The Catcher in the Rye
Honest
Timeless
Depressing

The Catcher in the Rye

Anyone who has read J.D. Salinger's New Yorker stories--particularly A Perfect Day for Bananafish, Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut, The Laughing Man, and For Esme With Love and Squalor--will not be surprised by the fact that his first novel is full of children. The hero-narrator of The Catcher in the Rye is an ancient child of sixteen, a native New Yorker named Holden Caulfield. Through circumstances that tend to preclude adult, secondhand description, he leaves his prep school in Pennsylvania and goes underground in New York City for three days. The boy himself is at once too simple and too complex for us to make any final comment about him or his story. Perhaps the safest thing we can say about Holden is that he was born in the world not just strongly attracted to beauty but, almost, hopelessly impaled on it. There are many voices in this novel: children's voices, adult voices, underground voices-but Holden's voice is the most eloquent of all. Transcending his own vernacular, yet remaining marvelously faithful to it, he issues a perfectly articulated cry of mixed pain and pleasure. However, like most lovers and clowns and poets of the higher orders, he keeps most of the pain to, and for, himself. The pleasure he gives away, or sets aside, with all his heart. It is there for the reader who can handle it to keep.
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Dylan Starr@dylan_starr
4.5 stars
Aug 29, 2025
Edgy
Timeless
Depressing
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Alicia Evans@aliciasahr
3 stars
Jul 16, 2025
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Samuel Oppong@samzy09
4 stars
Jul 15, 2025
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Katherine Jaenn@katherinejaenn
5 stars
Jul 6, 2025
Photo of ★
@ysabel
5 stars
Jul 3, 2025
Witty
Timeless
Easy read
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Throckmorton@throckmorton
4 stars
May 16, 2025
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shain@shain
4.5 stars
Apr 19, 2025
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Eva Cace@evaluna
3 stars
Mar 30, 2025
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julia@ctrljulia
2 stars
Feb 23, 2025
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nyx@legobatman
4 stars
Feb 18, 2025
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mahek @mahekf
4 stars
Jan 13, 2025
Complex
Timeless
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wen@orchidsboat
3 stars
Jan 12, 2025
Daring
Timeless
Insightful
Unpredictable
Testosterone-y
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anatolian @nurrur
4 stars
Dec 20, 2024
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Finia@finia
4.5 stars
Dec 2, 2024
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asmo@butchkeito
0.5 stars
Oct 5, 2024
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Kat Albanese@coachkitty
5 stars
Sep 3, 2024
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♱ zuzanna @thesoundofrain
4 stars
Aug 7, 2024
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@dokja
4 stars
Jul 10, 2024
Exciting
Fast paced
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Sosa Kuti @orangennirvana
5 stars
Jun 26, 2024
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Mdy<3@mdy717
1.5 stars
Jun 18, 2024
Gruesome
Obnoxious
Testosterone-y
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Indi@indiw-ellink
3.5 stars
Apr 4, 2024
Honest
Timeless
Long winded
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Bella Baxter@bellhorebooks
4 stars
Apr 4, 2024
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Sarah Sammis@pussreboots
5 stars
Apr 4, 2024
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manuel@manuaglr
5 stars
Mar 24, 2024
Fast paced
Unforgettable

Highlights

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@dokja
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@dokja
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@dokja
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@dokja
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@dokja
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Page 110
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