing, and brings out the reputation of his characters at the start. As far as difficulty is concerned, all you need to know are words like: conceited, phony, inferior, and complex, and you're set. He repeats statements and opinions over and over again to show Holden's strong opposition or power of his thoughts. The moral here is that everyone must grow up, it is inevitable, and that you can't change the opinions of others as easily as you think you can. Don't expect that criticizing people will help you change the world to the way you want it to be, the world is set and no man can alter it. I'm a person who doesn't find most fiction books interesting enough to finish, but when I got a hold of this book, I had to keep reading to finish it. After you read this book you really have to think about it for a while and find a revelation on your own. This is the major part of the book, and you'll appreciate this book for it. The only word that can describe this book is... "interesting" and it really makes you think to make you say out loud, "Wow!" Although there are some vulgar word usages here and there, I'd recommend this book to anyone, especially teenagers who can really relate.
Rating:
Summary: The Cather in the Rye
Review: This book is about a teenager who goes through depreesion and other problems most teens face while growing up. I can also relate to this book because it reminds me that sometimes i feel the same way. I recommend this book to everyone who doesn't mind faul language and the themes such as depression, lonelyness, and phonines. I really liked this book because of the things that occur. But the ending is very bad because it leaves you with unanswered questions such as what happened to Holden (the narrator) at the end.
Rating: 
Summary: Not absolutely unbearable, but it could have been better.
Review: I'd give "The Catcher in the Rye" 2 1/2 stars if there were 1/2-star ratings here. But basically, this book just wasn't as great as everyone says. It's overrated to a degree, but I still found some merit in it. There wasn't much of a plot, and it wasn't very well-written, but it does have some rather interresting, likable charcters. Holden Caulfield himself, though, is just annoying. He complains about everything, gets depressed easily, repeats phrases like "I really did" and "If you want to know the truth" at least 50 times, and swears a lot. I'm 15 years old, and I can safely say that Caulfield is NOT the embodiment of teenage cynicism. I know some kids who are pretty dense, but most of us aren't nearly as obnoxiously pessimistic as Caulfield. Yet I mannaged to choke down the book in a few days. I only read it because I didn't have anything better to read. I will say a few good things, though. Salinger, via Caulfield, makes some rather interesting observations about the different kinds of people in life, sort of like a Horacian observer with a Juvenalian attitude. I will also say that I think the writing was DELIBERATELY bad, as Salinger was trying to make it sound like a real adolescent was actually writing his book, and he succeeded admirably in achieving that effect. But by and large, I didn't like the book and probably the only reason Salinger has been so reclusive for the past 50+ years is because he's ASHAMED of having written this mostly unenjoyable book.
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