The Catcher in the Rye

Rating:
Summary: Amazing Book
Review: I recommend this book. It captured my interest till the end. We all, as people, face hardships and sometimes feel like giving up, but we eventually pull through. Without those hardships we wouldn't be the people we are now. Everyone will take something different from this book. For me, I learned that life isn't half as bad as we think it may be. Everyone has his or her own problems to deal with. You're not alone.

Rating:
Summary: a book for the youth
Review: The Catcher in the Rye was what I would call an "a-ok" book. It didn't grab me and pull me in like many say it would. It was a book about a teenage boy trying to cope with the real world and running away from problems, much like a stage in life the present day's teenager would associate with.
The tone of voice in Holden, because it was written in first person, sets a depressing state in the reader. Holden just didn't seem like a positive figure, and that may be why many school libraries ban this book. I think that this book is good for the adolescent though because it mirrors life, and because I think teenagers like to read books that they can relate with instead of the long, boring stories that some students are forced to read.

Rating:
Summary: 2 stars for entertainment value, none for actual substance
Review: I had to write a book report for school on this book, so that follows, but lemme first say something. Books are a form of entertainment, just as TV and movies are. There have been a lot of movies that were very entertaining, yet extremely stupid. Most books, however, tend to be more focused on story and plot than on entertainment. However, anything without sufficient plot to go along with it's entertainment value, whether it be movies or books, is gonna suck. This book fits into that category. Forget the critics who blow smoke and say The Catcher in the Rye is wonderful just because they dont wanna feel stupid or be the black sheep who says it's awful, in a crowd of folks saying it's terrific - American Beauty movie critics were the same way - this book has little substance, and is just a lot of fluff. American Beauty was entertaining and "different" and new and uncliched - but really, it was about stupid people doing stupid things. The author tried to pass it off as something "deep" and that we should be in awe of, but it wasnt and it stunk, much like this book. Here's my high-school book review:

"If you really want to hear about it...what my lousy childhood was like...and all that David Copperfield kind of crap...I don't feel like getting into it, if you want to know the truth. In the first place, that stuff bores me." J.D. Salinger sets the tone of this story right from the get-go. Salinger captures the life of a 1940's teenager, using brutal irreverence and raw emotions in an attempt to bring a sense of realism to an otherwise worthless story. I must admit, Salinger almost pulls it off. The story, essentially, is about three days in the life of a teenager who habitually screws up and get kicks kicked out of private school. I'm sorry if I'm not not enthusiastic, but (at the beginning) the storyline sounded lame and boring. But that's what is so odd about The Catcher in the Rye. It actually IS interesting.

Holden Caulfield, our afore mentioned subject, is a jerk. He's self-centered, smart-mouthed, and completely dreadful to read about. But for some reason, I found myself liking him and almost rooting for him. He comes from a middle classed, joe-average family. He's confused, frustrated, and seemingly annoyed by every little thing in life. He hates "phonies" and he hates people who play mind games. He finds both the arrogant and the painfully insecure to be irritating. He mouths off to people he should respect, and he hurts people who don't let him have his way. Sadly, I can relate to him. I found myself thinking a lot of the same things Caulfield did. I even found myself nodding in agreement when he ranted about certain topics. I could even relate to Caulfield putting his foot in his mouth when he was with Sally. I think we're all a bit like Holden Caulfield in one way or another. I believe that simple fact is why this book has gotten such high acclaim. Caulfield is an average person with many faults and failures. He's not the super-strong hero or the smooth talking ulra-suave gentleman we see in the movies and read about in other books. There's no sappy romances or thrilling action scenes. There's not even an "underdog surprises everyone and saves the day" ending, either. Bottom line, there are relatively few cliches in this book, which is awesome and great, but still not enough to cover the fact that Salinger has no story here. Salinger provides us with a nice change of pace, but little else.

Although this story was entertaining and very interesting, I was still unsatisfied. For starters, the amount of four-letter words used throughout this story annoyed me. It just seems so uncharacteristic for a person in the 1940s to be using that kind of language that often. And the idea of a sixteen year old getting a hooker also is a bit odd. But I think the thing that most annoyed me about The Catcher in the Rye is that it lacked any real substance. Overall, a story about a day in the life of an ungrateful, snot nosed teenager just does not cut it. I need more than that. Sure I can relate to Holden Caulfield as Salinger intends...but the question that BEGS to be answered is this: why should I care? Why should I care or root for someone who aspires to be a rebelling loser all his life?

Rating:
Summary: give me a break
Review: I've read lots of literature; more than you might imagine.
I read this thinking that I had missed a classic.

This book does NOT "capture the rawness, is so enthralling, blah, blah, blah."

It IS outdated and whiny. Instead of feeling empathy with a depressed main character, I feel the urge to only slap him.

Why this has achieved classic status only attests to what P.T. Barnum said about people, numbers and fooling.

Rating:
Summary: WOW
Review: I loved it. You have to read it to understand. It is so amazing and inspiring and entertaining, just... wow.

Rating:
Summary: it was ok
Review: I've looked at this book a couple of times and I never really wanted to read it but then we had to for ninth grade english so I finally got around to reading it. I suppose it was good for what it is (character sketch?) but Holden Caufield (isn't that the most awesome name? too bad it had to be wasted on this guy) is a complete and total loser. I can't relate to him at all. He's a lazy bum who doesn't seem to care about much of anything. Through the whole book, he complains about how phony people are. Well, yes. People are phony. It's a fact of life. You can't change it. Get over it. Many of his observations on people and things in general are extremely witty and the writing is phenomenal but I still can't understand why anyone would want to read this book.

Rating:
Summary: A great book. comming from a 15 year old h.s. student
Review: i thought this book was great i highly recomend it to teenagers who dont know exactly where they are in life. A book where you must recognize at least one character from your life. A must read for all teenagers who dont like to read or whos life isnt on track.

Rating:
Summary: Inner Turbulences of the Teenage Mind
Review: Holden Caufield - The ultimate image of a confused, contradicting, moody, iconoclastic, adventurous, brutally honest, and searchingly rebellious teenager perplexed by the flatulating, artificial behavior of his peers stuck in their "good school" pre-Ivy league training environment known as Pencey prep school. After a final betrayal from his roommate concerning a girl, Jane, he knew very well, Holden knowing that he is going to be expelled for flunking 4 out of 5 classes decides to hit the road early.
He arrives in NYC, his hometown and in a period of 2 days, this seventeen years old goes on a spending spree amusing himself with all the glitz and glamour that NYC has to offer. Barhopping, girl scouting, cigar chain smoking, and reuniting with people from his past, Holden goes through a spiraling swirl of experiences with most of them leaving him left in the dark with only a beer in one hand, regret in the mind, and a trickling, diminshing wad of cash in the other hand.

Dealing with depression, trust, a longing for escape from dependencies and repetative life, an attempt to find one's passion, interests, and right environment, and lastly girl, girls, girls, Salinger strikes a chord with a lot of people who have doubted whether the by-the-book, staight-edged course that has been set out for them to complete, is really the right and rational passage on should take.
The fact that Holden finds a rejuventated spirit in being with his upbeat and insightful younger sister when he's faced with the reality of how his negative actions disrupt her mental focus, he reconciles with his rebellious nature and seems to learn be on a path to learning the importance of patience and discipline, something all rebellious independently minded young adults have had to learn, many times through such a hazy, spinning, rollercoaster-riding, tornadic ride that saw Holden Caufield exemplify the inner workings of a teenage in American Society in only a matter of two days. This book is a right of passage and must be read by every questioning, doubting, mystified teenager as well as those looking back on how they've changed/not changed by re-reading and reminiscing on their own lives in their later years.

Rating:
Summary: what's with that crummy rainbow on the cover?
Review: well, this is a pretty good book and all, but i wouldn't go
calling it "grand" or anything like that. if i heard someone call this book "grand" i'd probably do something crazy like go kick a tree in the park for chrissakes. i'm a madman for this book, i really am..

Rating:
Summary: My Thoughts on "Catcher In The Rye "
Review: The Catcher in the Rye Review
The title, The Catcher in the Rye, still catches my eye. After reading the book it still intrigues me how the author chose this as the title. I think it's brilliant. The book is just as brilliant.
Everyone can relate to Holden Caulfield, the fiercely honest and stubborn headed main character, in some way. As Holden recaps his journey through some hard times in his life you realize just how like him you are. He reminisces about things like getting kicked out of Pencey High School, "the very good school," according to all whom have yet to and never will attend it. He struggles with his fellow peers who he can't quite see eye to eye with. He predicts on how his parents will feel about him leaving Pencey, " Well...they'll be pretty irritated about it. They really will. This is about the fourth school I've gone to." After leaving Pencey, he figures he can stay at a hotel so his parents won't suspect he's gotten kicked out of another school. Holden thinks to himself, "I'd put on my red hunting cap when I was in the cab, just for the hell of it, but I took it off before I checked in. I didn't want to look like a screwball or something. I didn't know then that the goddamn hotel was full of perverts and morons."
Holden was in for a surprise when faced with life firsthand instead of the "candy- coated" life he had experienced in his elementary schools and boarding high school, Pencey. He's faced with pimps, prostitutes, strange cab drivers and just life in the streets.
He calls on old friends to comfort him in his struggling downward but even they are no comfort to him. It takes time and bad experiences within the few days Holden lives on his own to see the truth. He comes up with his own resolution to face life head on. He figures that maybe he doesn't have it so bad and discovers a sort of self-respect. Every challenge he is faced with helps him discover that he is just as important as every other person on earth. He finds out that by letting his care for school, friends and life go, that there are people who care for him and would be disappointed if he made a decision like dropping out of school. Once Holden claims he's going to run away, his little sister Phoebe starts crying and Holden says, "I'm not going away anymore. I changed my mind. So stop crying and shut up." But for the most part, Holden realized he would be disappointing himself the most.
The author J. D. Salinger approaches Holden's story with a comical irony that still captures the harsh realities of life. It's a pretty easy to read book. Salinger portrays Holden as a person who expresses exactly how he feels on all the issues at hand without leaving the reader to wonder. It was exciting to see what Holden would do next. He was full of many good insights and pondered upon things people usually don't take the time to think about.
I recommend this book. It captured my interest till the end. We all, as people, face hardships and sometimes feel like giving up, but we eventually pull through. Without those hardships we wouldn't be the people we are now. Everyone will take something different from this book. For me, I learned that life isn't half as bad as we think it may be. Everyone has his or her own problems to deal with. You're not alone.