The Catcher in the Rye

I first read this as an assignment for English sophomore lit. I was fifteen and hated it. I blamed my teacher for assigning it, and sniped at him the whole time we were working on it. We had an unusual relationship, so sniping at him was not weird or entitled, was my reasoning at the time. Now--I don't necessarily regret sniping. The book maintains its original poor rating and poor opinion. As an adult, I understand this book to be about a whiny, insufferable, boring, aggravating entitled teenager who hates women since they won't sleep with him. And a prostitute doesn't interest him. And he has a weird relationship to his kid sister. By page forty, I desperately wanted to stop reading. I took a break for a bit. It was--I just--why was show more this book written? Why is it considered a classic? It's about an incel, and actual literary critics have compared him to a sociopath. My sour opinion of this book extends such that when I meet someone who likes this book, I am actually suspicious of them until I get more comfortable. Save time and don't read this. show less

The Short of It:

Read back in high school and re-read today for book club, and it’s just as wonderful as I remembered.

The Rest of It:

The Catcher in the Rye is of course, a classic. Everyone’s heard of it but I’ll tell ya, not everyone will love it. Why? Because Holden Caulfield is a piece of work! Tossed from private school for failing nearly all of his classes, Holden goes on a three day sabbatical from life. Delaying the inevitable, when he has to return home to his family for the holidays and clue them in to the fact that he has once again been kicked out of school.

Holden packs up his belongings, smokes a lot of cigarettes and ponders life as he hits bar after bar, considering his options. He’s underage but wise beyond his show more years so he goes from place to place making observations and hoping, longingly for people to spend time with him. He makes a few calls. Meets a few friends. Feels a bit homesick for his baby sister Phoebe, but mostly just flits from one interaction to the next, lost.

Holden is ALL of us. That’s what makes this such a good read. His insecurities are balanced by his overblown opinion of himself. Minus the bluster, the fancy hat, the cigarettes and booze and what you have is a teenage boy desperate for love. His loneliness screams at you while turning those pages.

Funny story. When I was pregnant with my first child, the name Holden was a frontrunner. We decided to go with Evan, instead. But after reading this classic again, my son really IS Holden in real life. I highlighted many passages because they could have actually come right out of my son’s mouth. I shared this observation with him and he wasn’t impressed or compelled to read the book. See? He is Holden.

What stays with me after reading this book is Holden’s voice. Salinger creates this living, breathing, sometimes seething Holden. He’s not the most well-liked guy but he can be charming, and often is, when not overcome with loneliness and doubt.

If you haven’t read this classic, or you read it long ago. I mean, I was 16 the last time I read it, I highly recommend you pick up a copy. show less

BETWEEN TWO WORLDS
The Catcher in the Rye And Teenager’s Fear of Growing Up

[Spoiler alert!]

Often called the ‘forbidden fruit in the garden of literature,’ The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger made a tremendous impact when it was first released. Tangled and confusing, like adolescence itself, the book follows Holden Caufield’s journey and the inner turmoil of a teenager’s growth. Contrasting to the saying “Art is the moonlight deception,” the novel may appear crude on the surface. However, its deeper layers reveal the struggle of holding on to innocence while facing the harsh realities of adulthood.

The story takes place around the 1950s and is narrated by a teenage boy named Holden Caulfield who is undergoing therapy in show more a mental hospital. Holden’s narrative begins a few days before Christmas when he is expelled from his school – Pencey Prep. Carrying disappointment from the people around him, Holden leaves the school and starts to wander in the New York Center. However, because of his immaturity and detachment, his meetings with strangers and old acquaintances all ended awkwardly. Clouded by the memories from the past, Holden becomes obsessed with preserving childhood innocence. Nevertheless, he learns to let go when he accepts the nature of growing up.

The first thing the reader notices in the novel is likely the cynical, pessimistic tone Holden uses throughout his storytelling. By repetitively addressing people around him as “phony”, Holden immediately expresses his belief that society is full of insincerity and hypocrisy. His judgmental and rebellious attitude is particularly evident in his harsh description of the headmaster, calling him a “phony slob”. Or as seen in his conversation with his schoolmate Ackley, where he constantly reminds the audience of Ackley’s poor hygiene and awkward communication skills. Holden builds a barrier between himself and the people around him. By viewing others through a negative lens, Holden feels out of place and leaves the Pencey Prep to seek for life’s true meaning.

Behind Holden’s cynical behaviors is a fragile soul struggling with universal teenage questions: Who am I? Where do I belong? What face should I put on? At the age of 16, Holden starts to realize that this world is not sterilized like his first years of life anymore. Adulthood is filled with disappointment and is synonymous with the collapse of childhood fantasy and peace. Like many other teenagers, he reacts to the changes by rebellion and recklessness. Holden’s focus on other people’s flaws is an attempt to hide his insecurity about his own imperfection. He resists society, always stands outside and criticizes while he cannot find his own place among others. Holden’s alienation represents the loneliness of youth, when people feel overwhelmed and futile while attempting to seek self-values. Moreover, Holden’s inability to adapt reflects the sense of imprisonment and loss that one might experience during adolescence. Teenagers feel hung between being a child and being an adult. They feel like nobody can understand them, yet they don’t even know themselves or the surrounding world.

Adding to Holden’s vulnerability is his brother Allie’s death and the reoccurring goodbyes as he transfers from school to school. His struggle to confront the loss while resisting giving up the good memories from the past showcases his sense of detachment and uncertainty. He is afraid and feels powerless towards significant shifts in his life and perhaps feels himself unworthy of meaningful relationships. If we look deeper, despite his frustration and cynicism, Holden desires to connect to himself and other people. During his wandering, he talks with different people, like Mr. Spencer, his roommates, the nuns, Sunny, etc. Each conversation influences him differently, but the impacts remain unrevealed, just like the unclear period of adolescence, when one slowly grows while not noticing the changes.

Besides Holden’s struggle to find his identity, the age also ignites Holden’s desire to experience intimacy, forcing him to face the difference between his previous perception of romantic relationships and the reality he is about to confront. While Holden longs to experience romantic relationships with other women, he soon becomes trapped between his spiritual and physical demands. For instance, feeling disappointed after his encounter with three women in the bar, Holden ordered a prostitute to seek physical comfort and emotional support. He then grew discomfort and refusal to conduct the act, highlighting both his desire to experience intimacy and his fear of the consequences. By describing Holden’s mental vulnerability, the novel sheds light on the universal teenage struggle when dealing with sexuality and romantic relationships, as their immaturity and lack of experience often leave them in a state of confusion.

On the other hand, Holden’s relationship with his childhood playmate Jane reveals another layer of teenage struggles. As Holden recalls his memories with Jane, he tends to over-idealize their relationship, viewing it as one with authenticity and genuine love. While Sunny can offer physical companionship, she is still another inventory of the adult world, shaped by superficiality, unable to fulfill Holden’s desire for a genuine relationship. On the other hand, although Holden’s early interactions with Jane reveal some degree of authenticity and love, they are eventually isolated from reality. Teenagers often over-romanticizing love, leaving them torn between reality and fantasy — like Holden falling into the gap between his pursuit of genuine relationships and his fear of emotional corruption in adulthood.

Despite Holden’s growing sense of detachment and disillusionment, he sticks to his goal of protecting childhood innocence. Like many other youths around his age, Holden refuses to conform to social expectations and resents the loss of innocence in the harsh realities of adulthood. Despite the frequent usage of crude language in his narrative, Holden exhibits a profound treasure for childhood purity. While commenting on lawyers, Holden points out the fact that lawyers don’t save innocent people’s lives, but rather make money for pastime. His judgmental attitude provides insight into the superficiality of adult professions and the falsehood associated with adulthood.

Holden experiences an emotional downturn, especially the time when Holden is wandering alone in the park at night and the time when he crosses the street. His repeated question about where the “ducks” would go in a harsh winter – a childlike wonderment, and mention of his little brother Allie symbolizes his inability to let go of the past and his desire to preserve the purity of childhood. During his conversation with Phoebe – his sister, Holden entitled himself as a “catcher in the rye” whose job is to protect children from falling down the cliff between childhood and adult world. Through Holden’s actions, readers come to realize that deep inside Holden lies a kind-hearted teenage spirit which believes in the purity of childhood and wants to protect it from society. Approaching the end of the story, Holden’s perspective shifts dramatically as he decides not to intervene in Phoebe’s decision to reach for the gold ring on the carousel despite the risk of falling off the horse, metaphorize that growing up means taking risks and giving up some elements that belong to the past. His change in attitude highlights his final realization of his inability to stop the changes and learn to let go.

The novel addresses sensitive and undisguised themes, mostly circles around adolescence and adulthood. It portrays the chaotic inner world of a lonely teenager. Holden’s cynical attitude and bad language serve as his shield against the change in his world, showing his reluctance to take the cost of growing up – giving up innocence. The frank and perhaps vulgar language might leave readers feeling frustrated with Holden’s sarcasm yet create moments of empathy. Readers might see a part of their own teenage struggles, from the wanting to be ‘cool’ to the yearning for maturity while fearing its cost.

The Catcher in the Rye was groundbreaking in the early 1950s, during the post-World War II era, for its exploration of brand new themes and a rebellious approach that differed from the classical literature styles. The book leaves very controversial ideas. Is it a realistic picture of young people’s struggle and an encouragement of further understanding and tolerance towards teenagers? Or is it an overly offensive piece of story with poor characters and plot development? It is for the readers to decide.

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|A book review written by Yangxi Li (Cissy) & Nam Phuong Vo (Jenny)| show less

Looking through the reviews, this seems to be either a love-it or hate-it book. Or possibly a love-it-at-some-points-in-your-life, hate-it-at-others book. Or maybe it just depends on your mood.

Anyway, I had no idea what to expect, but figured it's another one of the books I really should read. And it wasn't what I expected. Me, I loved it. But I can see why people hate it. I would have hated it if I'd been given it to read at school. I maybe would have hated it 10 years ago. I might hate it in 10 years' time. It's one of those books.

But I'll probably keep it and I'll probably still like it. It has an ambulatory, nature that picks out characters like portraits. At the same time it's mocking, depressing, beautiful, and yet cleverly show more self-parodying, all at the same time. I think a lot of people read what they to read into it, and yet there's often much more to it than meets the eye.

I kind of don't want to say much more about it than that. I could sum it up in a sentence, but I figure it's more than just a simple description. It speaks to many of us, and is still very relevant in the malaise that seems to blight whole generations today. show less

***NO SPOILERS***

When I think of a love-it or hate-it book, The Catcher in the Rye comes to mind immediately. I read this book in my early twenties and what impressed me about it was how well Salinger captured the indifferent, lackadaisical teenage mentality in his protagonist Holden Caulfield. Holden is just a teenager trying to make sense of himself and his life.

Loving this book seems to depend on how much the reader enjoys cynical narrators. I adore them, so it made sense that I'd instantly love this slim classic. Those who hate cynical narrators will describe Holden as "whiny" and will likely hate the book. Nonfans may also be haters of teenagers—but then, I've never loved teenagers, even when I myself was one, yet I was a fan of show more every word of The Catcher in the Rye. In my eyes, it's a masterpiece and deserving of its place as a classic and as Salinger's strongest work.

The bottom line is, "Your mileage may vary" couldn't apply more to this book. Holden's voice and point of view is so strong from the first page, and holds so steadily throughout, that readers don't need to read beyond that to know whether they'll like the whole thing.

NOTE: This review is cross-posted on The Story Graph and Goodreads. show less

Holden Caulfield is a very troubled young man running away from the tragedy of his younger brother's death and the percieved 'phoneyness' of everyone. Once again he finds himself expelled from another exclusive high school for not applying himself (he only managed to pass English) but he does not want to return home until the school's Christmas vacation which is yet 3 days away. If he shows up at his parents' apartment before that time they will know he is a failure once again and he is not ready to face them. Instead Holden packs his bags, takes the train into New York City and tries to lose himself in liquor, nightclubs and clumsy sexual encounters. Unfortunately nothing fills the void Holden carries deep in his soul and the reader show more watches as he falls deeper and deeper into depression.

Holden's explanation of the catcher in the rye touched me deeply. He said that he saw children close to the edge of a precipice and he was below them in a waving field of rye. It was his job to catch them as they fell so they would be safe. It was so obvious that he had longed for someone to catch him as he fell into despair after his brother's death but his mother was too wrapped up in her own grief and his father kept himself overly occupied with his buisness. What a cry for help that was missed.

I want to hug this young man. I really like his character and his emotions that are ready to burst out of him at any minute. I don't always like the things he says but neither does Holden as he is frequently taken aback by his own lies. This is the first book I have read by Salinger and I enjoyed his writing style very much. show less

Catcher In The Rye is on the surface a simple story of a teenage boy, kicked out of his fourth school in three years, who decides to skip out early and live it up in NYC for a few days. That's it in a nutshell. Digging deeper though, it's a story of teenage angst, of depression, and a social commentary.

Reading this book for the first time as an adult, I'd have to say that it's not the type of book you get right away. It takes some thinking over before it really clicks. While I was reading it and just after I finished, I didn't get it. Now, with some space and time to think it over, it's clicked. But ask me to describe what it's about, what the message is, and I'm not sure I can. Maybe I need a little more timebefore I can get to that show more point.

However, I thought Salinger wrote the character of Holden Caulfield brilliantly. It takes a special talent to make people feel as strongly about a character as Salinger has done. I don't think I'd be far off the mark to say that Holden Caulfield may be one of the most hated characters of all time and that's for me is what makes the book brilliant and along with a dead-on accurate portrayal of teenage angst explains exactly why it is considered a true classic, earning it a place on most high school cirriculums and on lists such as The 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die.

Funny thing is, despite how much most people hate Holden, I rather liked him. He was a smart-ass, very amusing, and many of his observations of people were spot-on. I have to say that I agree with him in many cases. There are a lot of goddam lousy phoneys in this world. Most of us just have the sense to not call them out on it. Call it a self-preservation instinct or common sense. Whatever you call it though, Holden Caulfield was definitely lacking it.

After his little escapade, Holden Caulfield finds him self in a mental ward, and I'm just not sure what earned him that. Is being difficult and running off to find yourself really that looney? I think Holden did something a lot of people his age would love to do but won't, because of the aforementioned self-preservation instinct. Hell, even as an adult I'd love to do it.

Whatever the case, this was a well-written peace on teenage angst, self-discovery and a brilliant character study. You may not like Holden Caulfield, but I think there is a lot to learn from him and is definitely worth the read. show less