Name: Vojtech's review of The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
Item: The Catcher in the Rye
Rating: 5
Author: Vojtech

J. D. Salinger

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.

The Catcher in the Rye

Kat Albanese

In the first place, I certainly don't enjoy seeing him in that crazy cemetery. Surrounded by dead guys and tombstones and all. It wasn't too bad when the sun was out, but twice—

—we were there when it started to rain. It was awful. It rained on his lousy tombstone, and it rained on the grass on his stomach. It rained all over the place. All the visitors that were visiting the cemetery started running like hell over to their cars. That's what nearly drove me crazy. All the visitors could get in their cars and turn on their radios and all and then go someplace nice for dinner—everybody except Allie.

Don't ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody.

“I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all.”

I'm sort of glad they've got the atomic bomb invented. If there's ever another war, I'm going to sit right the hell on top of it. I'll volunteer for it, I swear to God I will.

Imagine giving somebody a feel and telling them about a guy committing suicide at the same time!

You never even worried, with Jane, whether your hand was sweaty or not. All you knew was, you were happy. You really were.

Girls. Jesus Christ. They can drive you crazy. They really can.

Sex is something I just don't understand. I swear to God I don't.

Almost every time somebody gives me a present, it ends up making me sad.

I felt so lonesome, all of a sudden. I almost wished I was dead.

Sometimes I act a lot older than I am―I really do―but people never notice it. People never notice anything.

I don't give a damn, except that I get bored sometimes when people tell me to act my age.

lelayna

People always clap for the wrong things. If I were a piano player, I’d play it in the goddam closet.

Srijita Sarkar 

She knocked me out. I mean it. I was half in love with her by the time we sat down. That's the thing about girls. Every time they do something pretty, even if they're not much to look at, or even if they're sort of stupid, you fall half in love with them, and then you never know where the hell you are. Girls. Jesus Christ. They can drive you crazy. They really can.

I held hands with her all the time, for instance. That doesn't sound like much, I realize, but she was terrific to hold hands with. Most girls if you hold hands with them, their goddam hand dies on you, or else they think they have to keep moving their hand all the time, as if they were afraid they'd bore you or something. Jane was different. We'd get into a goddam movie or something, and right away we'd start holding hands, and we wouldn't quit till the movie was over. And without changing the position or making a big deal out of it. You never even worried, with Jane, whether your hand was sweaty or not. All you knew was, you were happy. You really were.

Goddam money. It always ends up making you blue as hell.

I knew it wasn't too important, but it made me sad anyway.

I felt like marrying her the minute I saw her. I'm crazy. I didn't even like her much, and yet all of a sudden I felt like I was in love with her and wanted to marry her. I swear to God I'm crazy.

But you're wrong about that hating business. I mean about hating football players and all. You really are. I don't hate too many guys.

"This fall I think you're riding for--it's a special kind of fall, a horrible kind. The man falling isn't permitted to feel or hear himself hit bottom. He just keeps falling and falling. The whole arrangement's designed for men who, at some time or other in their lives, were looking for something their own environment couldn't supply them with. Or they thought their own environment couldn't supply them with. So they gave up looking. They gave it up before they ever really even got started

Talking to imaginary or dead people when depressed or lonely! Us bro Us

Boy, I felt miserable. I felt so depressed, you can't imagine. What I did, I started talking, sort of out loud, to Allie. I do that sometimes when I get very depressed. I keep telling him to go home and get his bike and meet me in front of Bobby Fallon's house.

Vojtech

The "brilliant, funny, meaningful novel" (The New Yorker) that established J. D. Salinger as a leading voice in American literature--and that has instilled in millions of readers around the world a lifelong love of books. "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." The hero-narrator of The Catcher in the Rye is an ancient child of sixteen, a native New Yorker named Holden Caufield. 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.

it's hard to enjoy a book that is nothing but rambling of the main character when you can't stand the main character

julia

Si sos hombre y te gusta Holden sos un caprichoso

Idk why but the way this book was written kept me hooked in the beginning. Then it felt sort of aimless. But I got the idea. It's actually kind of inspiring, especially as a kid who is gonna go to college. I can see people finding a kindred spirit in this guy. It's a good book.

mahek 

'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.' The first of J. D. Salinger's four books to be published, The Catcher in the Rye is one of the most widely read and beloved of all contemporary American novels. 'The handbook of the adolescent heart' The New Yorker

i see a lot of people seem to have appreciated this far more as adolescents than adults. i see why, though i'm pretty sure at sixteen i'd have probably hated holden caulfield even more, though in a funny sort of way (i think we should all admit he gets pretty funny sometimes). this is certainly an interesting book, and it deserves its place among the classics, and in addition j.d. salinger had the wisdom to make it short, because i don't think i could've taken more of holden's teenage angst, honestly.

holden caulfield; a bunch of radiohead songs glued together

anatolian 

Toller Klassiker, kann ich jedem ans Herz legen. Nette Lektüre für nebenbei. 

Finia

The Catcher in Rye is the ultimate novel for disaffected youth, but it's relevant to all ages. The story is told by Holden Caulfield, a seventeen- year-old dropout who has just been kicked out of his fourth school. Throughout, Holden dissects the 'phony' aspects of society, and the 'phonies' themselves- the headmaster whose affability depends on the wealth of the parents, his roommate who scores with girls using sickly-sweet affection. Lazy in style, full of slang and swear words, it's a novel whose interest and appeal comes from its observations rather than its plot intrigues (in conventional terms, there is hardly any plot at all). Salinger's style creates an effect of conversation, it is as though Holden is speaking to you personally, as though you too have seen through the pretences of the American Dream and are growing up unable to see the point of living in, or contributing to, the society around you. Written with the clarity of a boy leaving childhood, it deals with society, love, loss, and expectations without ever falling into the clutch of a cliche

The protagonist’s pretty dumb, I like him cause he reminds me of myself

Siddharth

The catcher in the rye

i kept waiting for something to happen but nothing happened

asmo

You can ramble on as long as you’d like, when you write like that 🌹

I read this in one sitting maybe not the best book but I really enjoyed this and didn't expect to find so much comfort in

♱ zuzanna 

fun read, sometimes i think i kin him in a way of impulsiveness. 

Sosa Kuti 

I read this book over a span of a few months. Yes.  Months.

I was terribly busy with my courses, and my brain didn't have the energy to stay focused for too long on a page. I reread countless times, and dozed off often. But, yet, this book left a lasting impression on me.

Perhaps I loved this novel so much because Holden and I shared similar qualities, or perhaps I was just in the cynical phase of my life, and spent too much time watching Daria. Though, what I know for certain is that this piece of literature resonated with me deeply. And I'm glad I did not have to read it for class - because that would ruin its magic. 

If you're looking for motivation to read this book, I would say just go for it. It's not too long, and it won't disappoint. Whether you like it or not depends on your experiences, your beliefs, and where you are in life. But if you're willing to put up with a person unlike yourself, and understand even the most absurd of their being, then this is for you. To delve into the life of a conflicted affluent teenage boy from New York during the 50s' is a wild ride, and yet one that goes by slowly but surely. 

I'm not sure if I'm just a loser, but to me, Holden seemed like a realistic portrayal of a certain type of teenage-hood. Failing but with everything at your fingertips (for contemporary examples: internet access, free tutoring, etc). Angry at the world, but being privileged (think: having a decent amount of security, or the mentioning by elders of 'people having it worse'). Depressed, but without a glimpse of a reason. 

This book, for me, was great. It satiated and validated my cruelest and most cynical thoughts and feelings. But, it's definitely not for everyone.

Worst classic i ever read. It feels so American i want to cry. I kept reading it in this STRONG Southern accent for some reason. The main character is a whiny frat boy that is disappointed and feels excluded. Your private school didn't want your lazy ass?? :(Cry me a river. It was the 60's, your mother probably got tired to fake a smile for you everyday, she had your father to fake other things for. 

Mdy<3

It was sort of repetitive and vague, but towards the end it go really good ! It does capture being a teenager without glorifying it.

Indi

A 16-year old American boy relates in his own words the experiences he goes through at school and after, and reveals with unusual candour the workings of his own mind. What does a boy in his teens think and feel about his teachers, parents, friends and acquaintances?

Bella Baxter

If I could have, I would have given it a 3.5/5, might even consider it a 3, but JD Salinger was definitely ahead of his time. He ate toward the end.

Holden is one annoying ass teenager, but it was really nice to see how much he softened and became playful around his sister. Nice slice of life read. Also quite hilarious. I’m also curious how many days this took place because wow what an adventure, lol. A whole movie, really. IYKYK.

I think I read somewhere that this was a difficult read? Maybe because the language usage is a bit archaic, but I understood it fine. Interesting, actually.

OH. I know why I gave it the fourth star— the character descriptions? Setting descriptions? 10/10. Absolutely fantastic. Just excellent. Like, now I know why they tell you to read if you wanna be able to write, lol.

Sarah Sammis

"I thought what I'd do was, I'd pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes." (p. 198). That quote is why I finally decided I wanted to read the book. It shows up in The Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex series. My husband had read the book and said I should read it too so when the opportunity presented itself to me, I had to. Now having read the book I see much more of the of it in the series than just this short quote used by the Laughing Man.

Beyond inspiring an arc plot in an animae series, Catcher in the Rye seems to be the book that so many recent first person rambling books with teenage male protagonists spring from. The book reminds me a great deal of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time though better written. There's also a bit of Everything is Illuminated as well but again, much better written.

El Guardian Entre el Centeno/ The Catcher in the Rye

manuel

trezaa

exactly captures an insufferable teenage boy

I heard this book is a red flag so I knew it was a must read hahshsh and i’m sorry but I enjoyed it a lot and i can tell you that Holden is just like me. No but really this was really enjoyable and I found him to be a complex and misunderstood character, the way he expressed and pushes away his feelings and concerns makes me really emotional.

I  cried and laughed a lot, i’m happy and sad tbh.

Daizo 

I heard this book is a red flag so I knew it was a must read hahshsh and i’m sorry but I enjoyed it a lot and i can tell you that Holden is just like me. No but really this was really enjoyable and I found him to be a complex and misunderstood character, the way he expressed and pushes away his feelings and concerns makes me really emotional.

I  cried and laughed a lot, i’m happy and sad tbh.

Dani

My experience with this book has been quite singular. I read it for the first time during my angsty early teenage years -and felt utterly disappointed. I thought it wasn't anywhere near what I had heard it to be. There is my first mistake: I stupidly built up expectations in a complete wrong direction, because I believed what others told of it (which I later discovered to be utterly wrong, they just didn't pay any attention). My second mistake I guess, was that I read it in my native language, Spanish. I don't think there's a way to convert Holden's personality correctly by means of a translation. I'm simply not sure there's a way to do it. 

Anyway, after all these years I begin to comprehend the fuzz. After all these years, much older, much more mature, I can relate a whole lot more to Caulfield than I did when I was supposed to. It brought me back to the times when I was still absolutely clueless about myself, but shedding light to it. I thought, 'now I get it'. And indeed I do. Both the book and myself.

D D D 

Ok goodreads app crashed as I was in the midst of writing my glowing review for this book… so i’m keeping it short this time. 4.5 stars

This book is about grief! I laughed and I cried. absolutely perfect depiction of what it feels like to grow up, and it all happens in the subtext. masterful 

I am 100% a Holden Caulfield Defender. He is the perfect adolescent. One of the best written characters of all time tbh. he’s so annoying, I love him

Kendall McClain

It was fine! I’ve heard so much about how this man sucks and all that so I was expecting a true villain and he was really just some dude. Something in me loves reading about evil evil people so my hopes were high! Idk I get it’s from a teenage boy perspective so ya makes sense why it was written like this but I assumed it was written like a pretentious classic, and me who loves a pretentious classic was highly thrown off by all the goddams and such! 

But I did enjoy her, she is interesting and I love a character study, I feel like it’s bad to say I wish he was more evil but I wish he was more evil, commit!!!

Annika Arguemore

despite Holden's frequent profanities, his point of view is quite fascinating. both angry and analytic, he never fails to amaze me with his thinking alongside his rebellious ways. his analysis of things in general, to a non-understanding person's perspective, may be seen as queer but if you have an eye for such things he describes, he may be considered more than observant. perhaps a wallflower but he's more than that. I just loved this adventure of a book. Holden Caulfield is now my homeboy.

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The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger

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