J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye Reviews
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From 3 ratings and 16 reviews
63% of users recommend this product
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16 Reviews For J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye
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Guest 2nd Sep 2009
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A Catcher in the Rye. An interesting read. I personally got quite bored of the long and quite useless descriptions of, say, a piece of clothing. By the last few chapters i was annoyed by the writing style and how Holden, the main character, thinks. He is very depressing and believes everything is 'phony'. I have read that this book represents youth and childhood. I think that it is inaccurate and Salinger probably didn't understand at all how we think.
Saying all this i must admit that i didn't put the book down and, for some weird reason, liked the way Holden just wandered around New York. The descriptions were bad but it was spontaneous and that kept me hooked.
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Guest 11th Apr 2009
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A prime example of the 'emperor's new clothes' phenomenon that seems to be plague the overly pretentious literary world. The Catcher in the Rye is an absolutely terrible book. It is self indulgent twaddle written by some overly angsty man who must be incredibly self obsessed. You learn very little about the human condition from it, and the style of writing is terrible. Yes I know it's deliberate, I know Salinger is trying to write from the perspective of a teen, but he doesn't do it terribly we ...- Read Guest's review (246 words)
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Guest 9th Dec 2008
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The book starts out very reasonably and moves somewhat at a normal pace. The book fails to develop at a good rate. He drones on and on about these goddam gloves, or how someone's hair looks, or how such and such annoys the hell out of me. It really is possibly the worst book ever! I recently read that the hunting hat was a symbol as well! Can you believe that? This author did not know what he was doing. The story lasts for no more than a few days, and he has no sense of story building and engagi ...- Read Guest's review (125 words)
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ambrose55
25th Nov 2008
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'Holden is more cynical than innocent '. Cynicism was originally the combined philosophies of a group of ancient Greeks known as the Cynics, founded by Antisthenes is the fourth century BC. They rejected society and advocated a simpler way of living, spurning money, religion, and other bastions of the advanced society of ancient Greece in favour of the 'pursuit of virtue ' . The fact that Holden seems to spurn society makes him a cynic in its purest form, the modern definition of cynicism howeve ...- Read ambrose55's review (1662 words)
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Guest 20th Nov 2008
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I thought I could easily relate to it. He teaches you a lesson and takes you on a journey. It's well written but very controversial. I think that this is a wonderful read.- Read Guest's review (33 words)
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DELTAGOLF
18th Nov 2008
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This is a good read. Some might be put off by the style it is written in (50's teenage slang), but if you persevere, you build a very close bond to the protagonist and his rather disturbed outlook on life. It was a refreshing book and left me wanting more (for me, a sign of a good book). Rather bleak in outlook, this book makes several valid points on life, society and the angst most teenagers experience. Worth a read.
My rating: 80%- Read DELTAGOLF's review (85 words)
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readme500
4th Nov 2008
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Although initially, I was drawn in by the interesting characterisation of the protagonist, I soon wondered when something significant was actually going to happen. It didn't. I liked the way that Salinger presented existentialist issues and made them accessible to young people, but really, the book just wasn't overly captivating. Even though it's a novel that has gained much critical acclaim for being 'original' I just found it boring.- Read readme500's review (69 words)
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Guest 23rd Oct 2008
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The Catcher in the Rye has realistic action, typical teenage behavior and gave me insight into the behavior of today's teenagers. Although i didn't like some of the language as it prevented some of it making sense. Overall, I thought it was insightful and realistic, easily read and understood, enjoyable.- Read Guest's review (50 words)
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JoyB 7th Nov 2007
On average, people found this review very helpful
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I thoroughly enjoyed this book- it was a great read. I was charmed by Holden and his little quirks- The character is by no means boring, and though he does repeat things, it's in a very conversational way, you really do feel like he's talking to you, and you alone- it's wonderful.
J.D Salinger is an amazing writer- I laughed so much at some of the comments Holden makes in the books, and a lot of his observations just rang so true to me. His relationships with his family are real, and I could ...- Read JoyB's review (162 words)
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jennibean
17th Mar 2007
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I borrowed this book as I needed something to read which wasn't too long. The story focuses on a teenager, Holden Caulfield, who basically talks to the reader as he would a therapist. From the beginning, the audience is introduced to the fact that Holden is a very opinionated, cynical, yet deep thinker who is 'taking some time out' suggesting mental health as a key theme in the story. Throughout, he expresses his feelings and reviews his life in a way which many of today's teenagers (and adults) ...- Read jennibean's review (159 words)
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bookie 9th Oct 2006
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This is one of the best books I've read since the Harry Potter series. The reason I started reading it is because I'm a big Jonathan Taylor Thomas fan. He read the book and I wanted to read it too, and The Catcher In The Rye is actually now one of my favorite books. I love the way Holden expresses himself and just everything about it. I just love it! I don't know why, but it is a very good book, and if anyone doesn't like it, well I don't know why, because it is very good.- Read bookie's review (97 words and 1 comment)
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tyler h 12th Dec 2005
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The fact that Holden is always depressed in J.D. Salinger's the Catcher in the Rye sort of made me depressed, yet thankful for my gifts. Even though he repeats things twice, the second time with "I mean..." or "you really have to be in the mood for...", portrays the personality that J.D. Salinger gave him. I respect this read, because personally I enjoy reading books based on time periods based on history, so this left me wanting more.- Read tyler h's review (80 words)
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ghettosquirral11 3rd Oct 2005
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J.D. Salinger's, The Catcher in the Rye uses language which the youth of today can understand. Which makes it a good book for teenagers to read. Also it has a lot of problems which the modern society is still with and so you can read what Holden does, another teenager, does in these specific sticky spots.t The language is explicit and derogotive.- Read ghettosquirral11's review (81 words)
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Dreadlocksmile

24th Aug 2004
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J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye - Synopsis:
"Holden Caulfield, a teenager growing up in 1950s New York, has been expelled from school for poor achievement once again. In an attempt to deal with this he leaves school a few days prior to the end of term, and goes to New York to 'take a vacation' before returning to his parents' inevitable wrath. Told as a monologue, the book describes Holden's thoughts and activities over these few days, during which he describes a developing nervous breakd ...- Read Dreadlocksmile's review (385 words)
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8899 30th Mar 2004
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The Catcher in the Rye is a Romantic horror story. It tells the doomed life of Holden Caulfeild, who dies at the end of his life. It is pure genius. Read it with soft stoner, trippy music in the background - it will enhance the experience of feeling immersed in a real, gritty, yet often dreamlike and hilarious world.
one of the most enjoyable books I have ever read.- Read 8899's review (68 words)
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reviewer of bad books
25th Feb 2004
On average, people found this review somewhat helpful
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I didn't like The Catcher in the Rye in the least bit except where Holden gets it in the end. The book was terribly boring...all Holden ever did was judge people..he smoked drank and talked about how crumby everything and every one was....he's not a normal person. The crumby thing he's talking about is sex. What teenager in there right mind doesn't think about sex in some way shape or form..He does but he thinks it's bad....I also really hate how he says things 3 times over and over. I don't lik ...- Read reviewer of bad books's review (166 words and 5 comments)






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