The Catcher in the Rye

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Summary: Not all of us are Holden
Review: In Catcher's protrayal of a disaffected teenager, Salinger really shines. Holden never offers any reasons for his criticism and fails to recognise his massive hypocracy. But I'm speaking as someone who isn't trapped in existentialist delusions, doesn't hate his fellow human being while harboring secret hypocracies, and doesn't have psycho-sexual complexes. You really have to identify with Holden Caulfield for this book to work its magic. Otherwise it's a tale about a repetative, petulant child confronting the big, bad world and having a nervous breakdown a la Kafka -- it's hard for me to either feel sympathy for him or feel he came to his just desserts.

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Summary: They make you read it for a reason.
Review: Holden Caulfield is an egotistical loser. I've heard countless high school juniors say something akin to that after reading "The Catcher In the Rye" as assigned reading. To tell the truth, this thought ran through my head until I got to chapter eleven. Contrary to popular oppinion, "The Catcher In the Rye" is not a book for lonely outcast geeks who don't fit in. I'm almost totally sure that EVERY adolescent has experienced the entire gamut of feelings and emotions that Holden goes through during the course of this book. That is why I strongly recommend this book to anyone who has not had the pleasure (or displeasure as the case may be) of reading it. I think if you sit back and try to feel and remember what it was like to feel real pain (which I'm almost positive everyone has at least tasted at one time or another) while you read it. If you still don't get it by the time your done, maybe you should turn off the TV, get outside, and experience life first hand you egotistical loser.

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Summary: Catcher In The Rye, The Best Book I've Read
Review: Catcher in the Rye is an amazing book. I have read many books and this is definately the best book I have read. It deals with issues. I am a teen and can relate to the book, it is interesting and is blunt, in a good way. This book is a great book for a person of any age, and changes your view on topics of things, and makes you aware of people's actions. I reccomend this book for anyone, it is amazing.

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Summary: a book for all ages
Review: This is the book that everybody should read....and it is considered to be a classic book, no doubt about that!! The plot of the story happens in every lives and to every person. Meet phony people, undecided mind, but want the bright future!! Also this story reflects the "American dream" to other foreign readers like me....

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Summary: I almost forgot what it was like...
Review: This book serves as cold bucket of water dumped over the head of every parent who has forgotten what is was like to be sixteen. I hope my son is not on the same wave length as young Caulfield but this book reminded me that he might just well be.

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Summary: great book
Review: I'm a 17 year old girl and I thought this book was great. It's written in a way that keeps you interested. I found it to be funny and a bit sarcastic. At first the book doesn't really seem to have a story line but soon you realize that there is more to the character and story than you might have first thought. some people might not see the messages behind the book but even still, its an interesting book.

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Summary: Moving through a young mind into into life
Review: When I went to college, with these aspirations for becoming an engineer, I ran into inner conflicts, making me feel confused and depressed. Somehow instinctively, I turned to Holden and a book that I had read several years earlier, but that had not made a significant impression then. Reading the novel again, it perhaps made me more desolate than I was before, and I dropped out of school a few months later. SOme might say that the book, then, had a negative impact on me. One less engineer in the world. One less go-getter. But through the contemplation I did in the months after leaving college, and the inspiring example of an English teacher I had at my local community college, I was able to find the true direction of my spirit. I had to make my life into something that I truly saw as meaningful. I couldn't settle into a career that would not fulfill my desires. I'm writing this review from my teacher's desk at school in my classroom. I'm an English teacher. I've found my calling. And although I can't entirely say it was Catcher in the Rye that pointed the way for me, the provocations of thought and emotion that this poignant little novel provided me had a definite impact. For those of you reading through the reviews here on Amazon and noting the great dichotomy of love and hate for this book, note that all great works of art have such an effect. Division is often the result of a work such as this. And I must say, no one should be forced to read this novel in school. It goes against the nature of the novel for us to cannonize Catcher and feed it to our youth as some sort of hallowed treatise on individualism and our flawed American society. Bleh! Leave it to be picked up by the curious and the lonely. Let it find its own audience.

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Summary: HORRIBLE AND BORING
Review: THis book should have been called: " THE BORING MEMOIRS OF TWO DAYS IN A TEENAGER'S LIFE ".. Nothing happens here !! I'm not a little bit shocked by the supoosed " alienation " demonstrated by the mais character, the awful Houlden Caulfield. What a waste of time !!

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Summary: This book is extraordinary!
Review: i absolutely LOVE this book.It really relates to teenagers of all ages, including me. The words were put down simply, but with a lot of meaning. I liked the slang used which made the book even more realistic. I have read it many times, and i'm still not tired of it. It left me with a feeling to want to meet a Holden Caulfield. It also influenced me to have a different perspictive on everyday life.I recommend it to everyone, it's a book that should be read no matter what the opinion of it.

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Summary: Simply Put
Review: We all hate having teachers force us to read books in school. This time I am glad they did. Cather In The Rye has to be the single most expressive book I have ever read. The book is put into words that a teen can understand perfectly. Although there are some underlying webs of connections in the book, most everything is simply put into teenage thoughts and language. It deals with every problem and every situation. The book is simply a marvel to be read and enjoyed. You'll either hate it, or love it. As for it trying to be banned, like you don't hear that language anyway. It is a way of expression and without it, the teenage angst character would not have been expressed properly. Read it, you may love it or dispise it, but read it.