Rating: 
Summary: Some thoughts
Review: m 16 and read "catcher" for the first time last week. Although, it's very well written it doesn't seem to have much in the way of a plot (guy gets booted from school, hangs out for 2 days, picks his nose at 3:27 p.m., says "hi" to the doorman at 3:30pm...). Although Salinger seems to feel that adolesence is not a time of "focus" or "plot", he seems to take minimalism a bit far. Although the sentiments and langague used to express them get old fast, I found it reasonably cogent, and stupid emotionally screwed up teens ARE apt to be repetive. (One reason why I try to stay from them.) Overall, it was a fun read, but didn't bring the epiphanies everyone said it would. That said, it's gotta' be in the top 25 novels of the last century. Please e-mail me with any thoughts or responses to my review.
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Summary: This book was kickin'
Review: Man, this book is PHAT! This is the most wonderfuly wubulus whacky worded cool school down wit' da homies makes you wanna do da oggie boogie kind of paper wit' some bad boy lyrics. I feel like readin' dis book as many times as Da' Prez gets jiggy wit' it.
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Summary: The Definition of Teenage Wasteland
Review: Many books attempt to please everyone and get nowhere. This book isn't out to please anyone, but ends up being the single best examination of the teenage psyche ever written. Emotional and heartfelt without ever lapsing into easy nostalgic sentimentality or jaded bitterness, author Salinger manages to capture that shook-up confusion, alienation, and contempt all of us felt or feel or will feel at the age of 16. The pent up rage inescapable when a young person wrestling with their nascent individuality first crashes headlong into the stifling realization that they're living under someone else's rules rings achingly true. Holden Caulfield's miniature Odyssey of pain, humiliation, exasperation, and ultimately revelation is fraught with moments of purest beauty and insight. It's everybody's personal, bewildering journey of self-discovery in a strange world thrust upon them, distilled into a supremely affecting novel. Fictive in name only, Holden's moment of truth, when he consciously has to decide once and for all with no turning back between childhood's happy ignorance and the uncertainty, fear, and anxiety that comes with the territory of adulthood is wrenching, excruciating magic. This is art. Talking about it is insufficient and cumbersome; like life itself, this book must be experienced to have any meaning. Everyone will get something different out of Catcher, but rest assured that you will be altered. It's that powerful. The slang and clothes of teenagers may change, but the attitude, circumstances, and emotions don't, and this is what makes Catcher timeless and required.
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Summary: Full of ironic twists. really makes you think differently.
Review: Many of the people who read the book don't understand the meaning. Not only is it an enteraining piece of literature, but Salinger is showing the life of a "seemingly everyday teenager", but the reader realizes there is nothing normal about Holden. Holden's hatred of "phoniness" turns out to be an ironic twist as his whole life has been a farce and he cannot come to grips with the truth. He cannont bear to realize that innocence is something that is meant to be lost.
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Summary: If you don't get it...I'm sorry for you
Review: Many people complain that this book is boring and pointless. I can't understand how you could call this masterpiece "pointless". It is a tale of easily the most intersting character of literature I have ever read of, and his escalading battle with mental depression. I have trouble believing that someone could not see the truly amazing patterns and symbols this book holds that all catch up to each other at the end. Many have complained that there is no real ending. I don't think people were seeing the symbolism through all of the amazing (and disturbing) narrative. The book clearly has an ending- and a fabulous one if you have payed attention....One of the best written novels ever made, Catcher in the Rye is something I, and many other teenagers, can relate with.
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Summary: "Catcher" is one of the best written works this century.
Review: Many people criticize this book and it's author, J.D. Salinger because of
Holden's language. But that's what makes this book so real. The use of language that most of us use, whether we want to admit it or not, make's
this book come alive for the reader. Another point that make's this book so real is the fact that Holden is constantly contradicting himself. He says that
nothing ever changes, yet that's why he's so messed up. Everything is constantly
in a state of change. I think most people should read this book. It may shed some
light on the subject of life.
Rating:
Summary: I know why it's a classic
Review: Many people read this book and wonder why it's so popular, why it's still being read by today's generation when it was written over 50 years ago. But the people who wonder that obviously grew up with very little confusion in their lives, probably doing exactly as they were told and never wondering otherwise. You know you've found an incredible novel when teens understood it in 1951, and teens understand it in 2004. The title doesn't make much sense until you read the story, and once you do you have a whole new perspective on it. Holden holds nothing back, and doesn't tap dance around in circles. He tells it like it is and I like that. Many people are thrown off by the odd ending and Holden's whole situation, but those are pieces of the novel that make it timeless. If you haven't read it, you're missing out.
Rating:
Summary: excellent book, for all ages!
Review: Many people say that Holden is a cynical and bitter character; unrealistically negative in his views of the world, but as a teenager, i know how tough things can get, and how frustrating life can be. Although the storyline only stretches over a few days, it never lost my attention. Holden is a physically mature 16 year old, telling the story of 3 days in his life. It involves a young prostitute, many bars, women, girls, boys confined to a boarding school, and a young man, definately not a believer in the human race. Holden leaves his boarding school without permission, and spends the next three days almost wandering the streets of New York. Although not at all a major aspect of the novel, the fact that it was set in the forties appealed to me. We only really experience this with the date given, and when Holden goes to see a film with Cary Grant in it. A highly interesting and unique novel. It should be read by all!
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Summary: the gravy is better than the potatoes
Review: Many reviewers praise this novel based on its theme of lost innonece or the lack of ingeniousness in adult society as revealed through the eyes of a teenage boy that is defined as psychotic by the author (possibly due to the untimely death of a brother). I felt a bit cheated by the author's choice to give Holden an excuse for his perception of society. I believe the beauty and brilliance of this novel is not the portrayal of the challenging journey from adolescence to adulthood or the depiction of a society as seen by certain madmen, but instead by the portrayal of society as seen by many of us that are easily confused and disgusted by the norms of human behavior. Holden's minute by minute interpretation of social encounters is so well documented (the writing style used in this novel is unmatched) that the reader will frequently relate with his sentiments. Salinger's ability to capture these sentiments so precisely over and over again was enough to make Catcher in the Rye one of the best reads ever. Go ahead and try to find value embedded deeply in the story, but as far as I am concerned, the payoff is all on the surface - whether Salinger wanted it that way or not.
Rating: 
Summary: Somewhat Out of Date... But a CLASSIC Nonetheless!
Review: Many should read this story to better understand the importance of examining ones place in the world. Also, as with the protagonist in this story, the significance of perhaps never understanding ones place in the world. For a more contemporary take on the feeling of alienation, also check out Joseph Green's "Pseudo Cool." This novel is also a powerful examination of ones so-called place in this world.
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