What do you think?
Rate this book
小锌邪褋懈褌械谢褟褌 胁 褉褗卸褌邪
袧芯胁 锌褉械胁芯写 薪邪 斜褗谢谐邪褉褋泻懈 械蟹懈泻 薪邪 鈥炐⌒啃把佇秆傂敌谎� 胁 褉褗卸褌邪鈥� 芯褌 袛卸. 袛. 小械谢懈薪写卸褗褉.
袩褉械褌械薪褑懈懈褌械 薪邪 薪芯胁懈褟 锌褉械胁芯写 褋邪, 褔械 胁 屑薪芯谐芯 锌芯-谐芯谢褟屑邪 褋褌械锌械薪 褋械 写芯斜谢懈卸邪胁邪 写芯 邪胁褌械薪褌懈褔薪懈褟 褌械泻褋褌 薪邪 邪胁褌芯褉邪 懈 械蟹懈泻邪 薪邪 薪械谐芯胁懈褌械 谐械褉芯懈. 袙懈褋芯泻 锌褉芯褎械褋懈芯薪邪谢懈蟹褗屑, 褉褍褌懈薪邪, 谢懈薪谐胁懈褋褌懈褔薪邪 懈蟹芯斜褉械褌邪褌械谢薪芯褋褌, 泻芯褟褌芯 屑芯卸械 写邪 斜褗写械 写芯胁械写械薪邪 写芯 械泻胁邪谢懈斜褉懈褋褌懈泻邪, 薪芯 懈 锌褉械胁芯写邪褔械褋泻邪 褋屑械谢芯褋褌, 蟹邪 泻芯褟褌芯 薪褟泻芯懈 褌胁褗褉写褟褌, 褔械 械 薪邪 泻褉邪褔泻邪 芯褌 械蟹懈泻芯胁邪褌邪 斜褉褍褌邪谢薪芯褋褌. 孝褗薪泻芯 锌芯蟹薪邪胁邪薪械 薪邪 邪屑械褉懈泻邪薪褋泻懈褟 卸邪褉谐芯薪 芯褌 褋褉械写邪褌邪 薪邪 屑懈薪邪谢懈褟 胁械泻.
袨褎芯褉屑谢械薪懈械褌芯 薪邪 泻芯褉懈褑邪褌邪 械 蟹邪锌邪蟹械薪芯: 褌芯 械 芯写芯斜褉械薪芯 锌褉械写懈 屑薪芯谐芯 谐芯写懈薪懈 芯褌 褋邪屑懈褟 小械谢懈薪写卸褗褉.
袙械写薪邪谐邪 褋谢械写 懈蟹谢懈蟹邪薪械褌芯 褋懈 泻薪懈谐邪褌邪 斜懈谢邪 蟹邪斜褉邪薪械薪邪 蟹邪褉邪写懈 鈥炐惭冃恍承把€薪邪褌邪 褋懈 谢械泻褋懈泻邪, 斜芯谐芯褏褍谢褋褌胁芯, 褋械泻褋褍邪谢薪懈 褋褑械薪懈 懈 锌芯褌褗锌泻胁邪薪械 薪邪 屑芯褉邪谢薪懈褌械 褑械薪薪芯褋褌懈, 泻邪泻褌芯 懈 蟹邪褉邪写懈 芯锌懈褋邪薪懈械褌芯 薪邪 写械泄褋褌胁懈褟, 薪械锌芯写褏芯写褟褖懈 蟹邪 锌芯写褉邪褋褌胁邪褖懈褌械.鈥�
"袗蟹 褋懈 锌褉械写褋褌邪胁褟屑 屑邪谢泻懈 写械褔懈褑邪 写邪 褋懈 懈谐褉邪褟褌 胁 械写薪邪 谐芯谢褟屑邪 褉褗卸械薪邪 薪懈胁邪. 啸懈谢褟写懈 写械褑邪, 邪 薪邪芯泻芯谢芯 薪褟屑邪 薪懈泻芯泄 谐芯谢褟屑 褔芯胁械泻, 懈褋泻邪屑 写邪 泻邪卸邪 - 芯褋胁械薪 屑械薪. 袠 邪蟹 褋褌芯褟 薪邪 褉褗斜邪 薪邪 薪褟泻邪泻胁邪 褕械屑械褌薪邪 锌褉芯锌邪褋褌. 袠 泻邪泻胁邪 屑懈 械 褉邪斜芯褌邪褌邪? 袛邪 褋锌邪褋褟胁邪屑 胁褋褟泻芯 写械褌械, 泻芯械褌芯 褌褉褗谐薪械 泻褗屑 锌褉芯锌邪褋褌褌邪 - 懈褋泻邪屑 写邪 泻邪卸邪, 邪泻芯 褌芯 褋械 械 蟹邪褌懈褔邪谢芯 懈 薪械 胁懈卸写邪 泻褗写械 芯褌懈胁邪, 邪蟹 写邪 懈蟹谢褟蟹邪 芯褌薪褟泻褗写械 懈 写邪 谐芯 褋锌邪褋褟. 袩褉芯褋褌芯 屑懈 褋械 懈褋泻邪 写邪 斜褗写邪 褋锌邪褋懈褌械谢褟褌 胁 褉褗卸褌邪. 袟薪邪褟, 褔械 械 谢褍写芯褋褌, 薪芯 械泄 薪邪, 褌芯胁邪 械 械写懈薪褋褌胁械薪芯褌芯 薪械褖芯, 泻芯械褌芯 薪邪懈褋褌懈薪邪 屑懈 褋械 懈褋泻邪 写邪 斜褗写邪."
袩褉械褌械薪褑懈懈褌械 薪邪 薪芯胁懈褟 锌褉械胁芯写 褋邪, 褔械 胁 屑薪芯谐芯 锌芯-谐芯谢褟屑邪 褋褌械锌械薪 褋械 写芯斜谢懈卸邪胁邪 写芯 邪胁褌械薪褌懈褔薪懈褟 褌械泻褋褌 薪邪 邪胁褌芯褉邪 懈 械蟹懈泻邪 薪邪 薪械谐芯胁懈褌械 谐械褉芯懈. 袙懈褋芯泻 锌褉芯褎械褋懈芯薪邪谢懈蟹褗屑, 褉褍褌懈薪邪, 谢懈薪谐胁懈褋褌懈褔薪邪 懈蟹芯斜褉械褌邪褌械谢薪芯褋褌, 泻芯褟褌芯 屑芯卸械 写邪 斜褗写械 写芯胁械写械薪邪 写芯 械泻胁邪谢懈斜褉懈褋褌懈泻邪, 薪芯 懈 锌褉械胁芯写邪褔械褋泻邪 褋屑械谢芯褋褌, 蟹邪 泻芯褟褌芯 薪褟泻芯懈 褌胁褗褉写褟褌, 褔械 械 薪邪 泻褉邪褔泻邪 芯褌 械蟹懈泻芯胁邪褌邪 斜褉褍褌邪谢薪芯褋褌. 孝褗薪泻芯 锌芯蟹薪邪胁邪薪械 薪邪 邪屑械褉懈泻邪薪褋泻懈褟 卸邪褉谐芯薪 芯褌 褋褉械写邪褌邪 薪邪 屑懈薪邪谢懈褟 胁械泻.
袨褎芯褉屑谢械薪懈械褌芯 薪邪 泻芯褉懈褑邪褌邪 械 蟹邪锌邪蟹械薪芯: 褌芯 械 芯写芯斜褉械薪芯 锌褉械写懈 屑薪芯谐芯 谐芯写懈薪懈 芯褌 褋邪屑懈褟 小械谢懈薪写卸褗褉.
袙械写薪邪谐邪 褋谢械写 懈蟹谢懈蟹邪薪械褌芯 褋懈 泻薪懈谐邪褌邪 斜懈谢邪 蟹邪斜褉邪薪械薪邪 蟹邪褉邪写懈 鈥炐惭冃恍承把€薪邪褌邪 褋懈 谢械泻褋懈泻邪, 斜芯谐芯褏褍谢褋褌胁芯, 褋械泻褋褍邪谢薪懈 褋褑械薪懈 懈 锌芯褌褗锌泻胁邪薪械 薪邪 屑芯褉邪谢薪懈褌械 褑械薪薪芯褋褌懈, 泻邪泻褌芯 懈 蟹邪褉邪写懈 芯锌懈褋邪薪懈械褌芯 薪邪 写械泄褋褌胁懈褟, 薪械锌芯写褏芯写褟褖懈 蟹邪 锌芯写褉邪褋褌胁邪褖懈褌械.鈥�
"袗蟹 褋懈 锌褉械写褋褌邪胁褟屑 屑邪谢泻懈 写械褔懈褑邪 写邪 褋懈 懈谐褉邪褟褌 胁 械写薪邪 谐芯谢褟屑邪 褉褗卸械薪邪 薪懈胁邪. 啸懈谢褟写懈 写械褑邪, 邪 薪邪芯泻芯谢芯 薪褟屑邪 薪懈泻芯泄 谐芯谢褟屑 褔芯胁械泻, 懈褋泻邪屑 写邪 泻邪卸邪 - 芯褋胁械薪 屑械薪. 袠 邪蟹 褋褌芯褟 薪邪 褉褗斜邪 薪邪 薪褟泻邪泻胁邪 褕械屑械褌薪邪 锌褉芯锌邪褋褌. 袠 泻邪泻胁邪 屑懈 械 褉邪斜芯褌邪褌邪? 袛邪 褋锌邪褋褟胁邪屑 胁褋褟泻芯 写械褌械, 泻芯械褌芯 褌褉褗谐薪械 泻褗屑 锌褉芯锌邪褋褌褌邪 - 懈褋泻邪屑 写邪 泻邪卸邪, 邪泻芯 褌芯 褋械 械 蟹邪褌懈褔邪谢芯 懈 薪械 胁懈卸写邪 泻褗写械 芯褌懈胁邪, 邪蟹 写邪 懈蟹谢褟蟹邪 芯褌薪褟泻褗写械 懈 写邪 谐芯 褋锌邪褋褟. 袩褉芯褋褌芯 屑懈 褋械 懈褋泻邪 写邪 斜褗写邪 褋锌邪褋懈褌械谢褟褌 胁 褉褗卸褌邪. 袟薪邪褟, 褔械 械 谢褍写芯褋褌, 薪芯 械泄 薪邪, 褌芯胁邪 械 械写懈薪褋褌胁械薪芯褌芯 薪械褖芯, 泻芯械褌芯 薪邪懈褋褌懈薪邪 屑懈 褋械 懈褋泻邪 写邪 斜褗写邪."
238 pages, Paperback
First published July 16, 1951
44078 people are currently reading
99216 people want to read
About the author
J.D. Salinger
177听books15.8k听followersWorks, most notably novel
The Catcher in the Rye
(1951), of American writer Jerome David Salinger often concern troubled, sensitive adolescents.
People well know this author for his reclusive nature. He published his last original work in 1965 and gave his last interview in 1980. Reared in city of New York, Salinger began short stories in secondary school and published several stories in the early 1940s before serving in World War II. In 1948, he published the critically acclaimed story "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" in The New Yorker, his subsequent home magazine. He released an immediate popular success. His depiction of adolescent alienation and loss of innocence in the protagonist Holden Caulfield especially influenced adolescent readers. Widely read and controversial, sells a quarter-million copies a year.
The success led to public attention and scrutiny: reclusive, he published new work less frequently. He followed with a short story collection, Nine Stories (1953), of a novella and a short story, Franny and Zooey (1961), and a collection of two novellas, Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction (1963). His last published work, a novella entitled "Hapworth 16, 1924", appeared in The New Yorker on June 19, 1965.
Afterward, Salinger struggled with unwanted attention, including a legal battle in the 1980s with biographer Ian Hamilton. In the late 1990s, Joyce Maynard, a close ex-lover, and Margaret Salinger, his daughter, wrote and released his memoirs. In 1996, a small publisher announced a deal with Salinger to publish "Hapworth 16, 1924" in book form, but the ensuing publicity indefinitely delayed the release.
Another writer used one of his characters, resulting in copyright infringement; he filed a lawsuit against this writer and afterward made headlines around the globe in June 2009. Salinger died of natural causes at his home in Cornish, New Hampshire.
People well know this author for his reclusive nature. He published his last original work in 1965 and gave his last interview in 1980. Reared in city of New York, Salinger began short stories in secondary school and published several stories in the early 1940s before serving in World War II. In 1948, he published the critically acclaimed story "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" in The New Yorker, his subsequent home magazine. He released an immediate popular success. His depiction of adolescent alienation and loss of innocence in the protagonist Holden Caulfield especially influenced adolescent readers. Widely read and controversial, sells a quarter-million copies a year.
The success led to public attention and scrutiny: reclusive, he published new work less frequently. He followed with a short story collection, Nine Stories (1953), of a novella and a short story, Franny and Zooey (1961), and a collection of two novellas, Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction (1963). His last published work, a novella entitled "Hapworth 16, 1924", appeared in The New Yorker on June 19, 1965.
Afterward, Salinger struggled with unwanted attention, including a legal battle in the 1980s with biographer Ian Hamilton. In the late 1990s, Joyce Maynard, a close ex-lover, and Margaret Salinger, his daughter, wrote and released his memoirs. In 1996, a small publisher announced a deal with Salinger to publish "Hapworth 16, 1924" in book form, but the ensuing publicity indefinitely delayed the release.
Another writer used one of his characters, resulting in copyright infringement; he filed a lawsuit against this writer and afterward made headlines around the globe in June 2009. Salinger died of natural causes at his home in Cornish, New Hampshire.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 96,088 reviews
March 14, 2016
journal entry
today i am 15 years old. everything is all bullshit, as usual. i can't believe how fucked everything is around me. like i'm surrounded by zombies. i can't talk to any of my so-called friends, i can't talk to jamie, i can't talk to my parents. who would bother listening anyway. i cannot wait to leave orange county! this place makes me fucking sick. everyone is a hypocrite. everything is so goddamn bright and shiny and sunny and meaningless. FUCK, life is so full of crap.
there is one good thing in my life though. just read this book Catcher in the Rye. blown away! i don't know how a book written decades ago could say exactly what i would say. it is like the author was reading my thoughts and put it all down in this book. things i didn't even realize i felt were right there on the page! I LOVED IT. i think this is my favorite novel of all time. which is not saying a whole lot because there is a ton of pretentious bullshit out there and i bet mrs. durham will force us to read it all. man i hate that bitch.
journal entry
today i am 20 years old. life is great as usual. just enjoyed my wednesday morning wake-and-bake session with j-p, the sun is shining, the san diego weather is beautiful, and tonight i'm off to rob & gregg's to destroy them at bullshit. love that game! gregg says that joelle will be there (yes!) but she'll probably bring that prick pete with her. one of these days i'm going to lose it and kick his ass. "i'm in a band"...fuck you, pete! i will never spin your records.
all i have on the agenda today is to go to the gym and then off to keracik's american lit class. it is not a bad class, although it is nowhere close to gender studies with halberstam. or davidoff's survey of modern postmodernism last semester. now that was a class! it blew my mind. so many things to think about. the reading in american lit has been okay. but we've been assigned to read Catcher in the Rye and it is terrible. can't believe i ever liked this book. caulfield is a whiny little bitch. the book has no depth. there is literally nothing going on with the narrative, style, theme, characterization, it is just one rote clich茅 after another. he thinks he is such a rebel-without-a-cause but in reality he is just another tired representation of rootless, stereotypical masculinity and gender essentialism. completely inane and without meaning. i think my essay will use some acker-style postmodernist techniques to show how simplistic this trite "classic" truly is. i'm going to deconstruct the shit out of this novel, baby!
journal entry
today i am 25 years old. another gray, drizzly san francisco morning. i wish christopher would wake up, i really need to talk to him after all that shit last night. notes on my pillow, really?? time to grow up dude, i will never "complete you". well actually i'm glad he's still asleep, my throat is too sore to get into it right now with him. plus Food Not Bombs is happening this morning and i have to get the kitchen ready. john is probably hard at work already, typical over-achieving behavior. i bet the wisconsin kids are still crashing on our living room floor. it's time for them to leave! they've seen The Vindictives at every single Epicenter or Gilman show now and it is time for them to hit the road. or learn to take a shower. this apartment is not the world's crashpad!
i woke up early this morning and thumbed through A Catcher in the Rye. i remember hating this book in college for some reason. probably wasn't po-mo enough for me. or "challenging". feh. what a pretentious idiot i was. this is a beautiful book. it changed my life as a kid, i'm not sure how i would have survived orange county without it. just re-reading parts of it brought back all that old angst about all the fucked-up shit in the world that kids have to deal with. i'm not sure there is another book as insightful or as meaningful. or funny! that part with the clipping-of-the-toenails is hilarious. ackley is such a douche. this book is the foundation of every zine that i have ever loved. a perfect novel. it is so...."human", i guess.
journal entry
today i am 30 years old. man my head hurts...so hungover! my birthday party last night was awesome. even got to spend some time on the turntables (thanks kraddy for actually relinquishing a tiny bit of control for once). i must have made out with a half-dozen people. sadly, no real action. i think last night's party will be the last big party i will ever throw. things have got to change. no more partying like the world is about to end, i still have my entire life ahead of me! tomorrow i am going to go into AIG and hand in my notice. i am not an entertainment insurance underwriter, that is not me. fuck them. if erika can get me that job working with homeless kids at Hospitality House, than i am set. although moving from the biggest room in the flat to the water heater closet will be no fun. i'm 30 years old now for chrissakes! still, i've got to do something meaningful with my life. it cannot all be about booze, drugs, hooking up, and paying everyone's rent when they're broke. things have got to change.
i cracked open A Catcher in the Rye yesterday before the party and read some of my favorite parts. what an inspiration! seriously, that is a classic novel. it is packed with meaning. i'm twice caulfield's age but i still somehow connect with him in a very direct way. my life is going to change and the attitude expressed in that book is at the heart of that change. i love you, holden caulfied. it's not too late for me to learn from you, to find some meaning in life.
journal entry
today i am 35 years old. another intense, sad, but deeply fulfilling week has passed. every day something meaningful happens, something so emotional and real. sometimes i find myself just losing it in a fetal position because of the things i've seen. working with people who are drug addicted or who have been abused or who are dying is HEAVY. but it is also beautiful. it's hard to believe i am dealing with all of that and supporting my folks too. thank God i have good friends to talk to about these things. anyway. so now marcy wants to have a kid. i just don't know how i feel about that. this is such a fucked up world, do we really want to bring new life into it? i dunno. it seems....selfish, somehow. she should just quit her job with the d.a.'s office and get back to her roots in the public defender's office instead. does she think that having a child with me will bring more meaning into her life? my life has meaning enough already. and i really am not sure i can handle that responsibility on top of everything else.
i skimmed A Catcher in the Rye yesterday, after an awkward talk with marcy about having a baby. it was not an inspiring read. caulfield is so full of misplaced angst! i'm not sure i even understand him anymore. why is he so pissed off? he's seen nothing of the world and what the world can actually do to people. i want to like him, i want to re-capture that feeling of affection i had for him, but now his contempt and his anger just seem so meaningless, so naive. he really does not have it so bad. there is so much worse out there. i don't know how i would handle a kid like that. i hate to say it, but i constantly rolled my eyes when reading it. oh the emotional self-absorption of youth! just you wait, caulfield. it sure gets a hell of a lot more complicated once you grow up.
journal entry
today i am 40 years old. when did i become a boss? it is like i woke up one day, mysteriously transformed into an old man. am i really a "leader"? what does that even mean? sometimes i feel like i am just faking it all and someone is going to figure it out and blow the whistle on me. last week i made a huge play on the Council, i had all my ducks in a row, and all the votes came in just as i had planned. everyone has their own agenda and the way to get things done is simply to recognize and engage with that disappointing fact. some folks got up and started clapping and then the whole room joined in, even council members who voted against my motion - feh, phonies. the experience was sort of amazing but it also made me feel very odd, almost disconnected from myself. is this who i am now, a public policy figure, a community advocate, a mayoral appointee? ugh, i can't stand the mayor. i don't feel like me. there is accomplishment there, and some satisfaction... but i am missing something, something visceral, something real. sweet Jesus, is this what a mid-life crisis feels like? it is a weird feeling, like i know everything that i need to know about the world, about the people around me, how everything connects, but yet i still feel like i know so little about life. oh, such angst, mark. surely you've outgrown this?
i've started re-reading A Catcher in the Rye. it's so strange, during different parts, i felt like crying. a wonderful and moving novel. i feel like i really understand holden, like he is my guide, my son, my brother, my friend... myself. i think of him and i know that change in the world and changing myself can still happen. it just has to happen. that's life after all, right?
today i am 15 years old. everything is all bullshit, as usual. i can't believe how fucked everything is around me. like i'm surrounded by zombies. i can't talk to any of my so-called friends, i can't talk to jamie, i can't talk to my parents. who would bother listening anyway. i cannot wait to leave orange county! this place makes me fucking sick. everyone is a hypocrite. everything is so goddamn bright and shiny and sunny and meaningless. FUCK, life is so full of crap.
there is one good thing in my life though. just read this book Catcher in the Rye. blown away! i don't know how a book written decades ago could say exactly what i would say. it is like the author was reading my thoughts and put it all down in this book. things i didn't even realize i felt were right there on the page! I LOVED IT. i think this is my favorite novel of all time. which is not saying a whole lot because there is a ton of pretentious bullshit out there and i bet mrs. durham will force us to read it all. man i hate that bitch.
journal entry
today i am 20 years old. life is great as usual. just enjoyed my wednesday morning wake-and-bake session with j-p, the sun is shining, the san diego weather is beautiful, and tonight i'm off to rob & gregg's to destroy them at bullshit. love that game! gregg says that joelle will be there (yes!) but she'll probably bring that prick pete with her. one of these days i'm going to lose it and kick his ass. "i'm in a band"...fuck you, pete! i will never spin your records.
all i have on the agenda today is to go to the gym and then off to keracik's american lit class. it is not a bad class, although it is nowhere close to gender studies with halberstam. or davidoff's survey of modern postmodernism last semester. now that was a class! it blew my mind. so many things to think about. the reading in american lit has been okay. but we've been assigned to read Catcher in the Rye and it is terrible. can't believe i ever liked this book. caulfield is a whiny little bitch. the book has no depth. there is literally nothing going on with the narrative, style, theme, characterization, it is just one rote clich茅 after another. he thinks he is such a rebel-without-a-cause but in reality he is just another tired representation of rootless, stereotypical masculinity and gender essentialism. completely inane and without meaning. i think my essay will use some acker-style postmodernist techniques to show how simplistic this trite "classic" truly is. i'm going to deconstruct the shit out of this novel, baby!
journal entry
today i am 25 years old. another gray, drizzly san francisco morning. i wish christopher would wake up, i really need to talk to him after all that shit last night. notes on my pillow, really?? time to grow up dude, i will never "complete you". well actually i'm glad he's still asleep, my throat is too sore to get into it right now with him. plus Food Not Bombs is happening this morning and i have to get the kitchen ready. john is probably hard at work already, typical over-achieving behavior. i bet the wisconsin kids are still crashing on our living room floor. it's time for them to leave! they've seen The Vindictives at every single Epicenter or Gilman show now and it is time for them to hit the road. or learn to take a shower. this apartment is not the world's crashpad!
i woke up early this morning and thumbed through A Catcher in the Rye. i remember hating this book in college for some reason. probably wasn't po-mo enough for me. or "challenging". feh. what a pretentious idiot i was. this is a beautiful book. it changed my life as a kid, i'm not sure how i would have survived orange county without it. just re-reading parts of it brought back all that old angst about all the fucked-up shit in the world that kids have to deal with. i'm not sure there is another book as insightful or as meaningful. or funny! that part with the clipping-of-the-toenails is hilarious. ackley is such a douche. this book is the foundation of every zine that i have ever loved. a perfect novel. it is so...."human", i guess.
journal entry
today i am 30 years old. man my head hurts...so hungover! my birthday party last night was awesome. even got to spend some time on the turntables (thanks kraddy for actually relinquishing a tiny bit of control for once). i must have made out with a half-dozen people. sadly, no real action. i think last night's party will be the last big party i will ever throw. things have got to change. no more partying like the world is about to end, i still have my entire life ahead of me! tomorrow i am going to go into AIG and hand in my notice. i am not an entertainment insurance underwriter, that is not me. fuck them. if erika can get me that job working with homeless kids at Hospitality House, than i am set. although moving from the biggest room in the flat to the water heater closet will be no fun. i'm 30 years old now for chrissakes! still, i've got to do something meaningful with my life. it cannot all be about booze, drugs, hooking up, and paying everyone's rent when they're broke. things have got to change.
i cracked open A Catcher in the Rye yesterday before the party and read some of my favorite parts. what an inspiration! seriously, that is a classic novel. it is packed with meaning. i'm twice caulfield's age but i still somehow connect with him in a very direct way. my life is going to change and the attitude expressed in that book is at the heart of that change. i love you, holden caulfied. it's not too late for me to learn from you, to find some meaning in life.
journal entry
today i am 35 years old. another intense, sad, but deeply fulfilling week has passed. every day something meaningful happens, something so emotional and real. sometimes i find myself just losing it in a fetal position because of the things i've seen. working with people who are drug addicted or who have been abused or who are dying is HEAVY. but it is also beautiful. it's hard to believe i am dealing with all of that and supporting my folks too. thank God i have good friends to talk to about these things. anyway. so now marcy wants to have a kid. i just don't know how i feel about that. this is such a fucked up world, do we really want to bring new life into it? i dunno. it seems....selfish, somehow. she should just quit her job with the d.a.'s office and get back to her roots in the public defender's office instead. does she think that having a child with me will bring more meaning into her life? my life has meaning enough already. and i really am not sure i can handle that responsibility on top of everything else.
i skimmed A Catcher in the Rye yesterday, after an awkward talk with marcy about having a baby. it was not an inspiring read. caulfield is so full of misplaced angst! i'm not sure i even understand him anymore. why is he so pissed off? he's seen nothing of the world and what the world can actually do to people. i want to like him, i want to re-capture that feeling of affection i had for him, but now his contempt and his anger just seem so meaningless, so naive. he really does not have it so bad. there is so much worse out there. i don't know how i would handle a kid like that. i hate to say it, but i constantly rolled my eyes when reading it. oh the emotional self-absorption of youth! just you wait, caulfield. it sure gets a hell of a lot more complicated once you grow up.
journal entry
today i am 40 years old. when did i become a boss? it is like i woke up one day, mysteriously transformed into an old man. am i really a "leader"? what does that even mean? sometimes i feel like i am just faking it all and someone is going to figure it out and blow the whistle on me. last week i made a huge play on the Council, i had all my ducks in a row, and all the votes came in just as i had planned. everyone has their own agenda and the way to get things done is simply to recognize and engage with that disappointing fact. some folks got up and started clapping and then the whole room joined in, even council members who voted against my motion - feh, phonies. the experience was sort of amazing but it also made me feel very odd, almost disconnected from myself. is this who i am now, a public policy figure, a community advocate, a mayoral appointee? ugh, i can't stand the mayor. i don't feel like me. there is accomplishment there, and some satisfaction... but i am missing something, something visceral, something real. sweet Jesus, is this what a mid-life crisis feels like? it is a weird feeling, like i know everything that i need to know about the world, about the people around me, how everything connects, but yet i still feel like i know so little about life. oh, such angst, mark. surely you've outgrown this?
i've started re-reading A Catcher in the Rye. it's so strange, during different parts, i felt like crying. a wonderful and moving novel. i feel like i really understand holden, like he is my guide, my son, my brother, my friend... myself. i think of him and i know that change in the world and changing myself can still happen. it just has to happen. that's life after all, right?
April 3, 2011
5.0 stars. I LOVE IT when I go into a book with low expectations and it ends up knocking me on my ass. Admittedly, this is tougher to do with "classics" but it certainly happened in this case. I remember first reading this in school (like many of us) and not thinking it was anything special. However, having first read it almost 25 years ago, I knew I had to read it again before I could feel justified in actually reviewing it. Of course, I didn鈥檛 hold out much hope that my feelings would change and was expecting a fairly painful reading experiece.
In fact, as I started reading, I was already thinking about what my amazingly insightful, completely 鈥渋sn鈥檛 it cool to bash on the classics鈥� 1 star review was going to focus on. I thought maybe I could bag on the less than spectacular prose used by Salinger (making myself feel really smart in the process). Or maybe I could take some jabs at the less than exciting narrative pacing (and throw in a few references to "watching paint dry").
In the end, I thought my most likely avenue forattacking reviewing this anthem of teen angst was that it was utterly yawn inspiringno longer relevant today because of the GLUT of teen angst that the recent generations have been exposed to ad nauseam growing up. I mean we live in a time in which teen angst is EVERYWHERE and even has its own sub-genre label now. You can find it in:
MUSIC.........
.
.
.
MOVIES........
.
.
.
AND EVEN THESHITTY POPULAR LITERATURE*** OF OUR TIMES...
*** Literature is a serious stretch, but I must admit that these books do IN FACT fill me with ANGST!!!
.
.
.
So what happened to all of the preconceived notions I had before I starting reading this book?
Instead, I found myself completely drawn into the rich, nuanced story of Holden Caulfield. I found myself empathizing with Caulfield almost from the beginning (something I did not expect to do). His "annoying", "pseudo rebellious" and "just don't care" exterior were so obviously manufactured and so patently hiding a seriously sad and lost boy that I was transfixed on finding the real Holden Caulfield.
Despite the book being written "in Holden's own words" the reader was still able to discern that Holden's surface response to a situation was hiding a much deeper, emotional resposne. For Salinger to be able to infuse that kind of nuance into the sparse prose of Caulfield鈥檚 narrative was nothing short of brilliant in my opinion.
Caulfied is lazy. He is stubborn. He is immature. He is unfocused. He is untruthful. He is dangerously short-sighted and he is lost in his own world or unrealistic expectations. Sounds like that could certainly be a not unsubstantial portion of the male 16 year old population.
However, after reading this book, I learned a few other things about Holden that I though were fascinating and that are not as often discussed:
1. He is desperately lonely (he even goes so far as ask his cab drivers to join him for a drink);
2. He is generous with his time and his things (he writes an essay for his roommate despite being upset with him and even lets him borrow his jacket);
3. He is extremely sensitive and longs for an emotional (rather than just a physical) commitment (he mentions several times his need to 鈥渂e in love鈥� in order to be physical and his experience with the prostitute certainly bears this out);
4. He is intelligent (despite being lazy and unfocused, Holden displays great insight and intelligence regarding books he has read and displays at the museum); and
5. Despite being unable to process it correctly, he is full of compassion and has a deep capacity for love, which he shows most notably for his sister (this was one of the most powerful parts of the story for me as it was Holden鈥檚 desire to avoid hurting Phoebe that keeps him from running away at the end of the book).
Taking all of the good and the bad together, I was left with the feeling that Holden is an adolescent on the cusp of adulthood who is achingly afraid of the loss of his childhood and the responsibility and commitment that he sees as required to make it in the 鈥渁dult鈥� world. He is compassionate, intelligent and deeply emotional and yet is unable (or unwilling) to focus that energy on those steps that he sees as leading him away from his 鈥渉appy memories of childhood鈥� and closer to the 鈥渟cary world of the adult.鈥�
I think this is superbly shown in Holden's expressed dream of wanting to being the 鈥淐atcher in the Rye.鈥� Quick side note: I had no idea what the title to the book referred to until I just read the book. Here is a person so afraid of growing up and so averse to giving into the pain and sadness that he sees as the result of becoming an adult that he wants nothing more than to spend his life protecting others from losing the innocence of childhood. Big, crazy, 鈥淚 want to save the world鈥� dreams are a wonderful part of childhood and it is a shame that such ideas and beliefs are too often destroyed under the barrage of 鈥測ou really need to grow up鈥� rather than having such dreams transitioned and re-focused into daring the improbable within the world of the possible.
A great and moving reading experience and one that I give my HIGHEST POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATION!!
In fact, as I started reading, I was already thinking about what my amazingly insightful, completely 鈥渋sn鈥檛 it cool to bash on the classics鈥� 1 star review was going to focus on. I thought maybe I could bag on the less than spectacular prose used by Salinger (making myself feel really smart in the process). Or maybe I could take some jabs at the less than exciting narrative pacing (and throw in a few references to "watching paint dry").
In the end, I thought my most likely avenue for
MUSIC.........
.
.
.
MOVIES........
.
.
.
AND EVEN THE
*** Literature is a serious stretch, but I must admit that these books do IN FACT fill me with ANGST!!!
.
.
.
So what happened to all of the preconceived notions I had before I starting reading this book?
Instead, I found myself completely drawn into the rich, nuanced story of Holden Caulfield. I found myself empathizing with Caulfield almost from the beginning (something I did not expect to do). His "annoying", "pseudo rebellious" and "just don't care" exterior were so obviously manufactured and so patently hiding a seriously sad and lost boy that I was transfixed on finding the real Holden Caulfield.
Despite the book being written "in Holden's own words" the reader was still able to discern that Holden's surface response to a situation was hiding a much deeper, emotional resposne. For Salinger to be able to infuse that kind of nuance into the sparse prose of Caulfield鈥檚 narrative was nothing short of brilliant in my opinion.
Caulfied is lazy. He is stubborn. He is immature. He is unfocused. He is untruthful. He is dangerously short-sighted and he is lost in his own world or unrealistic expectations. Sounds like that could certainly be a not unsubstantial portion of the male 16 year old population.
However, after reading this book, I learned a few other things about Holden that I though were fascinating and that are not as often discussed:
1. He is desperately lonely (he even goes so far as ask his cab drivers to join him for a drink);
2. He is generous with his time and his things (he writes an essay for his roommate despite being upset with him and even lets him borrow his jacket);
3. He is extremely sensitive and longs for an emotional (rather than just a physical) commitment (he mentions several times his need to 鈥渂e in love鈥� in order to be physical and his experience with the prostitute certainly bears this out);
4. He is intelligent (despite being lazy and unfocused, Holden displays great insight and intelligence regarding books he has read and displays at the museum); and
5. Despite being unable to process it correctly, he is full of compassion and has a deep capacity for love, which he shows most notably for his sister (this was one of the most powerful parts of the story for me as it was Holden鈥檚 desire to avoid hurting Phoebe that keeps him from running away at the end of the book).
Taking all of the good and the bad together, I was left with the feeling that Holden is an adolescent on the cusp of adulthood who is achingly afraid of the loss of his childhood and the responsibility and commitment that he sees as required to make it in the 鈥渁dult鈥� world. He is compassionate, intelligent and deeply emotional and yet is unable (or unwilling) to focus that energy on those steps that he sees as leading him away from his 鈥渉appy memories of childhood鈥� and closer to the 鈥渟cary world of the adult.鈥�
I think this is superbly shown in Holden's expressed dream of wanting to being the 鈥淐atcher in the Rye.鈥� Quick side note: I had no idea what the title to the book referred to until I just read the book. Here is a person so afraid of growing up and so averse to giving into the pain and sadness that he sees as the result of becoming an adult that he wants nothing more than to spend his life protecting others from losing the innocence of childhood. Big, crazy, 鈥淚 want to save the world鈥� dreams are a wonderful part of childhood and it is a shame that such ideas and beliefs are too often destroyed under the barrage of 鈥測ou really need to grow up鈥� rather than having such dreams transitioned and re-focused into daring the improbable within the world of the possible.
A great and moving reading experience and one that I give my HIGHEST POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATION!!
March 26, 2008
I read the end of The Catcher in the Rye the other day and found myself wanting to take Holden Caulfield by the collar and shake him really, really hard and shout at him to grow up. I suppose I've understood for some time now that The Catcher in the Rye -- a favorite of mine when I was sixteen -- was a favorite precisely because I was sixteen. At sixteen, I found Holden Caulfield's crisis profoundly moving; I admired his searing indictment of society, his acute understanding of human nature, his extraordinary sensitivity (I mean, come on, he had a nervous breakdown for God's sake, he had to be sensitive). At sixteen, I wanted to marry Holden Caulfield. At forty, I want to spank him. After all, Holden's indictment of society boils down to the "insight" that everybody is a phony. That's the kind of insight a sixteen year old considers deep. A forty year old of the grown-up variety recognizes Holden's insight as superficial and banal, indulging in the cheapest kind of adolescent posturing. It suggests a grasp of society and of human nature that's about as complex as an episode of Dawson's Creek. Holden and his adolescent peers typically behave as though the fate they have suffered (disillusionment and the end of innocence) is unique in human history. He can't see beyond the spectacle of his own disillusionment (and neither can J. D. Salinger); for all his painful self-consciousness, Holden Caulfield is not really self-aware. He can't see that he himself is a phony.
Compare Salinger's novel of arrested development, for instance, with a real bildungsroman, Great Expectations. Holden Caulfield is an adolescent reflecting on childhood and adolescence; Pip Pirrip is an adult reflecting on childhood and adolescence. Holden Caulfield has the tunnel vision of teendom, and he depicts events with an immediacy and absorption in the experience that blocks out the broader context, the larger view. Pip Pirrip has the wonderful double vision of a sensitive adult recollecting the sensitive child he used to be; he conveys at the same time the child's compelling perspective and the adult's thoughtful revision of events. While Holden Caulfield litters his narrative with indignant exposes of phonies and frauds, Pip Pirrip skillfully concentrates on "the spurious coin of his own make" -- that is, without letting the child Pip and the adolescent Pip in on the joke, he exposes himself as a phony. Pip Pirrip grows up. Holden Caulfield has a nervous breakdown.
I suppose the only reason I begrudge him his breakdown is that so many in our culture -- many more, unfortunately, than just the legitimate adolescents among us -- seem fixated on Holden as a symbol of honesty and socially-liberating rebellion. We view nervous collapse and dysfunction as a badge of honor, a sign -- to put it in Caulfieldian terms -- that we are discerning enough to see through all the crap. Our celebration of overwrought disaffection reminds me of the last sentence of Joyce鈥檚 Araby: 鈥淕azing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity; and my eyes burned with anguish and anger.鈥� Here is the adolescent pose non-pareil. Equally self-accusing and self-aggrandizing, it captures the adolescent at the precise moment when his own disillusionment becomes the object of his grandiose and self-dramatizing vision. That鈥檚 the kind of crap that Holden Caulfield (and J. D. Salinger) cannot see through. And it is often the kind of crap that we 鈥渁dults鈥� like to slosh around in.
The Barney beating of several years ago is another symptom of our arrested adolescence, our inability to ride the wave of disillusion into the relatively calm harbor of adulthood -- as though flailing around in the storm and raging at the wind were in themselves marks of distinction and a superior sensibility. I remember a news story about a woman in a Barney costume being seriously injured when a rabid (and probably drunken) anti-Barney fanatic attacked the big purple dinosaur at some public event. Now, I don鈥檛 know the age of the Barney-beater, but the act itself is a supremely adolescent one, in which the impulsive response to disillusionment is to lash out at those symbols of childhood which made the biggest dupes of us. At the dawn of adolescence, when Barney begins to appear cloying and false, it seems natural to want to beat up on him, as though it was Barney himself who pulled one over on us instead of our own poignant and necessary misapprehension of the nature of things. I could see Holden Caulfield beating up on Barney (at least rhetorically), and I could see Holden Caulfield missing Barney (as he misses all the 鈥減honies鈥� at the end of the book), but I cannot see Holden Caulfield accepting the postlapsarian Barney on new terms, as a figure who is meant for children and not for him. For all his touching poses about wanting to be the 鈥渃atcher in the rye,鈥� what Holden really wants is not to save children but to be a child again.
Compare Salinger's novel of arrested development, for instance, with a real bildungsroman, Great Expectations. Holden Caulfield is an adolescent reflecting on childhood and adolescence; Pip Pirrip is an adult reflecting on childhood and adolescence. Holden Caulfield has the tunnel vision of teendom, and he depicts events with an immediacy and absorption in the experience that blocks out the broader context, the larger view. Pip Pirrip has the wonderful double vision of a sensitive adult recollecting the sensitive child he used to be; he conveys at the same time the child's compelling perspective and the adult's thoughtful revision of events. While Holden Caulfield litters his narrative with indignant exposes of phonies and frauds, Pip Pirrip skillfully concentrates on "the spurious coin of his own make" -- that is, without letting the child Pip and the adolescent Pip in on the joke, he exposes himself as a phony. Pip Pirrip grows up. Holden Caulfield has a nervous breakdown.
I suppose the only reason I begrudge him his breakdown is that so many in our culture -- many more, unfortunately, than just the legitimate adolescents among us -- seem fixated on Holden as a symbol of honesty and socially-liberating rebellion. We view nervous collapse and dysfunction as a badge of honor, a sign -- to put it in Caulfieldian terms -- that we are discerning enough to see through all the crap. Our celebration of overwrought disaffection reminds me of the last sentence of Joyce鈥檚 Araby: 鈥淕azing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity; and my eyes burned with anguish and anger.鈥� Here is the adolescent pose non-pareil. Equally self-accusing and self-aggrandizing, it captures the adolescent at the precise moment when his own disillusionment becomes the object of his grandiose and self-dramatizing vision. That鈥檚 the kind of crap that Holden Caulfield (and J. D. Salinger) cannot see through. And it is often the kind of crap that we 鈥渁dults鈥� like to slosh around in.
The Barney beating of several years ago is another symptom of our arrested adolescence, our inability to ride the wave of disillusion into the relatively calm harbor of adulthood -- as though flailing around in the storm and raging at the wind were in themselves marks of distinction and a superior sensibility. I remember a news story about a woman in a Barney costume being seriously injured when a rabid (and probably drunken) anti-Barney fanatic attacked the big purple dinosaur at some public event. Now, I don鈥檛 know the age of the Barney-beater, but the act itself is a supremely adolescent one, in which the impulsive response to disillusionment is to lash out at those symbols of childhood which made the biggest dupes of us. At the dawn of adolescence, when Barney begins to appear cloying and false, it seems natural to want to beat up on him, as though it was Barney himself who pulled one over on us instead of our own poignant and necessary misapprehension of the nature of things. I could see Holden Caulfield beating up on Barney (at least rhetorically), and I could see Holden Caulfield missing Barney (as he misses all the 鈥減honies鈥� at the end of the book), but I cannot see Holden Caulfield accepting the postlapsarian Barney on new terms, as a figure who is meant for children and not for him. For all his touching poses about wanting to be the 鈥渃atcher in the rye,鈥� what Holden really wants is not to save children but to be a child again.
February 6, 2025
Often touted as a coming-of-age book, I beg to differ. This book is about struggling with grief and loss.
After suffering two tragedies, Holden is disoriented and searching for purchase. While Holden is desperately crying out for help, the adults in his life consistently fail him. Holden wants to preserve the innocence of children鈥攕omething no one has done for him. And his kid sister Phoebe seems to provide the foundation which Holden so urgently needs.
While The Catcher in the Rye is too character driven for my taste, as a more sophisticated reader, I have a deeper appreciation for some of its subtleties鈥攖he glory is in the details. For example, F. Scott Fitzgerald heavily influenced Salinger. There are numerous nods to Fitzgerald throughout the work鈥�The Great Gatsby is even mentioned by name, and some of Fitzgerald鈥檚 vocabulary has slipped into this novel. In Chapter 10, Holden goes to The Lavendar Room. As a parallel, Mrytle selects a lavender taxicab in The Great Gatsby. When was the last time you used the word 鈥渓avender鈥�? It isn鈥檛 a word that is used particularly often, or should I 鈥渟nobbishly鈥� say 鈥渇requently鈥� or would that cause me to be a 鈥渂ore鈥�? (Yes, all of these 鈥渨ords鈥� were used in both The Great Gatsby and The Catcher in the Rye)
Further, when Holden talks about going to the museum, he notes that everything is the same, 鈥渢he only thing that would be different would be you.鈥� This is an original take on an old transcendentalist idea. In the conclusion of Walden, my good friend, Henry David Thoreau states, 鈥淭hings do not change; we change.鈥�
When I am a professor at Yale, I will allow my students to write papers on transcendentalism in The Catcher in the Rye.
Another quote from Walden: 鈥淭he philosopher is in advance of his age even in the outward form of his life. He is not fed, sheltered, clothed, warmed like his contemporaries.鈥�
In The Catcher in the Rye, while Holden is contemplating the universe, he is living a countercultural experience, rejecting the norms of his peers. He certainly isn鈥檛 eating his sack lunch at his desk.
The Green Light at the End of the Dock (How much I spent):
Hardcover Text 鈥� $89.40 for a 2010 Boxed Set of Hardcover Salinger Books on Mercari
Softcover Text - Origin Unknown, have had this book for quite a long time
Connect With Me!
After suffering two tragedies, Holden is disoriented and searching for purchase. While Holden is desperately crying out for help, the adults in his life consistently fail him. Holden wants to preserve the innocence of children鈥攕omething no one has done for him. And his kid sister Phoebe seems to provide the foundation which Holden so urgently needs.
While The Catcher in the Rye is too character driven for my taste, as a more sophisticated reader, I have a deeper appreciation for some of its subtleties鈥攖he glory is in the details. For example, F. Scott Fitzgerald heavily influenced Salinger. There are numerous nods to Fitzgerald throughout the work鈥�The Great Gatsby is even mentioned by name, and some of Fitzgerald鈥檚 vocabulary has slipped into this novel. In Chapter 10, Holden goes to The Lavendar Room. As a parallel, Mrytle selects a lavender taxicab in The Great Gatsby. When was the last time you used the word 鈥渓avender鈥�? It isn鈥檛 a word that is used particularly often, or should I 鈥渟nobbishly鈥� say 鈥渇requently鈥� or would that cause me to be a 鈥渂ore鈥�? (Yes, all of these 鈥渨ords鈥� were used in both The Great Gatsby and The Catcher in the Rye)
Further, when Holden talks about going to the museum, he notes that everything is the same, 鈥渢he only thing that would be different would be you.鈥� This is an original take on an old transcendentalist idea. In the conclusion of Walden, my good friend, Henry David Thoreau states, 鈥淭hings do not change; we change.鈥�
When I am a professor at Yale, I will allow my students to write papers on transcendentalism in The Catcher in the Rye.
Another quote from Walden: 鈥淭he philosopher is in advance of his age even in the outward form of his life. He is not fed, sheltered, clothed, warmed like his contemporaries.鈥�
In The Catcher in the Rye, while Holden is contemplating the universe, he is living a countercultural experience, rejecting the norms of his peers. He certainly isn鈥檛 eating his sack lunch at his desk.
The Green Light at the End of the Dock (How much I spent):
Hardcover Text 鈥� $89.40 for a 2010 Boxed Set of Hardcover Salinger Books on Mercari
Softcover Text - Origin Unknown, have had this book for quite a long time
Connect With Me!
July 13, 2009
I was worried as hell about reading this book again. The last time I read it was about a thousand years ago when I was just a kid. I was lousy with angst just like good old Holden back then. I really was. Now that I鈥檓 a crummy old guy I figured that I wouldn鈥檛 like it anymore. That鈥檚 the one thing about crummy old guys, they always hate books that kids like. Every time I reread a corny book that I really liked when I was a kid it makes me want to give the writer a buzz and ask what the hell is going on. It鈥檚 like they are trying to give you the time in the back of a cab when you don鈥檛 feel like getting the time at all. It鈥檚 damn depressing, I swear to God it is. If you want to know the truth, you probably couldn鈥檛 even talk to a phony writer on the phone. You would just end up talking to his butler or some snobbish person like that and asking if they would give the writer your message. He probably wouldn鈥檛 even do it. The thing with guys like that is that they will never give writers your messages. That鈥檚 something that annoys the hell out of me.
Turns out this is still a damn good book. Salinger kid is a great writer. He really is. Maybe I鈥檓 still just an angst-ridden sonuvabitch, but this part kills me:
鈥淎ll the kids kept trying to grab for the gold ring, and so was old Phoebe, and I was sort of afraid she鈥檇 fall off the goddam horse, but I didn鈥檛 say anything or do anything. The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything. If they fall off, they fall off, but it鈥檚 bad if you say anything to them.鈥漰.211
I鈥檒l bet everyone is going to think that I鈥檓 just horsin鈥� around or trying to be all sexy talking like this. The reason for this corny review is because a thousand other people have already written reviews for this book and I鈥檒l bet that they have already said everything that I want to say. It鈥檚 pretty depressing. It really is. That鈥檚 about all that I鈥檓 going to talk about. Now I just hope that no one writes 鈥渇uck you鈥� on this review. That鈥檚 the thing with some people, they are always sneaking up and writing 鈥渇uck you鈥� on your book reviews when you are not looking. They really are.
Turns out this is still a damn good book. Salinger kid is a great writer. He really is. Maybe I鈥檓 still just an angst-ridden sonuvabitch, but this part kills me:
鈥淎ll the kids kept trying to grab for the gold ring, and so was old Phoebe, and I was sort of afraid she鈥檇 fall off the goddam horse, but I didn鈥檛 say anything or do anything. The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything. If they fall off, they fall off, but it鈥檚 bad if you say anything to them.鈥漰.211
I鈥檒l bet everyone is going to think that I鈥檓 just horsin鈥� around or trying to be all sexy talking like this. The reason for this corny review is because a thousand other people have already written reviews for this book and I鈥檒l bet that they have already said everything that I want to say. It鈥檚 pretty depressing. It really is. That鈥檚 about all that I鈥檓 going to talk about. Now I just hope that no one writes 鈥渇uck you鈥� on this review. That鈥檚 the thing with some people, they are always sneaking up and writing 鈥渇uck you鈥� on your book reviews when you are not looking. They really are.
February 9, 2024
Edit: stop liking and commenting on this review. It's 2021. And the book is still shit.
Edit 2: overall, the unhinged reactions to this review i wrote as a junior in high school says MUCH more about the GoodReads community than it does about my IQ or my ability to analyze literature. to the people frothing at the mouth over this: please go and touch grass.
If I could give this book a zero, I would. I absolutely hated it. Generally, I don't hate books, either. Usually it's a very strong dislike, and generally, I give them a second chance. But no, I will never be reading this book again.
In my opinion, Holden is the worst character in the English language. Salinger tried just too damn hard to make him 'universal', to the point where he becomes unrealistic. His train of thought is annoying and repetitive, and God, those catchphrases of his. Can someone shut this kid up? Holden is almost the anti-Gary Stu. Nearly every thing's wrong with him. The one good thing about him being his love for his younger sister.
The plot is one of the worst I've ever read. It's boring, and it, like Holden, is unbelievably and painfully repetitive. Holden calls up an old friend, has a drink. Holden calls up a girl, has a drink. Holden dances with a girl. Then he drinks. Was there a climax to this book? I must have missed it. Maybe it was Holden nearly freezing to death (um, what?) in Central Park? No, no, maybe it was when Holden called up that hooker! Maybe not. The plot is so fuzzy and flat I couldn't tell when to peak my interest.
And that's just it, it never did.
So buh-bye, Holden! Your book's been gathering dust on my shelf for the past two years and it'll stay that way. Until I decide to sell it, of course.
Edit 2: overall, the unhinged reactions to this review i wrote as a junior in high school says MUCH more about the GoodReads community than it does about my IQ or my ability to analyze literature. to the people frothing at the mouth over this: please go and touch grass.
If I could give this book a zero, I would. I absolutely hated it. Generally, I don't hate books, either. Usually it's a very strong dislike, and generally, I give them a second chance. But no, I will never be reading this book again.
In my opinion, Holden is the worst character in the English language. Salinger tried just too damn hard to make him 'universal', to the point where he becomes unrealistic. His train of thought is annoying and repetitive, and God, those catchphrases of his. Can someone shut this kid up? Holden is almost the anti-Gary Stu. Nearly every thing's wrong with him. The one good thing about him being his love for his younger sister.
The plot is one of the worst I've ever read. It's boring, and it, like Holden, is unbelievably and painfully repetitive. Holden calls up an old friend, has a drink. Holden calls up a girl, has a drink. Holden dances with a girl. Then he drinks. Was there a climax to this book? I must have missed it. Maybe it was Holden nearly freezing to death (um, what?) in Central Park? No, no, maybe it was when Holden called up that hooker! Maybe not. The plot is so fuzzy and flat I couldn't tell when to peak my interest.
And that's just it, it never did.
So buh-bye, Holden! Your book's been gathering dust on my shelf for the past two years and it'll stay that way. Until I decide to sell it, of course.
December 4, 2013
I read this book for the first time in the 8th grade. I had to get my mom to sign a permission slip because of the cursing. Before I began reading, I had so many expectations. Back then, I read Seventeen Magazine, and back then, Seventeen Magazine ran brainy features about books and poetry. There was one feature where they asked people what book changed their lives, and something like more than half said Catcher in the Rye. I think there might have been some celebrity comments in there, too. At any rate, it was a ringing endorsement.
So you can imagine my disappointment when I hated it. Not only did I hate Holden, but I hated everything about the novel. There was nothing I enjoyed. I did my book report where I confessed my hatred (which led my teacher to confess that she did, too), but I couldn't let it go. I honestly felt that my loathing of a novel that so many others found "life-changing" indicated some deep and horrible flaw. I felt like hating Catcher in the Rye was my dirty little secret.
Time passed, and my self-loathing mellowed. I began to think that perhaps I'd come at it too young, so after my first year of college, I decided to re-read it, go at it with fresh eyes, and see if my opinion had changed.
Here's the thing: it hasn't. I get it. I get that Holden is supposed to be loathsome. I get that he is the hypocrite he hates. I get that almost all teenagers go through the kind of thinking he experiences. I get it. I do. I just don't like it.
Oh, and I'm not ashamed anymore.
So you can imagine my disappointment when I hated it. Not only did I hate Holden, but I hated everything about the novel. There was nothing I enjoyed. I did my book report where I confessed my hatred (which led my teacher to confess that she did, too), but I couldn't let it go. I honestly felt that my loathing of a novel that so many others found "life-changing" indicated some deep and horrible flaw. I felt like hating Catcher in the Rye was my dirty little secret.
Time passed, and my self-loathing mellowed. I began to think that perhaps I'd come at it too young, so after my first year of college, I decided to re-read it, go at it with fresh eyes, and see if my opinion had changed.
Here's the thing: it hasn't. I get it. I get that Holden is supposed to be loathsome. I get that he is the hypocrite he hates. I get that almost all teenagers go through the kind of thinking he experiences. I get it. I do. I just don't like it.
Oh, and I'm not ashamed anymore.
May 29, 2008
My theory as to this book's unusually polarizing nature: either you identify with Holden Caulfield or you don't.
Those who see themselves (either as they were or, God help them, as they are) in Holden see a misunderstood warrior-poet, fighting the good fight against a hypocritical and unfeeling world; they see in Salinger a genius because he gets it, and he gets them.
Those of us who don't relate to Holden see in him a self-absorbed whiner, and in Salinger, a one-trick-pony who lucked into performing his trick at a time when some large fraction of America happened to be in the right collective frame of mind to perceive this boring twaddle as subversive and meaningful.
Those who see themselves (either as they were or, God help them, as they are) in Holden see a misunderstood warrior-poet, fighting the good fight against a hypocritical and unfeeling world; they see in Salinger a genius because he gets it, and he gets them.
Those of us who don't relate to Holden see in him a self-absorbed whiner, and in Salinger, a one-trick-pony who lucked into performing his trick at a time when some large fraction of America happened to be in the right collective frame of mind to perceive this boring twaddle as subversive and meaningful.
February 1, 2024
a lot of people say this book sucks because holden is annoying and complains all the time, but that's actually why it's good.
nothing could be more relatable.
and also it's the story of a heartbreakingly empathetic CHILD coping with coming of age and the death of his brother while being betrayed by every authority figure and person he trusts, and his main takeaway is still loving his sister and appreciating the world around him and missing everyone he's met.
what book did these people read???
part of a series i'm doing in which i review books i read a long time ago
----------------
reread updates
reading this on the train so no one talks to me
nothing could be more relatable.
and also it's the story of a heartbreakingly empathetic CHILD coping with coming of age and the death of his brother while being betrayed by every authority figure and person he trusts, and his main takeaway is still loving his sister and appreciating the world around him and missing everyone he's met.
what book did these people read???
part of a series i'm doing in which i review books i read a long time ago
----------------
reread updates
reading this on the train so no one talks to me
September 24, 2007
In my hand I hold $5.
I will give it to anyone who can explain the plot of this book (or why there is no plot) and make me understand why the hell people think it's so amazing.
I will give it to anyone who can explain the plot of this book (or why there is no plot) and make me understand why the hell people think it's so amazing.
October 23, 2020
so sorry, guess im a phony
October 31, 2011
Sometimes truth isn't just stranger than fiction, it's also more interesting and better plotted. Salinger helped to pioneer a genre where fiction was deliberately less remarkable than reality. His protagonist says little, does little, and thinks little, and yet Salinger doesn't string Holden up as a satire of deluded self-obsessives, he is rather the epic archetype of the boring, yet self-important depressive.
I've taken the subway and had prolonged conversations on the street with prostitutes (not concerning business matters), and I can attest that Salinger's depiction is often accurate to what it feels like to go through an average, unremarkable day. However, reading about an average day is no more interesting than living one.
Beyond that, Salinger doesn't have the imagination to paint people as strangely as they really are. Chekhov's 'normal' little people seem more real and alive than Salinger's because Chekhov injects a little oddness, a little madness into each one. Real people are almost never quite as boring as modernist depictions, because everyone has at least some ability to surprise you.
Salinger's world is desaturated. Emotions and moments seep into one another, indistinct as the memories of a drunken party. Little importance is granted to events or thoughts, but simply pass by, each duly tallied by an author in the role of court reporter.
What is interesting about this book is not that it is realistically bland, but that it is artificially bland. Yet, as ridiculous a concept as that is, it still takes itself entirely in earnest, never acknowledging the humor of its own blase hyperbole.
This allows the book to draw legions of fans from all of the ridiculously dull people who take themselves as seriously as Holden takes himself. They read it not as a parody of bland egotism but a celebration, poised to inspire all the bland egotists who have resulted from the New Egalitarianism in Art, Poetry, Music, and Academia.
Those same folks who treat rationality and intellectual fervor like a fashion to be followed, imagining that the only thing required to be brilliant is to mimic the appearance and mannerisms of the brilliant; as if black berets were the cause of poetic inspiration and not merely a symptom.
One benefit of this is that one can generally sniff out pompous faux intellectuals by the sign that they hold up Holden as a sort of messianic figure. Anyone who marks out Holden as a role-model is either a deluded teen with an inflated sense of entitlement, or is trying to relive the days when they were.
But what is more interesting is that those who idolize Holden tend to be those who most misunderstand him. Upon close inspection, he's , not consumed with ennui or an existential crisis, he's actually suffering from 'Shell Shock'--now known as 'Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder'.
The way he thinks about his brother's and classmate's deaths--going over the details again and again in his mind, but with no emotional connection--it's not symptomatic of depression, but of psychological trauma. He is stuck in a cycle, unable to process events, going over them again and again, but never able to return to normalcy.
It takes a certain kind of self-centered prick to look at someone's inability to cope with the reality of death and think "Hey, that's just like my mild depression over how my parents won't buy me a newer ipod!" It's not an unusual stance in American literature--there's an arrogant detachment in American thought which has become less and less pertinent as the world grows and changes. As recently as we have American authors comparing a difficult father-son relationship to the pain and turmoil of an African civil war survivor--and winning awards for displaying their insensitive arrogance.
Perhaps it's time we woke up and realized that the well-fed despondence of the white man should not be equated with a lifetime of death, starvation, war, and traumas both physical and emotional. And as for Salinger--a real sufferer of Post-Traumatic Stress who was one of the first soldiers to see a concentration camp, who described how you can never forget the smell of burning flesh--I can only imagine how he felt when people read his story of a man, crippled by the thought of death, and thought to themselves "Yes, that's just what it's like to be a trustafarian with uncool parents". No wonder he became a recluse and stopped publishing.
I've taken the subway and had prolonged conversations on the street with prostitutes (not concerning business matters), and I can attest that Salinger's depiction is often accurate to what it feels like to go through an average, unremarkable day. However, reading about an average day is no more interesting than living one.
Beyond that, Salinger doesn't have the imagination to paint people as strangely as they really are. Chekhov's 'normal' little people seem more real and alive than Salinger's because Chekhov injects a little oddness, a little madness into each one. Real people are almost never quite as boring as modernist depictions, because everyone has at least some ability to surprise you.
Salinger's world is desaturated. Emotions and moments seep into one another, indistinct as the memories of a drunken party. Little importance is granted to events or thoughts, but simply pass by, each duly tallied by an author in the role of court reporter.
What is interesting about this book is not that it is realistically bland, but that it is artificially bland. Yet, as ridiculous a concept as that is, it still takes itself entirely in earnest, never acknowledging the humor of its own blase hyperbole.
This allows the book to draw legions of fans from all of the ridiculously dull people who take themselves as seriously as Holden takes himself. They read it not as a parody of bland egotism but a celebration, poised to inspire all the bland egotists who have resulted from the New Egalitarianism in Art, Poetry, Music, and Academia.
Those same folks who treat rationality and intellectual fervor like a fashion to be followed, imagining that the only thing required to be brilliant is to mimic the appearance and mannerisms of the brilliant; as if black berets were the cause of poetic inspiration and not merely a symptom.
One benefit of this is that one can generally sniff out pompous faux intellectuals by the sign that they hold up Holden as a sort of messianic figure. Anyone who marks out Holden as a role-model is either a deluded teen with an inflated sense of entitlement, or is trying to relive the days when they were.
But what is more interesting is that those who idolize Holden tend to be those who most misunderstand him. Upon close inspection, he's , not consumed with ennui or an existential crisis, he's actually suffering from 'Shell Shock'--now known as 'Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder'.
The way he thinks about his brother's and classmate's deaths--going over the details again and again in his mind, but with no emotional connection--it's not symptomatic of depression, but of psychological trauma. He is stuck in a cycle, unable to process events, going over them again and again, but never able to return to normalcy.
It takes a certain kind of self-centered prick to look at someone's inability to cope with the reality of death and think "Hey, that's just like my mild depression over how my parents won't buy me a newer ipod!" It's not an unusual stance in American literature--there's an arrogant detachment in American thought which has become less and less pertinent as the world grows and changes. As recently as we have American authors comparing a difficult father-son relationship to the pain and turmoil of an African civil war survivor--and winning awards for displaying their insensitive arrogance.
Perhaps it's time we woke up and realized that the well-fed despondence of the white man should not be equated with a lifetime of death, starvation, war, and traumas both physical and emotional. And as for Salinger--a real sufferer of Post-Traumatic Stress who was one of the first soldiers to see a concentration camp, who described how you can never forget the smell of burning flesh--I can only imagine how he felt when people read his story of a man, crippled by the thought of death, and thought to themselves "Yes, that's just what it's like to be a trustafarian with uncool parents". No wonder he became a recluse and stopped publishing.
July 31, 2016
Well, this was a pain to get through.
First of all, this is a shitty way to start a novel no matter how you want to introduce your main character.
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.
That is easily one of the saddest, most pathetic introductions to a book. As I started this book, I wondered... if the introduction is like this, how will the rest of the book be?
This is what the rest of the book looked like:
"He was also the nicest, in lots of ways. He never got mad at anybody. People with red hair are supposed to get mad very easily, but Allie never did, and he had very red hair. I'll tell you what kind of red hair he had."
"Isort of used to go to Allie's baseball matches."
"It was around ten-thirty, I guess, when I finished it."
I can imagine Holden as this very insipid, boring little kid with no life in him whatsoever.
Also, Holden thinks everyone besides him is a phony and a moron. And he makes it very clear because he mentions it, like, every two pages. Literally... every damn time.
I read some of the comments regarding how I didn't understand this book because I didn't relate to it. That may be true. Very, very true. Regardless, I still think to this day that this book is a drag and has an unlikable main character and a dry, boring writing style. Perhaps I will read it again when I am older and maybe I'll enjoy it.
First of all, this is a shitty way to start a novel no matter how you want to introduce your main character.
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.
That is easily one of the saddest, most pathetic introductions to a book. As I started this book, I wondered... if the introduction is like this, how will the rest of the book be?
This is what the rest of the book looked like:
"He was also the nicest, in lots of ways. He never got mad at anybody. People with red hair are supposed to get mad very easily, but Allie never did, and he had very red hair. I'll tell you what kind of red hair he had."
"I
"It was around ten-thirty, I guess, when I finished it."
I can imagine Holden as this very insipid, boring little kid with no life in him whatsoever.
Also, Holden thinks everyone besides him is a phony and a moron. And he makes it very clear because he mentions it, like, every two pages. Literally... every damn time.
I read some of the comments regarding how I didn't understand this book because I didn't relate to it. That may be true. Very, very true. Regardless, I still think to this day that this book is a drag and has an unlikable main character and a dry, boring writing style. Perhaps I will read it again when I am older and maybe I'll enjoy it.
November 8, 2007
A spell in the army would do that young man a power of good! Or maybe a couple of bags of heroin. Anything to stop that whining voice....
August 6, 2022
Reading this book was one of the biggest wastes of my time in the past twenty years. Holden Caulfield's problem is that he is the biggest phony he knows. Count the number of times he lies or behaves like someone he's not and then try to convince me otherwise. This is not a book about teenage alienation. It's about a smart-ass who can't deal with who he really is and spends almost 300 pages ranting about it - most likely to a doctor in a psych ward.
May 8, 2008
J.D. Salinger鈥檚 鈥楥atcher in the Rye鈥� was published on July 16, 1951. It was his first novel. It became very popular among young adolescents yet not so popular with older generations. I personally thoroughly enjoyed every part of this book. I felt very close to Holden Caulfield, the main character in the story, as I read it.
Holden Caulfield, a sixteen year old boy from New York, was quite unlike kids his age. He had no interest in being popular or social. From the very beginning he lets us into part of his personal life. His parents are very touchy and his mother is especially protective. It becomes clear very quickly where Holden鈥檚 interests lie and where they start to veer off. He tends to lean away from the fake in the world and is a teller of what is real.
Holden is not a fan of the movies at all. He saw his brother, D.B., throw away his natural writing talent all for a large Hollywood check. Any other boy Holden鈥檚 age would have been absolutely ecstatic to have a sibling working amongst the stats in Hollywood, but not Holden. It was all far too 鈥減hony鈥� for him; and phony is his worst enemy.
Salinger鈥檚 use of sarcasm and irony is beautiful and hilarious. As I read through each chapter I found myself highlighting funny, sarcastic things Holden would say or think (and trust me, there are DOZENS of time where this occurs.) One specific time in Chapter 8 he is talking to a cab driver who is acting like a real fool. Holden says to the readers, 鈥淗e certainly was good company. Terrific personality.鈥�
Salinger鈥檚 character Holden is actually a lot like Salinger in his real life. Like Holden, Salinger was known for his reclusive nature. Uninterested with the fakeness of the world, Holden keeps his distance from phony people. After Salinger鈥檚 success of 鈥楾he Catcher in the Rye鈥�, he slowed down his publishing and slowly but surely drifted out of the public eye. To this day Salinger refuses any offers to have 鈥楾he Catcher鈥� put on the big Hollywood screen. Salinger鈥檚 ex lover, Joyce Maynard, even once said that, 鈥淭he only person who might ever have played Holden Caulfield would have been J.D. Salinger.鈥� It seems to me that it is no coincidence that Holden is no fan of Hollywood and that Salinger in real life and doesn鈥檛 want anything to do with turning his popular novel into a movie. Holden says, 鈥淚f there鈥檚 one thing I hate, it鈥檚 the movies, Don鈥檛 even mention them to me.鈥�
Since I have learned more about Salinger鈥檚 personal life, I recognize a lot of Salinger鈥檚 personality in Holden. In the story, Holden has overbearing parents much like Salinger鈥檚 parents. Salinger said his mother was over protective. Salinger has one sibling, a sister, which is ironic because it is Holden鈥檚 sister Phoebe who has a profound influence on Holden. He often talks about her with very high regards.
Holden is not a character who tried to sugarcoat the way he sees the fakeness around him. Holden, making fun of the people around him, often says things like 鈥測ou would鈥檝e puked鈥� and 鈥渋t was very phony鈥�. I think that is another one of the reasons I like his character so much. For example, he is quite upset with the fact that his brother D.B. is selling his work to Hollywood instead of using his talents for his own pleasure. Holden even says that his brother is his favorite author. Salinger himself is a man who wrote for his own pleasure and likeness.
I made a similar connection to a girl named Sally that Holden likes in the book, to a real life lover of Salinger鈥檚 named Oona. Oona O鈥橬eil was self-absorbed and stuck up, according to Salinger, yet he still phoned and wrote her letters quite often. Holden鈥檚 鈥淥ona鈥� in the story was a girl named Sally Hayes. Though he found her extremely irritating he thought she was very attractive as well. After spending a day with her, he pointed out about a dozen instances where he thought she was being 鈥減hone as hell鈥�. By the end of their only meeting in the book, Holden says to Sally, 鈥淵ou give me a royal pain in the ass if you want to know the truth.鈥� The real life Oona O鈥橬eil ended up breaking it off with Salinger and married the famous actor, Charlie Chaplin.
Despite Holden being a sixteen year old teenage boy he acts much older than his age. One time in the story he has the chance to be with a prostitute but instead of acting like a pig, he starts to feel sorry for her and instead tried to have a conversation with her. He even offers to pay her for good conversation instead of for sex. He also stays alone in hotels randomly, drinks at bars and clubs often, and even tells people he鈥檚 older than he really is. But the reason I find his character mature and intellectual is for other reasons.
Holden does not hold money or material things to be really important. He is more excited to hang out with his kid sister than he is any other time in the entire book. He is content with something that would probably be boring to other guys his age.
Like many teenagers, Holden is often depressed. The way he deals with it most times actually breaks my heart in a way. He likes to talk to his deceased kid brother, Allie. He will take a real event that he can remember where he was talking with him and pretend he is talking to him again. He says, 鈥淚 started talking out loud to Allie. I do that sometimes when I get very depressed.鈥� It is really very heart wrenching to hear Holden talk about his brother. One of my favorite moments in the book is when Holden and Phoebe are talking in Phoebe鈥檚 room and she points out that Holden doesn鈥檛 like anything. Holden responds quickly by saying, 鈥淚 like Allie. And I like doing what I鈥檓 doing right now. Sitting here with you and talking and thinking about stuff鈥︹€� Phoebe says to Holden, 鈥淎llie鈥檚 dead-you always say that! If somebody鈥檚 dead and everything, and in heaven then it isn鈥檛 really--鈥�. Holden interrupts her with his final comeback, 鈥淚 know he鈥檚 dead! Don鈥檛 you think I know that? I can still like him, though, can鈥檛 I? just because somebody鈥檚 dead, you don鈥檛 just stop liking them, for God鈥檚 sake- especially if they were about a thousand times nicer than the people you know that鈥檙e alive and all.鈥�
One of the most beautiful things about 鈥楾he Catcher in the Rye鈥� is the way Salinger uses symbolism. From Holden鈥檚 red hunting hat, to Jane Gallagher鈥檚 checker playing technique, Salinger wrapped up more than meets the eye into things you never would have dreamed. The main thing that drew me into this story is the realness of Holden鈥檚 character. He is a teenage boy with a teenage boy鈥檚 mind but seems to have far more common sense than anyone else around him. He is not a jock. He is not a math whiz or a science whiz. He is not really interested in sports. He sort of makes up his own category; a category that I call 鈥榯he genuine鈥�. He is on his own a lot and loves it at first, but happiness and love are meant to be shared with others. It has a much less meaning when by itself and he realizes it by the end of the novel. He is growing intellectually little by little throughout the whole book. He realizes what really makes him happy. I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone and everyone who would like to read a story that could possibly change the way they view the world. I have honestly laughed outloud to myself as I read this story. Yes, there is talk about drinking, sex, and lots of cussing, but if you are going to avoid reading this story because of that then your missing out on a beautiful masterpiece.
Holden Caulfield, a sixteen year old boy from New York, was quite unlike kids his age. He had no interest in being popular or social. From the very beginning he lets us into part of his personal life. His parents are very touchy and his mother is especially protective. It becomes clear very quickly where Holden鈥檚 interests lie and where they start to veer off. He tends to lean away from the fake in the world and is a teller of what is real.
Holden is not a fan of the movies at all. He saw his brother, D.B., throw away his natural writing talent all for a large Hollywood check. Any other boy Holden鈥檚 age would have been absolutely ecstatic to have a sibling working amongst the stats in Hollywood, but not Holden. It was all far too 鈥減hony鈥� for him; and phony is his worst enemy.
Salinger鈥檚 use of sarcasm and irony is beautiful and hilarious. As I read through each chapter I found myself highlighting funny, sarcastic things Holden would say or think (and trust me, there are DOZENS of time where this occurs.) One specific time in Chapter 8 he is talking to a cab driver who is acting like a real fool. Holden says to the readers, 鈥淗e certainly was good company. Terrific personality.鈥�
Salinger鈥檚 character Holden is actually a lot like Salinger in his real life. Like Holden, Salinger was known for his reclusive nature. Uninterested with the fakeness of the world, Holden keeps his distance from phony people. After Salinger鈥檚 success of 鈥楾he Catcher in the Rye鈥�, he slowed down his publishing and slowly but surely drifted out of the public eye. To this day Salinger refuses any offers to have 鈥楾he Catcher鈥� put on the big Hollywood screen. Salinger鈥檚 ex lover, Joyce Maynard, even once said that, 鈥淭he only person who might ever have played Holden Caulfield would have been J.D. Salinger.鈥� It seems to me that it is no coincidence that Holden is no fan of Hollywood and that Salinger in real life and doesn鈥檛 want anything to do with turning his popular novel into a movie. Holden says, 鈥淚f there鈥檚 one thing I hate, it鈥檚 the movies, Don鈥檛 even mention them to me.鈥�
Since I have learned more about Salinger鈥檚 personal life, I recognize a lot of Salinger鈥檚 personality in Holden. In the story, Holden has overbearing parents much like Salinger鈥檚 parents. Salinger said his mother was over protective. Salinger has one sibling, a sister, which is ironic because it is Holden鈥檚 sister Phoebe who has a profound influence on Holden. He often talks about her with very high regards.
Holden is not a character who tried to sugarcoat the way he sees the fakeness around him. Holden, making fun of the people around him, often says things like 鈥測ou would鈥檝e puked鈥� and 鈥渋t was very phony鈥�. I think that is another one of the reasons I like his character so much. For example, he is quite upset with the fact that his brother D.B. is selling his work to Hollywood instead of using his talents for his own pleasure. Holden even says that his brother is his favorite author. Salinger himself is a man who wrote for his own pleasure and likeness.
I made a similar connection to a girl named Sally that Holden likes in the book, to a real life lover of Salinger鈥檚 named Oona. Oona O鈥橬eil was self-absorbed and stuck up, according to Salinger, yet he still phoned and wrote her letters quite often. Holden鈥檚 鈥淥ona鈥� in the story was a girl named Sally Hayes. Though he found her extremely irritating he thought she was very attractive as well. After spending a day with her, he pointed out about a dozen instances where he thought she was being 鈥減hone as hell鈥�. By the end of their only meeting in the book, Holden says to Sally, 鈥淵ou give me a royal pain in the ass if you want to know the truth.鈥� The real life Oona O鈥橬eil ended up breaking it off with Salinger and married the famous actor, Charlie Chaplin.
Despite Holden being a sixteen year old teenage boy he acts much older than his age. One time in the story he has the chance to be with a prostitute but instead of acting like a pig, he starts to feel sorry for her and instead tried to have a conversation with her. He even offers to pay her for good conversation instead of for sex. He also stays alone in hotels randomly, drinks at bars and clubs often, and even tells people he鈥檚 older than he really is. But the reason I find his character mature and intellectual is for other reasons.
Holden does not hold money or material things to be really important. He is more excited to hang out with his kid sister than he is any other time in the entire book. He is content with something that would probably be boring to other guys his age.
Like many teenagers, Holden is often depressed. The way he deals with it most times actually breaks my heart in a way. He likes to talk to his deceased kid brother, Allie. He will take a real event that he can remember where he was talking with him and pretend he is talking to him again. He says, 鈥淚 started talking out loud to Allie. I do that sometimes when I get very depressed.鈥� It is really very heart wrenching to hear Holden talk about his brother. One of my favorite moments in the book is when Holden and Phoebe are talking in Phoebe鈥檚 room and she points out that Holden doesn鈥檛 like anything. Holden responds quickly by saying, 鈥淚 like Allie. And I like doing what I鈥檓 doing right now. Sitting here with you and talking and thinking about stuff鈥︹€� Phoebe says to Holden, 鈥淎llie鈥檚 dead-you always say that! If somebody鈥檚 dead and everything, and in heaven then it isn鈥檛 really--鈥�. Holden interrupts her with his final comeback, 鈥淚 know he鈥檚 dead! Don鈥檛 you think I know that? I can still like him, though, can鈥檛 I? just because somebody鈥檚 dead, you don鈥檛 just stop liking them, for God鈥檚 sake- especially if they were about a thousand times nicer than the people you know that鈥檙e alive and all.鈥�
One of the most beautiful things about 鈥楾he Catcher in the Rye鈥� is the way Salinger uses symbolism. From Holden鈥檚 red hunting hat, to Jane Gallagher鈥檚 checker playing technique, Salinger wrapped up more than meets the eye into things you never would have dreamed. The main thing that drew me into this story is the realness of Holden鈥檚 character. He is a teenage boy with a teenage boy鈥檚 mind but seems to have far more common sense than anyone else around him. He is not a jock. He is not a math whiz or a science whiz. He is not really interested in sports. He sort of makes up his own category; a category that I call 鈥榯he genuine鈥�. He is on his own a lot and loves it at first, but happiness and love are meant to be shared with others. It has a much less meaning when by itself and he realizes it by the end of the novel. He is growing intellectually little by little throughout the whole book. He realizes what really makes him happy. I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone and everyone who would like to read a story that could possibly change the way they view the world. I have honestly laughed outloud to myself as I read this story. Yes, there is talk about drinking, sex, and lots of cussing, but if you are going to avoid reading this story because of that then your missing out on a beautiful masterpiece.
September 14, 2017
Holden Caulfield is a character many, many people hate. And trust me, I get it. He's a posturing hypocrite. He's a dick. I wanted to hit him in the face for at least a hundred pages. We know this. But he's a character that, for some strange reason, resonates with thousands of people.
Why?
Well, simply put, it's because he's written like this on purpose. But I think that doesn't quite get to the heart of it. Holden is a fifteen-year-old kid on the verge of an emotional breakdown. He's an asshole. He's a liar. He's a hypocrite.
And he's also... really relatable.
See, as a preteen, I struggled with severe emotional issues. I had depression and anxiety, although I didn't know it yet. I was going through major emotional issues with my parents, ones far worse than teen angst. I was on the lowest rung of the social pole at school.
And God, I was an asshole. I was whiny and I was a hypocrite. I knew it, too, and I cried myself to sleep thinking about it. In the daylight, I told myself everyone else was terrible and that's why my world was falling apart. I was just as hypocritical and torn up inside as Holden is.
Holden is an asshole, granted. But he is an asshole that it's hard not to relate to.
So all this is to say that I completely understand why so many hated this book. But it resonates with me, and with so many people I know, for the exact reason that it will be polarizing.
This is the kind of book that's going to be incredibly divisive. This is the kind of book that should maybe be taught by a teacher who loves it (thanks, 9th grade English teacher who hated me.) And this is the kind of book that sticks in my head, a year after I first read it.
VERDICT: I really do recommend this, even knowing at least half its readership will despise it. It's truly worth the read.
Why?
Well, simply put, it's because he's written like this on purpose. But I think that doesn't quite get to the heart of it. Holden is a fifteen-year-old kid on the verge of an emotional breakdown. He's an asshole. He's a liar. He's a hypocrite.
And he's also... really relatable.
See, as a preteen, I struggled with severe emotional issues. I had depression and anxiety, although I didn't know it yet. I was going through major emotional issues with my parents, ones far worse than teen angst. I was on the lowest rung of the social pole at school.
And God, I was an asshole. I was whiny and I was a hypocrite. I knew it, too, and I cried myself to sleep thinking about it. In the daylight, I told myself everyone else was terrible and that's why my world was falling apart. I was just as hypocritical and torn up inside as Holden is.
Holden is an asshole, granted. But he is an asshole that it's hard not to relate to.
So all this is to say that I completely understand why so many hated this book. But it resonates with me, and with so many people I know, for the exact reason that it will be polarizing.
This is the kind of book that's going to be incredibly divisive. This is the kind of book that should maybe be taught by a teacher who loves it (thanks, 9th grade English teacher who hated me.) And this is the kind of book that sticks in my head, a year after I first read it.
VERDICT: I really do recommend this, even knowing at least half its readership will despise it. It's truly worth the read.
March 28, 2023
When you鈥檙e young it always seems that the world is against you so you revolt and try to fight back and it takes time to discover your own place in the sun.
There always must be someone between you and an abyss who wouldn't let you make a fatal step.
Mark David Chapman after he had shot remained at the scene reading The Catcher in the Rye until the police arrived and arrested him 鈥� books aren鈥檛 a remedy for madness.
Just as someday, if you have something to offer, someone will learn something from you. It's a beautiful reciprocal arrangement. And it isn't education. It's history. It's poetry.
There always must be someone between you and an abyss who wouldn't let you make a fatal step.
Mark David Chapman after he had shot remained at the scene reading The Catcher in the Rye until the police arrived and arrested him 鈥� books aren鈥檛 a remedy for madness.
November 30, 2022
MY OWN PRIVATE HOLDEN
E via dicendo e discorrendo, and all, vattelapesca, tutto il resto e roba del genere, sonovabitch, crap, moron, ass, phony, lousy, traduzione nuova, vecchia o metatraduzione, questo libro 猫 e rimane un capolavoro.
Un diecistelle, magnifico, stupendo, meraviglioso, grandioso, sublime, incredibile, eccellente, sorprendente, incantevole, mirabolante, indicibile, strabiliante, indescrivibile, prodigioso, sbalorditivo, ineffabile, portentoso, stupefacente, eccezionale, magico鈥� Ma non splendido.
Splendido no, perch茅 il vecchio Holden detesta questa parola, dice che 猫 da ipocriti e vomita ogni volta che la sente.
Un romanzo che 猫 scritto ieri, ma anche oggi, e domani, dura nel tempo, viene da lontano e va lontano.
Non solo per quelli che hanno pi霉 domande che risposte.
Non solo per quelli che non sanno dove vanno le anatre quando il laghetto di Central Park South 猫 ghiacciato.
Non solo per quelli che identificano la condizione umana nella solitudine.
Non solo per quelli che l鈥檃dolescenza 猫 uno stato dell鈥檈ssere non un periodo della vita, e Peter Pan non 猫 mai stato adolescente.
Non solo per quelli che si specchiano in queste pagine e sentono che il vecchio Holden Caulfield 猫 il fratello che avrebbero sempre voluto.
Non solo per quelli che Holden Caulfield sono io.
Non solo per quelli che la vita 猫 una partita un cazzo, alla faccia della partita se si sta dalla parte dove di forte non c鈥櫭� nessuno.
Non solo per quelli che scelgono sempre il momento migliore per inciampare in una stupida valigia.
Non solo per quelli che sono un po鈥� atei, Ges霉 猫 simpatico ma di tutta l鈥檃ltra roba che c鈥櫭� nella bibbia non importa granch茅 e gli apostoli stanno proprio sulle palle.
鈥漃aranoid Park鈥� di Gus Van Sant, 2007.
Non solo per quelli che il cuore batte cos矛 forte che a momenti volano fuori della stanza.
Non solo per quelli che si dispiacciono di pi霉 quando ammazzano il vecchio Mercuzio di quando muoiono Giulietta e Romeo.
Non solo per quelli che non sanno spiegare cosa vuol dire essere diverso e anche se ci riuscissero non 猫 sicuro che gli andrebbe di farlo.
Non solo per quelli che non riescono a trovare niente praticamente in niente e sono conciati da far schifo.
Non solo per quelli che non ci saranno posti meravigliosi dove andare dopo che avranno fatto l鈥檜niversit脿 e tutto quanto.
Non solo per quelli che finiscono per odiare il genere umano, giuro.
Non solo per quelli che non si amano e non si ammirano.
"Last Days鈥� di Gus Van Sant, 2005.
Non solo per quelli che come la vecchia Phoebe ascoltano sempre quando dici una cosa.
Non solo per quelli che non c鈥櫭� bisogno che uno sia una cattiva persona per farti venire la depressione, pu貌 anche essere una bravissima persona e fartela venire lo stesso, specie se si mette a dare un sacco di consigli da ipocrita.
Non solo per quelli che non mi piace quando uno rimane in argomento sempre, troppo perch茅 猫 bello quando uno va fuori tema.
Non solo per quelli che 猫 una cosa che mi manda in bestia quando ti dicono che il caff猫 猫 pronto e invece no.
Non solo per quelli che secondo me uno bisogna lasciarlo in pace se almeno dice cose interessanti e si entusiasma per qualcosa.
Non solo per quelli che non sono mica tanti quelli che odio, e li odio di tanto in tanto, magari per un po鈥� ma non dura mai molto.
Non solo per quelli che 猫 brutto dover dire roba nuova alla gente di cent鈥檃nni.
Non solo per quelli che dio come odio quando mi gridano buona fortuna mentre me ne vado da un posto.
Non solo per quelli che pensano di saperlo ma alla fine che ne sanno.
Non solo per quelli che mi spiace averlo raccontato a tanta gente鈥�
"Resteless - L鈥檃more che resta" di Gus Van Sant, film del 2011
Il linguaggio 猫 ben diverso, ma qui siamo dalle parti di una tragedia del grande William da Stratford-upon-Avon.
A strati, come tutta la grande arte, Holden 猫 un mito, come Ulisse, 猫 una pietra di paragone, 猫 un personaggio collettivo.
PS
Mi sa che mi manca pure quello scemo di Maurice.
PPSS
Ma perch茅 Mark David Chapman aveva in tasca proprio questo libro al numero 1 della 72nd Street West alle 22.51 dell鈥� 8 dicembre 1980?
Ancora da "Resteless - L鈥檃more che resta" di Gus Van Sant.
E via dicendo e discorrendo, and all, vattelapesca, tutto il resto e roba del genere, sonovabitch, crap, moron, ass, phony, lousy, traduzione nuova, vecchia o metatraduzione, questo libro 猫 e rimane un capolavoro.
Un diecistelle, magnifico, stupendo, meraviglioso, grandioso, sublime, incredibile, eccellente, sorprendente, incantevole, mirabolante, indicibile, strabiliante, indescrivibile, prodigioso, sbalorditivo, ineffabile, portentoso, stupefacente, eccezionale, magico鈥� Ma non splendido.
Splendido no, perch茅 il vecchio Holden detesta questa parola, dice che 猫 da ipocriti e vomita ogni volta che la sente.
Un romanzo che 猫 scritto ieri, ma anche oggi, e domani, dura nel tempo, viene da lontano e va lontano.
Non solo per quelli che hanno pi霉 domande che risposte.
Non solo per quelli che non sanno dove vanno le anatre quando il laghetto di Central Park South 猫 ghiacciato.
Non solo per quelli che identificano la condizione umana nella solitudine.
Non solo per quelli che l鈥檃dolescenza 猫 uno stato dell鈥檈ssere non un periodo della vita, e Peter Pan non 猫 mai stato adolescente.
Non solo per quelli che si specchiano in queste pagine e sentono che il vecchio Holden Caulfield 猫 il fratello che avrebbero sempre voluto.
Non solo per quelli che Holden Caulfield sono io.
Non solo per quelli che la vita 猫 una partita un cazzo, alla faccia della partita se si sta dalla parte dove di forte non c鈥櫭� nessuno.
Non solo per quelli che scelgono sempre il momento migliore per inciampare in una stupida valigia.
Non solo per quelli che sono un po鈥� atei, Ges霉 猫 simpatico ma di tutta l鈥檃ltra roba che c鈥櫭� nella bibbia non importa granch茅 e gli apostoli stanno proprio sulle palle.
鈥漃aranoid Park鈥� di Gus Van Sant, 2007.
Non solo per quelli che il cuore batte cos矛 forte che a momenti volano fuori della stanza.
Non solo per quelli che si dispiacciono di pi霉 quando ammazzano il vecchio Mercuzio di quando muoiono Giulietta e Romeo.
Non solo per quelli che non sanno spiegare cosa vuol dire essere diverso e anche se ci riuscissero non 猫 sicuro che gli andrebbe di farlo.
Non solo per quelli che non riescono a trovare niente praticamente in niente e sono conciati da far schifo.
Non solo per quelli che non ci saranno posti meravigliosi dove andare dopo che avranno fatto l鈥檜niversit脿 e tutto quanto.
Non solo per quelli che finiscono per odiare il genere umano, giuro.
Non solo per quelli che non si amano e non si ammirano.
"Last Days鈥� di Gus Van Sant, 2005.
Non solo per quelli che come la vecchia Phoebe ascoltano sempre quando dici una cosa.
Non solo per quelli che non c鈥櫭� bisogno che uno sia una cattiva persona per farti venire la depressione, pu貌 anche essere una bravissima persona e fartela venire lo stesso, specie se si mette a dare un sacco di consigli da ipocrita.
Non solo per quelli che non mi piace quando uno rimane in argomento sempre, troppo perch茅 猫 bello quando uno va fuori tema.
Non solo per quelli che 猫 una cosa che mi manda in bestia quando ti dicono che il caff猫 猫 pronto e invece no.
Non solo per quelli che secondo me uno bisogna lasciarlo in pace se almeno dice cose interessanti e si entusiasma per qualcosa.
Non solo per quelli che non sono mica tanti quelli che odio, e li odio di tanto in tanto, magari per un po鈥� ma non dura mai molto.
Non solo per quelli che 猫 brutto dover dire roba nuova alla gente di cent鈥檃nni.
Non solo per quelli che dio come odio quando mi gridano buona fortuna mentre me ne vado da un posto.
Non solo per quelli che pensano di saperlo ma alla fine che ne sanno.
Non solo per quelli che mi spiace averlo raccontato a tanta gente鈥�
"Resteless - L鈥檃more che resta" di Gus Van Sant, film del 2011
Il linguaggio 猫 ben diverso, ma qui siamo dalle parti di una tragedia del grande William da Stratford-upon-Avon.
A strati, come tutta la grande arte, Holden 猫 un mito, come Ulisse, 猫 una pietra di paragone, 猫 un personaggio collettivo.
PS
Mi sa che mi manca pure quello scemo di Maurice.
PPSS
Ma perch茅 Mark David Chapman aveva in tasca proprio questo libro al numero 1 della 72nd Street West alle 22.51 dell鈥� 8 dicembre 1980?
Ancora da "Resteless - L鈥檃more che resta" di Gus Van Sant.
August 19, 2022
鈥淐atcher in the rye鈥� is one of most debatable, argumentative, complex novels of the century.
Some people think it鈥檚 a masterpiece: great approach of corruption, phoniness of people鈥檚 characteristics which is reflected by the perspective of Holden Caulfield who feels and sees so much for his young age.
And some of the other reviewers think this book is incredibly boring and Holden is such a sassy, arrogant, pretentious little bastard who has no idea about real life, its challenges, struggles without any proper experiences you may only have when you get aged and connect with people without thinking their phony, fake or artificial.
In my opinion, if you read this book at several different time lines of your lives, you get different impressions, taste and your undeniably hate to the character may turn into empathy or understanding because I can honestly say every person in his/ her own life has a Holden phase: you start criticizing the people who lost their innocence long time ago by building mandatory, insincere relationships.
You feel like you鈥檙e alone in the crowd, walking alone in the dark, keep screaming but no sound comes out. This book is not only about a teenage, know it all, irritating boy鈥檚 silent scream, it鈥檚 our own challenge to face how to be grown up, how to wear our new aged characteristics like wearing a two sized bigger human coat.
As soon as you catch your inner Holden during your read, his words will start to talk directly to your soul and heart at the same time.
I personally read this book four times. At first time it was for my school work and as you may imagine I hate the guts of the character but second reading of mine was completely different. I felt like I was the one talking through character鈥檚 mouth.
I read it for third time for few years back for my book club ( they threw me out because I started to read 6 books instead of 1 weekly and gave so much spoiler!) and today I chose it as my flashback Saturday read for fourth time reading!
It鈥檚 still quite remarkable coming of age novel about teenage angst, innocence, loneliness, growing pains. It always awaken different feelings you have no idea they exist. But as I say before, don鈥檛 read this book only one time. Just give it a chance, try several times at different phases of your life. And don鈥檛 you dare to kill your inner Holden! Sometimes being rebellious is better than being obedient without questioning anything further.
Here are my favorite quotes of the book:
鈥淚 don鈥檛 care if it鈥檚 a sad good-bye or a bad good-bye, but when I leave a place I like to know I鈥檓 leaving it. If you don鈥檛, you feel even worse.鈥�
鈥淭he 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.鈥�
鈥淭he best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody鈥檇 move. You could go there a hundred thousand times, and that Eskimo would still be just finished catching those two fish, the birds would still be on their way south, the deers would still be drinking out of that water hole鈥� Nobody鈥檇 be different鈥� The only thing that would be different would be you.鈥�
鈥淧eople always clap for the wrong reasons.鈥�
鈥淚'd just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd really like to be. I know it's crazy.鈥�
Some people think it鈥檚 a masterpiece: great approach of corruption, phoniness of people鈥檚 characteristics which is reflected by the perspective of Holden Caulfield who feels and sees so much for his young age.
And some of the other reviewers think this book is incredibly boring and Holden is such a sassy, arrogant, pretentious little bastard who has no idea about real life, its challenges, struggles without any proper experiences you may only have when you get aged and connect with people without thinking their phony, fake or artificial.
In my opinion, if you read this book at several different time lines of your lives, you get different impressions, taste and your undeniably hate to the character may turn into empathy or understanding because I can honestly say every person in his/ her own life has a Holden phase: you start criticizing the people who lost their innocence long time ago by building mandatory, insincere relationships.
You feel like you鈥檙e alone in the crowd, walking alone in the dark, keep screaming but no sound comes out. This book is not only about a teenage, know it all, irritating boy鈥檚 silent scream, it鈥檚 our own challenge to face how to be grown up, how to wear our new aged characteristics like wearing a two sized bigger human coat.
As soon as you catch your inner Holden during your read, his words will start to talk directly to your soul and heart at the same time.
I personally read this book four times. At first time it was for my school work and as you may imagine I hate the guts of the character but second reading of mine was completely different. I felt like I was the one talking through character鈥檚 mouth.
I read it for third time for few years back for my book club ( they threw me out because I started to read 6 books instead of 1 weekly and gave so much spoiler!) and today I chose it as my flashback Saturday read for fourth time reading!
It鈥檚 still quite remarkable coming of age novel about teenage angst, innocence, loneliness, growing pains. It always awaken different feelings you have no idea they exist. But as I say before, don鈥檛 read this book only one time. Just give it a chance, try several times at different phases of your life. And don鈥檛 you dare to kill your inner Holden! Sometimes being rebellious is better than being obedient without questioning anything further.
Here are my favorite quotes of the book:
鈥淚 don鈥檛 care if it鈥檚 a sad good-bye or a bad good-bye, but when I leave a place I like to know I鈥檓 leaving it. If you don鈥檛, you feel even worse.鈥�
鈥淭he 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.鈥�
鈥淭he best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody鈥檇 move. You could go there a hundred thousand times, and that Eskimo would still be just finished catching those two fish, the birds would still be on their way south, the deers would still be drinking out of that water hole鈥� Nobody鈥檇 be different鈥� The only thing that would be different would be you.鈥�
鈥淧eople always clap for the wrong reasons.鈥�
鈥淚'd just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd really like to be. I know it's crazy.鈥�
July 7, 2023
One of the most overrated, hyper drivel YA classics ever
See, it was published in 1951 by a young (one trick pony?) author
who wrote his higher rated (better?, see ratings) works after The Catcher. And who was, as so many authors of the time, first primarily specialized in short stories and, gosh, The Catcher exactly is a short story collection with
A protagonist staggering from one boring episode to the next
Because there is no real freaking action, antagonists except everything the protagonist is interacting with, and no real sense except a teenager rebelling against everything. This all would be fine and entertaining, if there
Would be any wit, more complex characters, and less introspective fringe philosophy of a first person narrator
Who has some controversial thoughts and feelings about life and sexuality. It did a good job at fighting conservative intolerance to get some more open, progressive thinking out into the world, but it just hasn麓t the quality and depth needed to be a universal milestone of literature. For young readers of the 20th century, it might have been a mind opening, controversial read that understood them, but
It didn麓t age well
Except for the important message of not trying to proselytize kids and teens for outdated ideologies and faith stigmatizing anything kinky, what麓s left? Well, depressingly long periods of boredom, because the novel just doesn麓t deliver and Salinger is so egocentric to absolutely not care about the millennia old rules of good storytelling and creative writing. One has to suffer with the protagonist who exactly delivers nothing except of some outrageous actions. Other authors like Roald Dahl, Mark Twain, etc. wrote funny and deep novels with real plots that subtly and ironically integrated different topics, issues, and controversies in their work and were loved by audiences of all ages because they were well written. Or the even bigger load of modern YA authors who write dystopian novels in the Orwellian and Huxleyian tradition. But not funny, boring, first person drivel about the stereotypical teenage rebellion against a restrictive, bigoted system? Not so much,
Because it bores the heck out of the readers
I forced myself to finish this overhyped story idea collection and couldn麓t even detect some sophisticated message behind the seemingly superficial plot. And what always annoys me the most is that each country around the world has similar patriotic tendencies to pick average and bad books and declare them the gold standard because the author is a proud author citizen. As good as the intentions were and as important the works might have been in creating a more open and tolerant society, today they are the main reason why many young people, tortured with the modified, individualized trash of each big culture and country, hate reading after school. Because they think that reading is associated with boredom and having to find deeper meanings where there are none.
Subjectivity overkill
And it seems that, because of the weaknesses, The Catcher has become a completely subjective, absolutely not universally acclaimed great, experience, depending on the question of if one likes or dislikes the protagonist. Good literature shouldn麓t depend on that single factor.
Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
See, it was published in 1951 by a young (one trick pony?) author
who wrote his higher rated (better?, see ratings) works after The Catcher. And who was, as so many authors of the time, first primarily specialized in short stories and, gosh, The Catcher exactly is a short story collection with
A protagonist staggering from one boring episode to the next
Because there is no real freaking action, antagonists except everything the protagonist is interacting with, and no real sense except a teenager rebelling against everything. This all would be fine and entertaining, if there
Would be any wit, more complex characters, and less introspective fringe philosophy of a first person narrator
Who has some controversial thoughts and feelings about life and sexuality. It did a good job at fighting conservative intolerance to get some more open, progressive thinking out into the world, but it just hasn麓t the quality and depth needed to be a universal milestone of literature. For young readers of the 20th century, it might have been a mind opening, controversial read that understood them, but
It didn麓t age well
Except for the important message of not trying to proselytize kids and teens for outdated ideologies and faith stigmatizing anything kinky, what麓s left? Well, depressingly long periods of boredom, because the novel just doesn麓t deliver and Salinger is so egocentric to absolutely not care about the millennia old rules of good storytelling and creative writing. One has to suffer with the protagonist who exactly delivers nothing except of some outrageous actions. Other authors like Roald Dahl, Mark Twain, etc. wrote funny and deep novels with real plots that subtly and ironically integrated different topics, issues, and controversies in their work and were loved by audiences of all ages because they were well written. Or the even bigger load of modern YA authors who write dystopian novels in the Orwellian and Huxleyian tradition. But not funny, boring, first person drivel about the stereotypical teenage rebellion against a restrictive, bigoted system? Not so much,
Because it bores the heck out of the readers
I forced myself to finish this overhyped story idea collection and couldn麓t even detect some sophisticated message behind the seemingly superficial plot. And what always annoys me the most is that each country around the world has similar patriotic tendencies to pick average and bad books and declare them the gold standard because the author is a proud author citizen. As good as the intentions were and as important the works might have been in creating a more open and tolerant society, today they are the main reason why many young people, tortured with the modified, individualized trash of each big culture and country, hate reading after school. Because they think that reading is associated with boredom and having to find deeper meanings where there are none.
Subjectivity overkill
And it seems that, because of the weaknesses, The Catcher has become a completely subjective, absolutely not universally acclaimed great, experience, depending on the question of if one likes or dislikes the protagonist. Good literature shouldn麓t depend on that single factor.
Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
November 26, 2024
There are books that we love without knowing why. Is it their form, content, writing quality, or the story they tell? We read them, cry or smile, and even remember them years after finishing them. The Catcher in the Rye is, for my part, in this category. It is a great classic. I read it late, but fortunately, it was not too late. Does he awaken in me this adolescent that we have all more or less buried in us? Surely. Did he seduce me with this natural shade? Is this language written down on paper as it comes out of the mouth and the young man's mind searching for himself? Indeed, but after all, whatever. Holden Caulfield takes us to bourgeois America in the 1950s, from his college, where he has just been dismissed, to New York Central Station. Scrolling through friends, families, and acquaintances, and delivering us by freeing ourselves, his wounds and joys, his loves and dislikes of people and things, and his teenage life. But enough talk - "Digression"!! (you will understand by reading it) - read on.
September 1, 2024
Holden Caulfield is a mixed- up cynical teenager, getting kicked out of another prestigious school, Pencey Prep, in Pennsylvania, the irony is that this obviously intelligent, privileged, 16 year- old, is somehow flunking out, why? He doesn't care about anything, especially education, bored and feeling neglected by his wealthy, New York City family . At least Caulfield passed English class, he's always reading, his big problem, he's so unmotivated, nothing seems important to this kid (set in 1949). Holden has no real friends in school, or liking anyone there, and the sentiment is very mutual, everything is "phony", his favorite word, which he speaks and thinks constantly. When Holden's younger brother Allie, died three years ago, it marked him forever, afterwards, the boy was changed and stops believing . Getting into a fight with a much stronger opponent, his roommate Stradlater, and losing naturally no surprise to Holden, ( punishment he craved) just before sneaking out of Pencey, an institution he hates, with a fervent passion. Taking the train to New York City, his hometown, but Holden doesn't go back to his uncaring family, his father, a well- to- do lawyer, too busy for Holden, nervous mother, she wants quiet, please, older brother D.B. a Hollywood writer, younger sister Phoebe, his only confidant, and the person he loves. Checking into the Edmont Hotel in the "Big Apple", a rather shabby, rundown place, (I wouldn't recommend staying there) and then the elevator operator the sleazy Maurice , gets him a prostitute, Sunny, she's Holden's age and he kind of feels sorry for her. Gives the lady of the night, five dollars just for talking, sends her away, good deeds are always rewarded, Maurice, comes back with Sunny for more money, a dispute arises, but they leave with an extra five, and a sock in the stomach of the poorer, but wiser Holden. Chain smoking with gusto and delight, drinking in bars, (dives) like a man, where people aren't too concerned about a customers age just the color of his dough, going to a Broadway play with a very accommodating girlfriend, attending the loathsome movies and seeing all those phonies, the actors, fighting with unsmiling cab drivers , the kid is having a good time, living like a grown-up, as long as the cash lasts. But what will he do, runaway or go back and face the music...his remote parents? The bible for disgruntled teenagers, and a must read for every new generation.......P.S. the title comes from a Robert Burns poem
February 6, 2008
I know there are people who thought this book changed their lives and helped them find their unique way in the world, but coming from a non-white, non-middleclass background, as a kid, I really resented having to read about this spoiled, screwed up, white, rich kid who kept getting chance after chance and just kept blowing it because he was so self-absorbed and self-pitying. I felt at the time there was no redeeming value in it for me. I was born on the outside trying my best to get in. I felt no sympathy for him at all. I didn't even find him funny. It just made me angry. I guess it still does.
February 23, 2023
There are some areas in this book that we might question the actions of Holden, especially if we reread this book after we have grown up. But still, I think that this is one of the best coming of age novels I was lucky enough to read in my life.
鈥淭he 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.鈥�
鈥淭he 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.鈥�
June 5, 2022
Ustedes conocen el s铆ndrome de Stendhal, pues Holden Caulfield, narrador y protagonista de esta historia, bien podr铆a perfectamente prestar su nombre a ese sentimiento de emoci贸n extrema que 茅l mismo experimenta ante un acto de verdadera bondad, m谩s si proviene de un ni帽o, pues no se puede dudar de la sincera bondad de un ni帽o bondadoso (Salinger subestima la mala baba de los ni帽os tanto como sobrevalora su felicidad). Un s铆ndrome que tiene su cruz en el sentimiento contrario que experimenta al ser testigo de la hipocres铆a, el fingimiento y la petulancia con la que act煤an los adultos en su mundo insustancial y ego铆sta.
鈥淢e paso el d铆a imponi茅ndome l铆mites que luego cruzo todo el tiempo.鈥�Y entre esa ni帽ez y esa adultez anda Holden, expulsado nuevamente de un colegio, cabreado con su hermano mayor por haberse vendido al cine de Hollywood y abatido por la muerte de su hermano Allie, 鈥渆l muchacho m谩s simp谩tico, inteligente y entra帽able del mundo鈥�. Tampoco es que est茅 muy contento de s铆 mismo, condici贸n m谩s que suficiente para odiar a todos, aunque no soporte estar solo, y hasta para dudar de sus propias intenciones, por muy buenas que estas sean.
鈥溾€� si de verdad te pones a defender a t铆os inocentes, 驴c贸mo sabes que lo haces porque quieres salvarles la vida, o porque quieres que todos te consideren un abogado estupendo y te den palmaditas en la espalda y te feliciten los periodistas cuando acaba el juicio como pasa en toda esa imbecilidad de pel铆culas? 驴C贸mo sabes t煤 mismo que no te est谩s mintiendo? Eso es lo malo, que nunca llegas a saberlo.鈥�Holden encarna como nadie al adolescente que no sabe qui茅n es ni d贸nde encaja, que descubre un mundo, el de los adultos, que no le gusta y, lo que es peor, que no tiene soluci贸n.
鈥淓so es lo malo. Que no hay forma de dar con un sitio tranquilo porque no existe. Cuando te crees que por fin lo has encontrado, te encuentras con que alguien ha escrito un joder en la pared鈥� aunque dedicara uno a eso un mill贸n de a帽os, nunca ser铆a capaz de borrar todos los joder del mundo. Ser铆a imposible.鈥�Holden es un Peter Pan que solo se siente a gusto entre ni帽os, encarnados en su hermana Phoebe, a cuya protecci贸n frente a ese mundo horrible que est谩 descubriendo dedicar铆a su vida.
鈥溌縎abes que me gustar铆a ser? (鈥�) Muchas veces me imagino que hay un mont贸n de ni帽os jugando en un campo de centeno. Miles de ni帽os. Y est谩n solos. Quiero decir que no hay nadie mayor vigil谩ndolos. Solo yo. Estoy al borde de un precipicio y mi trabajo consiste en evitar que caigan por 茅l. En cuanto empiezan a correr sin mirar ad贸nde van, yo salgo de donde est茅 y los cojo. Eso es lo que me gustar铆a hacer todo el tiempo. Yo ser铆a el guardi谩n entre el centeno鈥�Holden puede ser muy dulce, divertido, considerado, pero tambi茅n un tocapelotas capaz de llamarte por tel茅fono a cualquier hora, de despertarte en mitad de la noche, de rondar incesantemente a tu alrededor como una mosca cojonera o, sin conocerte, de abordarte abusivamente con un desparpajo impropio de su edad. Es cobarde, mentiroso, bebe mucho, fuma m谩s, querr铆a follar, no solo follar, no aguanta halagos, todo le suena a falso, todo y todos le deprimen, todo el mundo es hip贸crita, todo le saca de quicio o le fastidia o le revienta, todos son cretinos que no saben apreciar lo bueno y que se vuelven locos por lo malo鈥� y al mismo tiempo, puede sentir una l谩stima insoportable por toda esa gente o echar de menos al m谩s cretino de sus amigos al poco de separarse de 茅l.
鈥溾€ab铆a como un mill贸n de chicas esperando a su pareja: chicas con las piernas cruzadas, chicas con piernas preciosas, chicas con piernas horrorosas, chicas que parec铆an estupendas, y chicas que deb铆an ser unas brujas si de verdad se las llegaba a conocer bien. Era un bonito panorama, pero no s茅 si me entender谩n lo que quiero decir. Aunque por otra parte era tambi茅n bastante deprimente porque uno no pod铆a dejar de preguntarse qu茅 ser铆a de todas ellas. Me refiero a cuando salieran del colegio y la universidad. La mayor铆a se casar铆an con cretinos, tipos de esos que se pasan el d铆a hablando de cu谩ntos kil贸metros pueden sacarle a un litro de gasolina, tipos que se enfadan como ni帽os cuando pierden al golf o a alg煤n juego tan est煤pido como el ping-pong, tipos mala gente de verdad, tipos que en su vida han le铆do un libro, tipos aburridos..."El libro es divertido, tanto como tierno y conmovedor, su lenguaje es muy fresco, directo y sencillo demostrando que la claridad de la prosa no est谩 re帽ida con la complejidad de lo expuesto. Todos (casi) podemos recordar sentimientos parecidos, experimentar el s铆ndrome Caulfield en alg煤n momento, reconocernos en las peripecias de este inolvidable Holden Caulfield, que, por ello mismo, desde su aparici贸n es el gran arquetipo del adolescente atormentado.
May 2, 2025
[ review updated after reading some of the 1*s ]
Dear gods, people. This isn't a book that's trying to give you a hero to follow on an adventure, or a moody bad boy who will change for the girl that understands him. It's not that kind of book and I'm sorry you were made to read it in school when you didn't want to.
If you grew up knowing exactly who you were and fitting in neatly with all your classmates, if you never had a dark thought, a moment of confusion, a doubt about the 9-to-5 waiting for you, well ... even then this book could help you understand the vast swathes of us who were not so 'blessed'.
And if you were less perfectly shaped for the world you found yourself in then this book might help you feel seen. Not in its specifics perhaps - people are broken in a vast number of ways - but in the idea that broken is normal.
Our point of view character here is awkward, an idiot, up his own backside, hurting, over-cocky, full of doubt, absolutely certain, convinced he's better than us, drowning in low-self esteem ... in short he's a mass of contradictions.
He's wrestling with fresh ideas (at least they're fresh to every child/teen as they coin them for themselves). Ideas that adults push aside, not because they know the answers but because time has taught them the futility of bashing their heads against them. Holden is in the head-bashing phase.
We're all going to die. That's a mind-fuck. But we get over the fact because ... what else can we do? There's only so long you can spend staring into the abyss, and maybe you're going to dress in black and listen to moody music while you do that ... or perhaps just play football. But dammit, a lot of us are going to angst over it for at least a little bit.
Among other things, this book is about growing up. It's about adolescence. We agonise about how to turn children into stable adults. About how to stop them being radicalised, keep them out of gangs, keep knives (or guns) out of their hands, help them form healthy relationships etc ... well ... this is a long hard look into the kind of mind that you're dealing with there.
It's literary fiction - it's not trying to tell you an adventure story, it's asking questions, it's concerned with the human condition. It does a marvellous job at that. This is why we're still talking about it ~75 years after it was written. This is why nearly 4 million people have expressed their views on it here (if only by a rating).
The number of angry readers lining up to express their contempt for it is ... well ... Holden Caulfield would approve. He'd have 1*ed it too and called it trash :D
[original review]
I gave this book its rating in 2010. I read it in 2000, rather later in life than most of its modern readers who appear to have been forced between the covers (so's to speak) by their English teacher at school. I'm reviewing it from memory in 2021.
Although the book is about a schoolboy, I feel it's probably best read by someone later in life who has the perspective on those events that distance brings, and is better able to appreciate the bitter-sweet, awkward, spiky, rebellion-against-nothing-and-everything that adolescence can be for many, especially those who are intelligent but not comfortable in their skins.
A common objection to the text is that our narrator is insufferable. He's self-absorbed, bitter, sarcastic, arrogant, clever, and not as clever as he thinks he is, all at once. He's exactly what a significant portion of the school kids forced to read the book are (most without appreciating it), and exactly what a portion of those who like the book in later life were.
We're catapulted into adolescence and a lot of us don't deal with it very well. Add in some tragedy, some adversity, some attitude "problems" and you get a Holden Caulfield. You don't have to want to spend time in his company in order to find reading about him interact with the world fascinating.
It's a messy book, erratic in places, it lies to you, and that helps it tell some difficult truths. It's easy to dismiss it as over-rated nonsense that intellectuals have read far too much into. And that's entirely possible. But it's also easy to miss its depth, and undoubtedly that's there too.
I read the book on a trip to America from the UK for a job interview (I got the job but didn't take it - got another interview in a different state, another offer which I took). I feel it's a book that you'll read very differently depending on where you are in your life, which is something that depends on both your age and on how experience has shaped your thinking.
I read it when I was 34, father of 3, on the edge of a big move, and when it spoke I felt it. Five stars.
...
Dear gods, people. This isn't a book that's trying to give you a hero to follow on an adventure, or a moody bad boy who will change for the girl that understands him. It's not that kind of book and I'm sorry you were made to read it in school when you didn't want to.
If you grew up knowing exactly who you were and fitting in neatly with all your classmates, if you never had a dark thought, a moment of confusion, a doubt about the 9-to-5 waiting for you, well ... even then this book could help you understand the vast swathes of us who were not so 'blessed'.
And if you were less perfectly shaped for the world you found yourself in then this book might help you feel seen. Not in its specifics perhaps - people are broken in a vast number of ways - but in the idea that broken is normal.
Our point of view character here is awkward, an idiot, up his own backside, hurting, over-cocky, full of doubt, absolutely certain, convinced he's better than us, drowning in low-self esteem ... in short he's a mass of contradictions.
He's wrestling with fresh ideas (at least they're fresh to every child/teen as they coin them for themselves). Ideas that adults push aside, not because they know the answers but because time has taught them the futility of bashing their heads against them. Holden is in the head-bashing phase.
We're all going to die. That's a mind-fuck. But we get over the fact because ... what else can we do? There's only so long you can spend staring into the abyss, and maybe you're going to dress in black and listen to moody music while you do that ... or perhaps just play football. But dammit, a lot of us are going to angst over it for at least a little bit.
Among other things, this book is about growing up. It's about adolescence. We agonise about how to turn children into stable adults. About how to stop them being radicalised, keep them out of gangs, keep knives (or guns) out of their hands, help them form healthy relationships etc ... well ... this is a long hard look into the kind of mind that you're dealing with there.
It's literary fiction - it's not trying to tell you an adventure story, it's asking questions, it's concerned with the human condition. It does a marvellous job at that. This is why we're still talking about it ~75 years after it was written. This is why nearly 4 million people have expressed their views on it here (if only by a rating).
The number of angry readers lining up to express their contempt for it is ... well ... Holden Caulfield would approve. He'd have 1*ed it too and called it trash :D
[original review]
I gave this book its rating in 2010. I read it in 2000, rather later in life than most of its modern readers who appear to have been forced between the covers (so's to speak) by their English teacher at school. I'm reviewing it from memory in 2021.
Although the book is about a schoolboy, I feel it's probably best read by someone later in life who has the perspective on those events that distance brings, and is better able to appreciate the bitter-sweet, awkward, spiky, rebellion-against-nothing-and-everything that adolescence can be for many, especially those who are intelligent but not comfortable in their skins.
A common objection to the text is that our narrator is insufferable. He's self-absorbed, bitter, sarcastic, arrogant, clever, and not as clever as he thinks he is, all at once. He's exactly what a significant portion of the school kids forced to read the book are (most without appreciating it), and exactly what a portion of those who like the book in later life were.
We're catapulted into adolescence and a lot of us don't deal with it very well. Add in some tragedy, some adversity, some attitude "problems" and you get a Holden Caulfield. You don't have to want to spend time in his company in order to find reading about him interact with the world fascinating.
It's a messy book, erratic in places, it lies to you, and that helps it tell some difficult truths. It's easy to dismiss it as over-rated nonsense that intellectuals have read far too much into. And that's entirely possible. But it's also easy to miss its depth, and undoubtedly that's there too.
I read the book on a trip to America from the UK for a job interview (I got the job but didn't take it - got another interview in a different state, another offer which I took). I feel it's a book that you'll read very differently depending on where you are in your life, which is something that depends on both your age and on how experience has shaped your thinking.
I read it when I was 34, father of 3, on the edge of a big move, and when it spoke I felt it. Five stars.
...
October 25, 2021
Please take this review as an account from a fourteen year old. Maybe consider that before you make some extremely inappropriate judgments about me.
TW: sexism, homophobia, gaslighting, inaccurate/inappropriate interpretations of depression, violence and abuse
I don't think I've ever despised a book more than this one. I cannot positively find a good thing to say about it whatsoever. Before anyone decides to come at me for hating this book and say, "Andrea, you're so immature and uneducated" or "Andrea, it was written in the 1950s, what do you expect", no, I will NOT apologize for detesting this book and no, I will NOT excuse any of its problematic content because it came out a long time ago. To top it all off, I practically killed myself reading it. It was awful to get through. I wish I could throw the book into a paper shredder, but it belongs to my dad and it's from the early 2000s so if I wait a couple of years, I can probably get an antique shop store credit.
This book is about...well, I couldn't even tell you. A character examination? An inadequate and inaccurate account of depression? A plot to piss everyone off who is reading? A slacker who does stupid things and uses hypocrisy and lying to get himself out of situations that he created? A boy who gets kicked out of school?
One of the worst things, if not the worst thing about this book, is the vernacular used. J.D. Salinger writes in this method in which he attempts to emulate the way an actual teenager speaks. That would make it more realistic, he thought, but it was actually just annoying. If I have to hear another character [Holden Caulfield] use the phrase "like a madman" or "like a bastard" or "goddam" (which was horribly misspelled, by the way), I am literally going to gouge my eyes out with a spoon. To make it even worse, it was also obnoxiously repetitive. I counted the word "goddam" seven times on one page. He also had an affinity for the sentence "it killed me". Every time that was used, I literally wanted to be killed.
The other most pressing attribute of this book is Holden Caulfield himself. Probably my least favorite character of all time. I got dragged for disliking this book, so I think I deserve to drag this character for some time now. If there's one thing I can't stand, it's hypocrisy, lying, and shaming/judging other people for what they like to do or tendencies they may have. I have been shamed and judged many a time due to my interests and anxieties. The fact that Holden Caulfield is constantly judging, constantly shaming, and constantly criticizing other people for what they do when he should just stand in a mirror and do a self-examination infuriates me. There is not a second that passes by in that book without Holden getting angry or "depressed" because someone lived their life and upset his little hipster fantasy.
Holden seems to be agitated by everything, yet he continues to comply with the things that agitate him. I'll reference a specific example. "Grand. There's a word I really hate. It's a phony. I could puke every time I hear it." (page 14) In two pages, he uses that exact word in a sentence without thinking anything of it. He constantly and unreasonably points out others for being "phony" when he's the one who's really phony. The filthy hypocrite. He "almost hates" certain people for being reasonable and not complying with his own corrupt morals and standards. I understand that the author is trying to show that he is a flawed character, but he just unsettles me.
Another thing...I get that this book is utterly sexist and homophobic because it's outdated, but that doesn't mean I have to appreciate it or dismiss it. The way he treats the women in his life and belittles the homosexual community is just awful. There is a whole paragraph where he discusses his distaste for men who don't treat women right and who are "boring", implying that women should go for "nice guys like him". Then, on the next page, he describes his date with a girl, saying that they "horsed around" even though she didn't really want to, but inherently "had no other choice". This honestly feeds into the hypocrisy along with the sexism. He can be quoted calling girls weak, stupid, and dumb, not specifically, but in general. He can be found making fun of "flits", in which he describes homosexuals as phonies in regard to gender. This regard is disgusting. I don't understand how people who read this book in this present time can manage to ignore that and call this an excellent book.
This book did not have a predictable ending at all. It had a horrible ending. If you don't want to be spoiled for the ending, skip to the next paragraph, but if you don't care, by all means, be my guest and continue reading. This book ends with Holden coming back home. It begins with him getting kicked out of prep school and running away, and it ends with him coming home to his family and finding another school. No sign of resolution. No sign of conclusion. Just the story being like: "okay, fun. Nothing's changing. It's going to end abruptly. Bye-bye now." There was no sense of ending. I understand that sometimes books do not necessarily have a happy ending, but with a book like this that has already charted its course with little to no plot, I think some resolution is required. I felt like my time had been wasted after finishing.
Lastly, I'd like to talk about this book's interpretation of depression. Now don't get me wrong. Someone who is depressed can be a slacker and not want to care about school at all, and flunk out of everything and not have any friends. But this book's interpretation was insanely problematic. The way the character was portrayed made the book seem as if Holden was diseased because of his depression, and that he was so awful because of it. Maybe this is just my opinion, but that's not a good message to share to your audience.
Overall, this book was horrendous. Ghastly. Abominable. It had no point and it consisted of Holden running away, doing stupid crap, lying about it, getting away with it, and then just having it never appear again or show any effect to the story. The writing didn't make it interesting and neither did the characters, all of which I hated. I don't recommend this book and I've done so many analysis assignments and projects that I never never never want to see it again.
Edit: Can we, in the comments, please stop giving me hate for writing this review? I don鈥檛 know if anyone realized this, but I was a minor at the time of writing this and am still a minor, and I really don鈥檛 appreciate the endless threats I got for sharing my opinion. I understand that the version of me, who read this book in her freshman year of high school, took this book in a different account than how it was meant to be taken, but never did I say that anyone who likes this book is horrible. I understand that you may not agree with me, and I respect that, but to completely chew out a minor who had a premature opinion in paragraphs and paragraphs of writing is maybe something that should be more thought out? Maybe you can make a statement commenting on how you think I鈥檓 wrong, and then you can commit to something鈥ore fulfilling?
TW: sexism, homophobia, gaslighting, inaccurate/inappropriate interpretations of depression, violence and abuse
I don't think I've ever despised a book more than this one. I cannot positively find a good thing to say about it whatsoever. Before anyone decides to come at me for hating this book and say, "Andrea, you're so immature and uneducated" or "Andrea, it was written in the 1950s, what do you expect", no, I will NOT apologize for detesting this book and no, I will NOT excuse any of its problematic content because it came out a long time ago. To top it all off, I practically killed myself reading it. It was awful to get through. I wish I could throw the book into a paper shredder, but it belongs to my dad and it's from the early 2000s so if I wait a couple of years, I can probably get an antique shop store credit.
This book is about...well, I couldn't even tell you. A character examination? An inadequate and inaccurate account of depression? A plot to piss everyone off who is reading? A slacker who does stupid things and uses hypocrisy and lying to get himself out of situations that he created? A boy who gets kicked out of school?
One of the worst things, if not the worst thing about this book, is the vernacular used. J.D. Salinger writes in this method in which he attempts to emulate the way an actual teenager speaks. That would make it more realistic, he thought, but it was actually just annoying. If I have to hear another character [Holden Caulfield] use the phrase "like a madman" or "like a bastard" or "goddam" (which was horribly misspelled, by the way), I am literally going to gouge my eyes out with a spoon. To make it even worse, it was also obnoxiously repetitive. I counted the word "goddam" seven times on one page. He also had an affinity for the sentence "it killed me". Every time that was used, I literally wanted to be killed.
The other most pressing attribute of this book is Holden Caulfield himself. Probably my least favorite character of all time. I got dragged for disliking this book, so I think I deserve to drag this character for some time now. If there's one thing I can't stand, it's hypocrisy, lying, and shaming/judging other people for what they like to do or tendencies they may have. I have been shamed and judged many a time due to my interests and anxieties. The fact that Holden Caulfield is constantly judging, constantly shaming, and constantly criticizing other people for what they do when he should just stand in a mirror and do a self-examination infuriates me. There is not a second that passes by in that book without Holden getting angry or "depressed" because someone lived their life and upset his little hipster fantasy.
Holden seems to be agitated by everything, yet he continues to comply with the things that agitate him. I'll reference a specific example. "Grand. There's a word I really hate. It's a phony. I could puke every time I hear it." (page 14) In two pages, he uses that exact word in a sentence without thinking anything of it. He constantly and unreasonably points out others for being "phony" when he's the one who's really phony. The filthy hypocrite. He "almost hates" certain people for being reasonable and not complying with his own corrupt morals and standards. I understand that the author is trying to show that he is a flawed character, but he just unsettles me.
Another thing...I get that this book is utterly sexist and homophobic because it's outdated, but that doesn't mean I have to appreciate it or dismiss it. The way he treats the women in his life and belittles the homosexual community is just awful. There is a whole paragraph where he discusses his distaste for men who don't treat women right and who are "boring", implying that women should go for "nice guys like him". Then, on the next page, he describes his date with a girl, saying that they "horsed around" even though she didn't really want to, but inherently "had no other choice". This honestly feeds into the hypocrisy along with the sexism. He can be quoted calling girls weak, stupid, and dumb, not specifically, but in general. He can be found making fun of "flits", in which he describes homosexuals as phonies in regard to gender. This regard is disgusting. I don't understand how people who read this book in this present time can manage to ignore that and call this an excellent book.
This book did not have a predictable ending at all. It had a horrible ending. If you don't want to be spoiled for the ending, skip to the next paragraph, but if you don't care, by all means, be my guest and continue reading. This book ends with Holden coming back home. It begins with him getting kicked out of prep school and running away, and it ends with him coming home to his family and finding another school. No sign of resolution. No sign of conclusion. Just the story being like: "okay, fun. Nothing's changing. It's going to end abruptly. Bye-bye now." There was no sense of ending. I understand that sometimes books do not necessarily have a happy ending, but with a book like this that has already charted its course with little to no plot, I think some resolution is required. I felt like my time had been wasted after finishing.
Lastly, I'd like to talk about this book's interpretation of depression. Now don't get me wrong. Someone who is depressed can be a slacker and not want to care about school at all, and flunk out of everything and not have any friends. But this book's interpretation was insanely problematic. The way the character was portrayed made the book seem as if Holden was diseased because of his depression, and that he was so awful because of it. Maybe this is just my opinion, but that's not a good message to share to your audience.
Overall, this book was horrendous. Ghastly. Abominable. It had no point and it consisted of Holden running away, doing stupid crap, lying about it, getting away with it, and then just having it never appear again or show any effect to the story. The writing didn't make it interesting and neither did the characters, all of which I hated. I don't recommend this book and I've done so many analysis assignments and projects that I never never never want to see it again.
Edit: Can we, in the comments, please stop giving me hate for writing this review? I don鈥檛 know if anyone realized this, but I was a minor at the time of writing this and am still a minor, and I really don鈥檛 appreciate the endless threats I got for sharing my opinion. I understand that the version of me, who read this book in her freshman year of high school, took this book in a different account than how it was meant to be taken, but never did I say that anyone who likes this book is horrible. I understand that you may not agree with me, and I respect that, but to completely chew out a minor who had a premature opinion in paragraphs and paragraphs of writing is maybe something that should be more thought out? Maybe you can make a statement commenting on how you think I鈥檓 wrong, and then you can commit to something鈥ore fulfilling?
December 27, 2017
賳丕鬲賵乇 丿卮鬲 乇賵 賲蹖卮賴 亘丕乇賴丕 禺賵賳丿 賵 亘丕乇賴丕 賴賲乇丕賴 賴賵賱丿賳 讴丕賱賮蹖丿 丿乇 亘乇丕亘乇 蹖讴 噩丕賲毓賴鈥屰� 賲夭禺乇賮 胤睾蹖丕賳 讴乇丿...賱匕鬲賽 丿賵亘丕乇賴 賵 丿賵亘丕乇賴鈥屰� 丕蹖爻鬲丕丿賳 賵 鬲爻賱蹖賲 賳卮丿賳...賴賵賱丿賳 賲賳賵 亘蹖卮 丕夭 賴乇讴爻蹖 蹖丕丿 鬲乇丕賵蹖爻 亘蹖讴賱 (賳賯卮 乇丕亘乇鬲 丿賳蹖乇賵 丿乇 賮蹖賱賲 乇丕賳賳丿賴 鬲丕讴爻蹖) 賲蹖賳丿丕夭賴...賴乇丿賵 丕夭 丕噩鬲賲丕毓 亘蹖夭丕乇 卮丿賴 賵 賲噩亘賵乇 亘賴 胤乇丿 卮丿賳 诏卮鬲賴 丕賳丿 賵 卮丕蹖丿 鬲乇丕賵蹖爻 亘夭乇诏爻丕賱蹖 賴賵賱丿賳 亘丕卮丿...卮丕蹖丿 賴賵賱丿賳 賴賲 乇丕賳賳丿賴 鬲丕讴爻蹖 卮賵丿 賵 丿賵爻 丿禺鬲乇卮 乇丕 亘丿賵賳 賴蹖趩 賳蹖鬲 亘丿蹖 亘賴 爻蹖賳賲丕蹖 倬賵+乇賳 亘亘乇丿...賲蹖 鬲賵賳賴 賴賲趩賵賳 鬲乇丕賵蹖爻 亘丕 卮乇丕乇鬲 賴丕蹖 噩丕賲毓賴 乇賵亘乇賵 亘卮賴 丕賲丕 賴賳賵夭 倬爻乇讴蹖 卮乇蹖賮 賵 亘蹖 睾賱 賵 睾卮 亘賲賵賳賴
:賯爻賲鬲 夭蹖乇 亘乇诏乇賮鬲賴 丕夭 爻丕蹖鬲 賴丕蹖 丕蹖賳鬲乇賳鬲蹖 丕爻鬲
蹖讴蹖 丕夭 鬲丕孬蹖乇丕鬲 亘夭乇诏 賵 噩賳噩丕賱 亘乇丕賳诏蹖夭 丕蹖賳 讴鬲丕亘 賯鬲賱 噩丕賳 賱賳賵賳 丕爻胤賵乇賴 亘蹖 賴賲鬲丕蹖 賲賵爻蹖賯蹖 乇丕讴 賵 賲賵爻爻 诏乇賵賴 亘蹖鬲賱夭 丕爻鬲 讴賴 鬲賵爻胤 賲丕乇讴 丿蹖賵蹖丿 趩倬賲賳 亘賴 賯鬲賱 乇爻蹖丿. 趩倬賲賳 亘丕乇賴丕 丕丿毓丕 讴乇丿賴 讴賴 丕賳诏蹖夭賴 丕氐賱蹖 讴卮鬲賳 賱賳賵賳 亘毓丿 丕夭 禺賵丕賳丿賳 丕蹖賳 讴鬲丕亘 亘賴 丕賵 丕賱賴丕賲 卮丿賴 丕爻鬲
丕賱蹖丕 讴丕夭丕賳 讴丕乇诏乇丿丕賳 賲毓乇賵賮 爻蹖賳賲丕 賯氐丿 丿丕卮鬲 賮蹖賱賲蹖 亘乇 丕爻丕爻 乇賲丕賳 賳丕鬲賵乇 丿卮鬲 亘爻丕夭丿 賵 賴賳诏丕賲蹖 讴賴 賲蹖鈥屫堌ж池� 乇囟丕蹖鬲 爻賱蹖賳噩乇 乇丕 噩賱亘 讴賳丿貙 爻賱蹖賳噩乇 亘賴 丕賵 倬丕爻禺 丿丕丿 讴賴 賳賲蹖鈥屫堌з嗁� 趩賳賷賳 丕噩丕夭賴鈥屫й� 亘丿賴賲 夭賷乇丕 賲蹖鈥屫必迟� 賴賵賱丿賳 丕賷賳 賰丕乇 乇丕 丿賵爻鬲 賳丿丕卮鬲賴 亘丕卮丿
:賯爻賲鬲 夭蹖乇 亘乇诏乇賮鬲賴 丕夭 爻丕蹖鬲 賴丕蹖 丕蹖賳鬲乇賳鬲蹖 丕爻鬲
蹖讴蹖 丕夭 鬲丕孬蹖乇丕鬲 亘夭乇诏 賵 噩賳噩丕賱 亘乇丕賳诏蹖夭 丕蹖賳 讴鬲丕亘 賯鬲賱 噩丕賳 賱賳賵賳 丕爻胤賵乇賴 亘蹖 賴賲鬲丕蹖 賲賵爻蹖賯蹖 乇丕讴 賵 賲賵爻爻 诏乇賵賴 亘蹖鬲賱夭 丕爻鬲 讴賴 鬲賵爻胤 賲丕乇讴 丿蹖賵蹖丿 趩倬賲賳 亘賴 賯鬲賱 乇爻蹖丿. 趩倬賲賳 亘丕乇賴丕 丕丿毓丕 讴乇丿賴 讴賴 丕賳诏蹖夭賴 丕氐賱蹖 讴卮鬲賳 賱賳賵賳 亘毓丿 丕夭 禺賵丕賳丿賳 丕蹖賳 讴鬲丕亘 亘賴 丕賵 丕賱賴丕賲 卮丿賴 丕爻鬲
丕賱蹖丕 讴丕夭丕賳 讴丕乇诏乇丿丕賳 賲毓乇賵賮 爻蹖賳賲丕 賯氐丿 丿丕卮鬲 賮蹖賱賲蹖 亘乇 丕爻丕爻 乇賲丕賳 賳丕鬲賵乇 丿卮鬲 亘爻丕夭丿 賵 賴賳诏丕賲蹖 讴賴 賲蹖鈥屫堌ж池� 乇囟丕蹖鬲 爻賱蹖賳噩乇 乇丕 噩賱亘 讴賳丿貙 爻賱蹖賳噩乇 亘賴 丕賵 倬丕爻禺 丿丕丿 讴賴 賳賲蹖鈥屫堌з嗁� 趩賳賷賳 丕噩丕夭賴鈥屫й� 亘丿賴賲 夭賷乇丕 賲蹖鈥屫必迟� 賴賵賱丿賳 丕賷賳 賰丕乇 乇丕 丿賵爻鬲 賳丿丕卮鬲賴 亘丕卮丿
April 30, 2023
Sooo my least favorite classic just became a new favorite?!?!? *calls a therapist*
(Torn between 4 and 5 stars 馃憖) *calls multiple therapists*
(Torn between 4 and 5 stars 馃憖) *calls multiple therapists*
Displaying 1 - 30 of 96,088 reviews
Can't find what you're looking for?
Get help and learn more about the design.