Rating:  Summary: its a my review! mankitgod.irishotstuff Review: the catcher in the rye Holden Caulfield, a 16 year-old, goes to a boarding school in Hagerstown, Pennsylvania. His school is about to expel him because of his bad grades. He wanted to stay out away from home and school so during his vacation he lived out and didn't go home. During that time he lived in hotels in New York City. He got the money from his grandmother who never remembers his birth-date and gives him money. One day he bought a gift for his sister whom he loves respectively, Phoebe, at home. Because they are close, Holden told him about how he is flunking school. Next day he went to find his sister at her school and was going to say good bye because he is deciding to leave and run away from home, but because she cried, the then doesn't have the heart to leave anymore. J. D. Salinger wrote this book in a teenager point of view, which was very smart. The words and the language she used to write this book are commonly heard from a lot of teenagers. I think this book is well written because of the way she wrote this book and how it¡¦s about a teenager. It's good how she writes about his feelings not just what happens and what is he doing.
Rating:  Summary: These Things I believe. Review: Now, before we begin, I'd like to preface this by stating I a) Like to think of myself as reasonably intelligent (Ha!) and b) am a High School student. Don't worry boys and girls, this isn't a "I hated this book because they made me read it for school!" (although they did, naturally.) I did not like this novel at all. No, not because there are a lot of cuss words (my dainty ears!) People DO talk like that, believe it or not. No, friends, I didn't like it because it completely failed to connect. I realize it's bad form to slam a novel because 'you don't agree with the point of view', but that's more or less what I must do. I am not at all dissatisfied with our current society. Things are better than they have ever been, and only getting better (terrorism is only a bump in the road, really.) We live in the greatest time that mankind has ever achieved (ESPECIALLY in the USA.) How can one be disillusioned? Mein Gott. A little off topic there eh? Well, kind of, but I simply haven't experienced 'teen angst.' Sure, my life doesn't seem to have a whole lot of direction right now, but Mr. Caufield's bizarre attitude towards society in general (adult society, I suppose) is completely alien to me. I dunno. The book just failed to connect. I cannot share any of Holden's sentiments. He is not a terribly admirable character in my estimation, nor is his societal commentary either very interesting or insightful. We've heard it a thousand times over and it's simply flawed. I don't really want to hear another cynical voice added to the choir. Heh, that's another thing. Why are High School kids reading this? You're preaching to the choir, Mr. Salinger. I think most of my chums are already disillusioned enough. Freak out some ultra conservative Baptists or something. Oh, that's right, it's banned in Mississippi! (Maybe not, I'm just trying to inject some humor into this terribly writted, meandering piece of trash I call a 'review.') OK, rant over. Reading over this.....thing, I realize these are the rantings of a man who is typing way past his bedtime. Maybe some of what I was trying to get across to you poor people came through. Or not. Either way, fifty five star reviews will soon cover mine up and that will be that. Carry on.
Rating:  Summary: Fifty Years After Review: Fifty years after it was first published and thirty (something) years after I first readThe Catcher in The Rye, I decided to reread it to see if it had the same impact as the first time. Holden Caufield's lost weekend in New York seemed so risque and daring when I read it as a teenager. I was most impressed with the language he used and wished that I could be as fast and loose with my language. Thirty years later does add some perspective and in view of language use today, The Catcher in the Rye seems awfully mild. Holden is obviously an imperfect and confused hero in search of finding his way in the adult world which he both covets and despises. He is not well equipped for this quest, frequently failing to communicate is desires and feelings to the world around him. Caufield's pathetic attempts to communicate and involve himself with others leads him into further isolation. Holden Caufield, the teenager created by J.D. Salinger is a strangely vulnerable young man at odds with the phonies of the earth. After being expelled from one more prep school Caufield gathers his resources and spends a weekend in New York City before planning to return home. Caufield is an amusing and obsessive youth who has an opinion about everything. Holden a disorganized and directionless dweeb is true to his own values and morals. He is loyal to those he loves and cares for his sister Phoebe and friend Jane, while despising those who do not live up to his standards. If you have not read this book it is high time to give it a try.
Rating:  Summary: Hype in the Rye Review: Growing up in Boarding school, reading Catcher in the Rye, whilst moping about the fields secretly smoking cigarettes and feeling quite misunderstood was a standard thing to do. I have always wanted to read this book, but never got round to it until now. May be I would have understood the trials and tribulations, of coming from a wealthy family and having the opportunity to be educated in style, back in the days, but now that I am older and more disillusioned, I can merely consider the protagonist as a victim of teenage angst. Caulfield; take a Prozac and grow up! A one book wonder
Rating:  Summary: ... Review: I'm a book critic, and this was the worst book I've ever read, and I'm a book junkie. What's with the double negatives? The plot lacked an awful lot. The whole book was a waste of my time and money. I wish someone had warned me about it before I purchased it. My old journals make better reading than this novel, and that's not saying much. If you hear me, skip this one! SNOOZE !...
Rating:  Summary: An Okay Pot Boiler Review: I have always been amused when some one claims that CATCHER IN THE RYE "changed my life!" It's rather like hearing some one state that PEYTON PLACE saved their soul and VALLEY OF THE DOLLS restored their eyesight, for CATCHER IN THE RYE is essentially a pot-boiler, albeit one expertly done. Generally speaking, CATCHER is the saga of a teenage wannabe who is filled with typical angst at the thought of fast approaching responsibility. During the course of the novel he copes with the necessity of maturity much like waves on the beach, rushing forward toward it and then running away from it, repeating the cycle over and over again. Portions of the novel strike me as a bit uneven, but not so much so that one would consider it uneven in a broad sense. The characters are well drawn, and the episodic story reasonably entertaining. It is most likely to appeal to teenagers, young adults, and mature adults capable of laughing at their own past teenage hysteria. Well done for what it is, and you'll probably enjoy it, but hardly in the same class with the great novels of 20th century American literature.
Rating:  Summary: Not a classic Review: I never had to read this book in high school, but talking to friends of mine who had read it, the Catcher in the Rye was a "love it or hate it" book. So, of course I had to read it. I neither loved it nor hated it. Holden Caulfield was a memorable character, one that I would love to sit down and talk with, but a character does not make a great book. Salinger created a wonderful character, a cynical yet compassionate, tough yet insecure teenage boy, an outsider in a "phony" world. But then nothing happens. We see a portrait of a kid full of angst, a character that most of us can relate with to some degree or another ... and Salinger just has him spout cynisms when he's not suddenly crying because he feels lonely. He hatches crazy schemes about running away and then abandons them when he realizes that his kid sister needs him, and he needs her. So he hangs around, then eventually goes out to stay with his older brother, who (were he not his brother) would probably be termed a phony by Holden. And that's it. He runs back to family when confronted with a lifetime of loneliness. A realistic resolution, perhaps, but not really the stuff classics are made of. At no time does Holden ever feel despair or hopelessness. And why should he? Despite the situations he is in, he's always in control and active. While he's not loaded, he's got plenty of money. He's got friends, even if most of them are border-line phonies. He's got a family who loves him. So why on earth does he feel lonely? Great characterization wasted by a mediocre book.
Rating:  Summary: High school junior Review: I read this book for my AP English class, and I don't see what all the hype is about. Holden's narration thorughout the novel was like 200 pgs of rambling cynicism and skepticism. Grant it, the dialect was very believeable, but the novel lacked a real plot and I found it too be quite monotonous for the most part. The entire novel, in the form of a flashback and filled with many insignificant digressions, was really just an adolescent constantly rambling who is obvious a very emotionally and psychologically disturbed person. I do feel, however, that this book does have some purpose in that there are many teens on the brink of adulthood that need something like this to relate to, and not feel the isolation and alienation that Holden did. Salinger writes very realistically, and depending on the type of person you are, there's a great deal to be taken from this novel.
Rating:  Summary: Excellent Goddam Book Review: A lot has been said about this wonderful book and what I am going to say will probably be much of the same. I loved this book. I bought it for my dad for xmas and I ended up reading it myself. It's on the reading list for my english class so i figured i'd read it ahead of time. I read the book in two days, i couldn't put it down. I found myself really identifing with holden. I have gone through a lot of similar problems that holden went through in the book and I came out of it actually feeling smarter and wiser about life, the first time a book has ever done this to me. The relationship between holden and pheobe was my favorite aspect of the book, especially the chapter when holden is in pheobe's room. The book is pretty funny too, like when he gets all nervous when the prostitute comes to visit him. I very much reccommend this book to everyone, especially teenagers. I'm on my way to re-reading it now, it's that damn good. Easily my favorite book.
Rating:  Summary: A pure soul in world of phonies... Review: It is important to keep our mind open to what great writers, such as J. D. Salinger have to say to us. The book its not just a three day adventure of a confused adolescent, it is a saga of a soul, a look at how our society is, and how we have to somehow give up part of we are in order to "blend in." It is also about the loss of innocence in the process of becoming part of this society where the phony relations always prevail. "I'm always saying 'Glad to've met you' to somebody I'm not at all glad I met. If you want to stay alive you have to say that stuff, though" (pg87). Sounds familiar? Holden has in a certain (crazy) way, a clear view of the world. He doesn't like the world he sees, neither wants to take part in it - and that is his big struggle. It is important to pay attention to the message in between the lines. Just not refuse the "maybe inappropriate" comments of the protagonist; many of them, if you think about, are perhaps the clear picture underneath superficial appearances... It is no doubt a great book and must read. It will make you laugh, it will make you think, and you'll miss Holden the second you put the book down!
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