The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger

[Scheherazade]

The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger

Story of Holden's four-day-stay in New York city as he postpones going home and telling his parents that (yet once again) he has failed at school. He talks to his friends and strangers but is unable to establish a real connection with either. He blames this on their 'phoney' attitude; however, he slowly realises that there might be more behind his problems.

I have read this book after hearing about it and being recommended so many times. I really enjoyed reading it though I could not 'connect' with Holden because I found him rather 'phoney'. Wondering how I would have reacted if I had read it as a teen.

7/10 KitKats!


Discussion thread

Quiz on Salinger

Quiz on Catcher

[AuntShecky]

The book has been either canonized or vilified ever since its appearance in the early 1950s. Some schools ban it, though I never could see why-- we're supposed to get kids
to start reading, not stop! The book was used as an excuse
by the person who assassinated John Lennon; also cited as
the favorite book by the character played by Mel Gibson in the movie, "The Conspiracy Theory."
What I loved most about the book was its spot-on depiction of New York in the Fifties, a time when the Big Apple was at its best. It was never better before the late 40s, early 50s, nor up to now.
What was revolutionary about the novel was its form.
Some top shelf critic once said, "All American literature starts with Huckleberry Finn," and Catcher in the Rye continues in that tradition. It is no accident that among the works of American literature that are considered "great" all run on the engine of a strong, first-person narration. Just off the top of my head, think of Moby Dick, Gatsby, The Sound and the Fury, Lolita. . .
Holden, with all his judgemental rejection of all that is "phony," personifies modern alienation -- not merely through the events which he witnesses or brushes up against, but in the words themselves. Through an artistic achievement Salinger created and by doing so influenced
the thinking of generations of American youth. For this reason, The Catcher in the Rye is a monumental work of the mid Twentieth Century.

[Lote-Tree]

This is one of the boring-est book I ever read!

[Demian]

Did you know that The Catcher in the Rye was a favorite of Winona Ryder? Jane Paulie called the book "such a comfort" and carries a copy wherever she goes. I sometimes wonder what two so-called successes in life are doing here. Why do they still read the book--even though their teens are long gone? When I read this book, I compare it to a work like Steppenwolf or Ecclesiastes. The Catcher in the Rye is about having your own voice in a world that does not want to listen. On a more basic level I think of it as a warning to all those 'thinking' people out there. I believe Holden was saying that if you want to make it in this world you have 2 choices: either extinguish thought completely or conform them to the image of this present world. 9/10

[AuntShecky]

I see where you got your screen name, Demian. If you like Hermann Hesse, you should try reading some other
modern German novelists (I only could read them in
English). Thomas Mann (I like his short stories) and
Gunther Grass. (What is it with these German authors and their alliterative names?) The Tin Drum was one of the best artistic responses to WWII.
I don't think Salinger was that cut-and-dried. Humans have many options, not just the two damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't choices that you offered. I think that
strong voice of Holden's stemmed from a deep psychological need -- not so much to fit in or conform, nor
to have society fit his ideal, but to express the pandemic pain of alienation in post-war America.

[River]

I wanted to like this book SO badly. It's obviously a legendary work of fiction, and the first page definitely had my attention. By the second page I was bored. The abusive repetition of particular words, especially 'goddamn' and 'phony', really started getting to me. Many authors are able to write an entire novel in which very little actually happens but they completely capture the feeling and you become a part of the novel. JD Salinger is not one of those authors. I didn't feel a thing, to be honest I just wanted to get to the end in the hopes that there was some sort of point buried somewhere in it.

In summary: Put the goddamn book back on the goddamn shelf, it's as phony as the goddamn phonies who say they've read it.

[Big Al]

J.R.R. Tolkien once called The Catcher in the Rye "complete bunk," and I'm inclined to agree. Why is this heralded as a literary masterwork?

[Psycheinaboat]

I thought it was "grand."

[aabbcc]

I really disliked the book, but... in the passive sense.
If I say I disliked it, it assumes at least negative, but still some emotional relation to the book - which I did not experience any of the times I have read it (not that there were many of those, but the book happened to be my compulsory reading at school a couple of years after I read it on my own). Except for the occassional irritation, the book made me feel indifferent, and in no way connected to it whatsoever. I was an early teen, some would say a perfect age to read this book, but I still found it to be just... dull.

I failed to recognise any greatness in the book, and to the present day I fail to see what separates this work from a myriad of similar teen angsty novels I have been encountering. In fact, I failed to even recognise it as a piece of literature - to me it was just another schund teens tend to read in those particular angsty years.

Perhaps it was due to cultural differences. I am not from America, I certainly cannot approach the work the same way somebody from America could, and who probably still feels the effects of the particular zeitgeist a book describes. Still, I found it so damn... vague.

So, 2/10 on my scale (readable, but sucks).

[JBI]

This is a book some relate to, whereas some are insulted. Perhaps the people Salinger was writing this book against won't be inclined to like it?

[lordifan112]

J.R.R. Tolkien once called The Catcher in the Rye "complete bunk," and I'm inclined to agree. Why is this heralded as a literary masterwork?

Maybe he was one of the most tastless people in the world. I was speechless when I heard that Holden was in an asylum.

[B-Mental]

Did you know that The Catcher in the Rye was a favorite of Winona Ryder? Jane Paulie called the book "such a comfort" and carries a copy wherever she goes. I sometimes wonder what two so-called successes in life are doing here. Why do they still read the book--even though their teens are long gone?

Ok, about the Wynona Ryder and Jane Paulie comments....WHO CARES! These people are marginal celebrities, and they say that their favorite books, are ones that every 7th/8th grader is required to read. Really, what a comfort that is...to quote Jane Paulie....but I suspect they were asked the question on the spot, and replied the way they did to sound intellectual. I wouldn't actually call nona a success either...

The Catcher in the Rye is about having your own voice in a world that does not want to listen. On a more basic level I think of it as a warning to all those 'thinking' people out there. I believe Holden was saying that if you want to make it in this world you have 2 choices: either extinguish thought completely or conform them to the image of this present world. 9/10

What about going your own way, striking forth on a path that doesn't rely on others....Actually the book is about confusion and angst of teen years, and fear of what is to come. I don't think this book is all that impressive. There is a reason why it is forced upon teens in school, so they realise that their are others that feel the way they do...confused, scared, angry.

[Virgil]

It's not a great book, but I enjoyed it. If you're a teenager growing up in New York City as I was when I first read the book it hits home. Not a great work, but I have a soft spot for it. 6/10

[Walter]

I've read it twice, once earlier in life with reactions similar to most here. And once much more recently and been quite impressed by it, seeing a redemption theme not often remarked upon.

[ampoule]

I've tried to like this book twice. Actually, I liked it more as a teenager as someone wondered above. The second time was for our book club selection and after having three sons. Even after saying this, I'm glad I read it. It just wasn't one of my favorites.