The Catcher in the Rye (1951)

I had no idea what this book was about going into it, quite an achievement at age twenty five, methinks. And so every page was an unexpected delight. The book is perhaps the paradigm of the novel that doesn't need to go anywhere, it just goes. If I'd read this ten years earlier I would have readily identified with Holden Caulfield and given the book five stars. Indeed, the story was perhaps at its absolute best for me when I most remembered what it was like to be that age. Now, with a few extra years and plenty more experiences behind me I instead felt a little sorry for the character, remembering being him rather than just being him.

I think when I have sproglings I will make them read this book when they're teenagers, and they'll jolly well love it. ( )

I had no idea what this book was about going into it, quite an achievement at age twenty five, methinks. And so every page was an unexpected delight. The book is perhaps the paradigm of the novel that doesn't need to go anywhere, it just goes. If I'd read this ten years earlier I would have readily identified with Holden Caulfield and given the book five stars. Indeed, the story was perhaps at its absolute best for me when I most remembered what it was like to be that age. Now, with a few extra years and plenty more experiences behind me I instead felt a little sorry for the character, remembering being him rather than just being him.

I think when I have sproglings I will make them read this book when they're teenagers, and they'll jolly well love it. ( )

I honestly don't know where to begin with this mess of a novel. It was repetitive and boring. The main character had his head up his own ass through this entire book, which is not surprising since he is a teenager. I know that I was supposed to probably sit around afterwards and discuss how profound I found everything. I instead rolled my eyes and just dismissed the book as soon as I finished with it.

This is a coming of age story of Holden Caulfield. After being told that he will be expelled because of his lack of work at his private school, Holden goes to New York City so that he can have some time to break it to his parents he has been booted from another school.

Holden is lazy and critical of everyone around him. Heck there were several profound comments that he made about pimply guys and ugly girls that just made him sound like such an awesome person to be around, one wonders why he has no close friends.

I think that J.D. Salinger was definitely going for something here I think to speak about how so many teens feel alienated from the world and people around them. But I didn't get the sense that Holden was alienated, just bored with everyone because he held everyone except for his sister, and his two brothers in total disdain.

The writing was not great. It was repetitive to the point that I was able to totally call what Holden was going to say. I never want to hear the words "They really can" ever again.

That's the thing about girls.
Every time they do something pretty, even if they're not much to look at, or even if they're sort of stupid, you fall in love with them, and then you never know where the hell you are.
Girls.
Jesus Christ.
They can drive you crazy.
They really can

You poor thing. Falling in love with a girl that is not attractive and dumb. And yet they still don't want you.

Almost every time somebody gives me a present, it ends up making me sad.
So profound. I mean I hardly rolled my eyes that hard after I read this.

The flow was also pretty awful. I think it was because the story just went on and on and on to the point I was rooting for a bad end for Holden. Can you tell that I couldn't stand this character?

The setting of New York honestly didn't feel real at all. Maybe because Holden was so far up his own butt, the only thing that gets described are other people (specifically girls/women) and how attractive they are or in the case of this book, how ugly he finds them.

The ending I think was supposed to make me think. It just once again made me roll my eyes hard. What can one say about a character that I don't think matures at all, and still sees the problems with everyone and not himself. ( )

It wasn't at all what I was expecting. The title made me think it was some kind of rural story *g* I found it enjoyable and the narrator very personable, but I'm not quite sure how it became a modern classic. That's not a criticism, really – more a reaffirmation that I just don't get the rules of capital-L-Literature from the 20th/21st century. ( )

Look, I get why this is considered a classic in American literature - the lack of a plot and the story's almost letter-like approach in narrative make for a unique setting. I also understand why a lot of teenagers identify with Holden's teen angst and therefore love this novel.

The thing is, I just couldn't connect to Holden, at all. Being sixteen is hard, I know! But what else was there to Holden's personality than his egocentric and 'better-than' attitude? My favourite moments were those when he thought of or interacted with his sibling Phoebe. He clearly loved her (and Allie) and it made him more human.

Regardless, I can't deny Salinger's writing is excellent - it's accessible yet engaging. The only complaint I have about his writing is the excessive use of 'and all', 'anyway' and 'phony' - that really got onto my nerves despite knowing it was done intentionally, lol. All in all, I'm not crazy about this novel, but I also acknowledge the impact it has had on modern literature. ( )