The Catcher in the Rye Review

Manufacturer: Back Bay Books
Author(s): J.d. Salinger

ISBN: 0316769177 EAN: 9780316769174
Binding: Paperback
Pages: 288

Average Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

Retail Price: ~~$13.99~~
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Since his debut in 1951 as The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield has been synonymous with "cynical adolescent." Holden narrates the story of a couple of days in his sixteen-year-old life, just after he's been expelled from prep school, in a slang that sounds edgy even today and keeps this novel on banned book lists. It begins, "If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth. In the first place, that stuff bores me, and in the second place, my parents would have about two hemorrhages apiece if I told anything pretty personal about them." His constant wry observations about what he encounters, from teachers to phonies (the two of course are not mutually exclusive) capture the essence of the eternal teenage experience of alienation.

User Submitted The Catcher in the Rye Reviews

August 25, 2008
Not satisfied
The book was in poor condition. The pages were brown and stained. This is the 3rd time I've reviewed this product. Please don't send again. Terri

August 25, 2008
Young and foolish
I love this little book. And I am not completely sure why. No, it is not the most engaging and brilliant of stories. It's simply a rambling journey of 16 year old Holden-and his subsequent misadventures. Would I have liked a guy like Holden in high school back in the day? Probably not! But the genius of this little story is the way Salinger brings the reader into his world. His observations--his encounters with others--his needs and wishes. In spite of myself, my heart melts as I read along. Maybe this is why so many generations read this highly popular tale (going on 60 years) of the forever teenage Holden.

It's a must-read, but for something more contemporary (and a powerful story) I wholeheartedly recommend the hilarious, SIM0N LAZARUS--a little-known treasure.

August 17, 2008
A classic book for young minds
This book is one of those books that every kid at age 15 should read. It may seem to have subjects that kids shouldn't be exposed to but let's not kid ourselves. Children these days just seem smarter and capable of more and more each day. If they are exposed to such adult topics as adult social interaction, violence, alcohol and broken homes in the world of superbly crafted literature it would do nothing but broaden their understanding of reality and the world around them a hundred times over. They are going to seek out or happen across these topics as the world is getting smaller and smaller so why not allow it under favorable conditions? This book represents a very meaninful moment in my childhood: a day that I grew up a little.

August 11, 2008
Where do the Ducks Go?
In the beginning, I admit I did not like Holden Caulfield. I felt I couldn't relate to him. After the first 15 chapters that changed. I realized that, boy oh boy, I am way too much like Holden Caulfield. So much that I almost want to post a list of how we are alike, but that is not the point of reviews and I doubt it would be interesting reading. There are few eye-opening moments in Catcher in the Rye. The line that most sticks in my head is this, " The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one." I will be honest, lines don't really stick in my head and this one doesn't either, but its meaning does.
I can understand why this book is a classic. There is so much that I don't think I fully grasp everything yet; it is one of those books I think should be reread every so often. I wouldn't have read this book if not for Nerdfighters' Blurbing Book Club, so I thank author John Green for picking it.

August 8, 2008
Holden May Be Many Things...But Boring Isn't One of Them
I've read Catcher several times and though it doesn't stand out in my mind as a favorite novel, every time I read it I rediscover how much I enjoy it. I give Catcher five stars because Holden's character holds my interest until the very end. Salinger gives him a complexity that makes him neither saint nor sinner. The reader isn't necessarily going to like Holden, but he isn't someone you'd want to hate either. I think anyone who enjoys people-watching will find Catcher offers plenty to keep the reader entertained with its parade of characters and never dull rantings of Holden at his darkest time.

August 5, 2008
Dare you to fina a book with more "and all" expression
My god, probably the most boring, inconsequential book I ever read. Thank god it's a short one though. Spare yourself the trouble and read what wiki has to say about it, you won't take away anything else from this piece of ****. The book makes fun of "Phony" people, well, I say the "Phony" people are all those who recommend this book. They only do it so they don't feel so bad they were the only ones that read it, kind of like the emperor's clothes.

Having said that, I dare you to find a book that says "... and all", "...kills me" and "depressed" more times than this one.

August 4, 2008
Try walking in his shoes
Note:The reviewer is an EFL learner.
I've just finished reading "The Catcher in the Rye. I think it's both interesting and sad. I checked the book reviews for "Catcher in the Rye" on Amazon and was surprised to find that there were quite some people did not appreciate "Holden" at all and many of them asked him to "Grow up," or "Get a life!"
I like Holden, and I feel sympathy for him. I assume he had reasons to have become what he was like. Most of us had troubled mind with a lot of crazy notions going on when we were young. I mean, come on, when we were younger, hadn't we doubted all those "sit and listen" and wondered if it worth all the struggling being a decent adolescent? And I guess that is one thing "phony" of most adults. They think they know what is right for you. And they seem to accuse you of being immature or ungrateful when you do not follow their "guidance" or "assignmenth. Gratefulness and maturity and something like that are, in most cases, acquired and maybe learned. So I think it's just so true and real of Salingerfs portray of a sixteen Holden Caulfield, sad and angry.
The adult world/ real world was too complicated for Holden. There were a lot in the real world he did not understand. ---Why did Allie have to die? Why should he care about life? Why did Mr. Antonlini do it? And that was probably why Holden wanted to be nothing but gthe catcher in the ryeh. He liked children, they are not complicated and malicious and all. Holden found it easy to get along with them and understand them.
Why did Holden want so much to protect children? Why did he talk about sex yet dare not to try it? I have to say the revelation is in the book. Think about the immediate overreaction of Holden when he was woken up by Mr. Antonlinifs petting on his head. Salinger understated another chapter of Holdenfs life with "That kind of stufffs happened to me about twenty times since I was a kid. I canft stand it."

August 4, 2008
Chase Von, The Last Panther's Review
I thought this book was entertaining but I didn't get the sense it should have gained all the notoriety that it has. My thoughts when I finished it and put it down was that it must have been written during a period when few other great writes were being written and thus found it's way to the fore front.

Writes on similar subjects as far as finding one's way that I think far surpass this are Keep The Aspidistra Flying by George Orwell, Border Music by Robert James Waller and Damages by Bazhe...

It's entertaining and definitely a worthy read but I think the cult status it has achieved is based largely on it's name.

Which I agree is a fantastic title for a book...

I wouldn't give it less than a four but if you read the above books I mentioned and compare them in literary quality I think you will understand why...

The other books aren't so much about coming of age mind you as a teenager but they are about finding out who you are and this one in my opinion ranks behind all three that I mentioned although again, it is a good read...

Your Chance to Hear The Last Panther Speak

August 4, 2008
Love it even more as an adult
I've always adored this book- some complain that nothing really happens in the prose but the truth is this book is loaded with the type of symbolism that almost anyone can relate to. I read in high school (forced to in fact) and thought of it as fair but then when I came back to it as an adult, I found a lot more love. I think it works best when it is read as an adult looking back on life (rather than while it is happening to a person- which is why so many school kids don't like it). If you, like me, love this book and want to read something that manages to capture a bit of the magic here try Jason Rider's A Space Between.

This is true literature!

July 24, 2008
I Was Misinformed
"The Catcher In The Rye" had always been shorthanded to me as a classic "coming of age" book, involving teenage angst and alienation. (It is, perhaps, a "classic" in the sense that Britney Spears is a "star.") Having recently read the book for the first time, I discovered (regrettably, too late) that I had been misinformed. It is not at all about a young man coming of age, beset by archetypical teenage angst and alienation; it is about mental illness. I also suspect it is autobiographical, and so do not blame Mr. Salinger for the book's lamentable lack of any literary merit. I fear, rather, that in the writing of it he simply could not help himself.

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