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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asmo@butchkeito
0.5 stars
Oct 5, 2024
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5 stars
Sep 3, 2024
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4 stars
Aug 7, 2024
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4 stars
Jul 10, 2024
Exciting
Fast paced
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Sosa Kuti @orangennirvana
5 stars
Jun 26, 2024
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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
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trezaa@shinnlmin
4 stars
Mar 18, 2024
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Daizo @meizomeizo
4 stars
Feb 24, 2024
Pure
Dumb
Ironic
Honest
Simple
Comforting
Heartwarming
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Dani@parallelselves
5 stars
Feb 24, 2024
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D D D @sunnyd123
4 stars
Feb 17, 2024
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3 stars
Jan 29, 2024
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4 stars
Jan 14, 2024
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3 stars
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5 stars
Jan 13, 2024
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Jan 10, 2024
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5 stars
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5 stars
Jan 8, 2024
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Jooryk@jooryk
4.5 stars
Jan 7, 2024
Original
Remarkable
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maddie@alibraryofourown
4 stars
Jan 7, 2024

Highlights

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Page 110
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