The Catcher in the Rye

by J. D. Salinger

Holden Caulfield is a seventeen-year-old dropout who has just been kicked out of his fourth school, in 1950s New York. Precocious, sensitive and confused, he blunders through a haze of teenage failures, disappointments and anti-climaxes and delivers to the reader a bitter-sweet, biting commentary on all the 'phony' aspects of society and the 'phonies' themselves. Through his direct first-person narrative emerges one of the most touching, funny and nuanced portrayals of the confusions and frustrations of youth that exists in the literature of the English language, and a sparky and colloquial style that influenced generations of writers afterwards.

Innovative and revolutionary for its time, The Catcher in the Rye is as much a testament to and reflection of that time and its frustrations as it is a timeless and universal reflection on life, disillusionment, and growing up.

• ISBN10: 014023750X
• ISBN13: 9780140237504
• Publish Date: 4 August 1994 (first published 16 July 1951)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 7 May 2013
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Penguin Books Ltd
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 208
• Language: English

Reviews

[Bianca]

‪2019 Popsugar Reading Challenge‬
28. ‪A book you see someone reading on TV or in a movie‬

— loss of innocence + fear of growing up

[celinenyx]

The Catcher in the Rye is that kind of book that you hear mentioned often, yet rarely do people expand on what the book is actually about. In this case, that actually makes sense, because the book barely has a plot to speak of.

Rebellious sixteen-year-old Holden is kicked off yet another school. Rather than wait his time to be sent home on Wednesday, he leaves on his own, and spends a few days in New York.

That's it. The Catcher in the Rye describes what Holden does when in New York, adventures which include underage drinking, a run-in with a prostitute, and good conversation with nuns. What makes this book special is the narration - the entire book is written as if Holden tells you what he did. Holden has an exceptionally strong voice, and I think Sallinger created a character here that comes across as real. Holden doesn't always speak the truth, and to be honest, he would probably annoy the crap out of me in real life, but I enjoyed spending a few hours in his head.

"What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff - I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I'd do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all." (Holden Caulfield)

While reading The Catcher in the Rye, I kept on wondering what is the purpose of this book? What makes it a classic? Even although there is no definite direction or plot, there is an undertone that something isn't all too right and I was hooked. When I got to the end of this book and realised that the main theme is about maintaining childhood innocence, I couldn't help but love The Catcher in the Rye.

There are extremely polarising opinions about The Catcher in the Rye. Some people love it and some people hate it. Whether you love this book or not will depend on just how much you can stand Holden Caulfield.

Holden Caulfield is an unreliable narrator and is one of the most complex characters I have ever read about. He has a 'don't care attitude', tough guy exterior, but underneath all that is a jaded, lonely and rebellious teenager who is trying to figure out what's going on in the world around him. But, Holden is also whiny, judgemental, critical and hypocritical. He is extremely obsessed with hating anybody that is typical or acts in a superficial manner and calls them "phony". Holden, it takes a "phony" to know a 'phony".

Luckily, my reading enjoyment doesn't depend on the likability of characters. Instead it depends on how well I can relate to the characters that I'm reading about. As a teenager transitioning into an adult in a cruel world, I could relate to Holden's feelings of disillusionment and anger, I could sympathise with his sensitivity and loneliness and appreciate his love for his sister Pheobe.

The Catcher in the Rye has no definite plot, but Holden's conversational and casual narrative makes for an interesting and entertaining read.

"What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it." (Holden Caulfield)

[Kim Deister]

The Catcher in the Rye I picked up this book for the Eclectic Reader Challenge and it ended up doing double duty as a read for a module on censorship and banning in a lit class I am taking this semester.  It is one of those "Life List" books that I never read in high school but felt like I should.
 
The novel is a Holden Caulfield’s narrative of two days that he spends on his own in New York City.  He has been expelled from yet another prep school, failing every subject but one.  After a fight with his roommate, he leaves school a few days early and goes back to New York City.  However, he knows that his parents will be furious about what happened and he chooses to spend a few days alone in a hotel before presenting himself at home for the holidays.  His two-day rebellion is spent going to nightclubs and getting drunk or wandering the city, continually bemoaning the lack of intellectual companionship.  He has a date with Sally, a girl from his past, and alternately falls in love with her and hates her… all on the same date.  He is a boy who is clearly never satisfied with anyone or anything, continually in a state of discontent.  His short time of rebellion has brought him no answers and no relief.
 
I really wanted to love this book, or at least appreciate it, but I just couldn't.  It wasn't the dated language or ideas, but the complete lack of a character arc for Holden.  With most protagonists, there is a certain arc of growth that takes place as the character goes through different experiences and situations and becomes changed as a person by the story's end.  This really didn't happen with Holden and that lack of character growth is something that I came to realize I really appreciate in a novel and really missed in this one.  Holden is intelligent, but comes across as a bit arrogant, perhaps a little too obsessed with himself as a barometer of intellect.  For most of the book, Holden dismisses others as "phony" and casts aspersions on their worth if they don't live up to the personal standards he expects, standards that generally seem not to apply to himself.  Instead of relating to Holden's character, I found myself continually annoyed by him and his seemingly complete lack of self-awareness.  There was just no growth for Holden over the course of the novel, no change in behavior or thinking, no development.  Other than his little sister, Holden seems to struggle to truly connect with anyone on any level.  He spends most of the book whining about the fact that pretty much every person he meets is unintelligent and/or phony.  He sees himself as intellectually superior to most people, judging others as phony for their interest in things he sees as inconsequential.
 
There is also much about his burgeoning sexuality and how that manifests itself, but there is never any development or resolution to that theme either.  It seems as if he is not entirely comfortable with his own sexual awakening, often commenting about his myriad of chances to lose his virginity that are foiled by himself.  He often objectifies women, but it is also clear that there is little behind it, more of an effort to fit in with the other guys in his school, rather than an accurate representation of his true feelings.  This is seen in his almost obsessive anger towards his roommate when he finds out that Stradlater’s date is Jane, a girl from Holden’s past.  He cannot stand the idea that Stradlater, a guy with a somewhat sketchy sexual history with women, would be with Jane, whom Holden seems to see as some sort of “above it all” standard of perfection.  His thoughts on sexuality seem to be rather disjointed, one moment bemoaning his lack of experience and the next almost frightened by it.  He does not push the issue with his dates and even during an encounter with a prostitute, he rebuffs the idea of intimacy, instead wanting simply to talk.  In keeping with his rather disjointed ideas are his judgments on others’ sexuality, often seeing others “perverted.”  There are also many moments when he questions the sexual orientation of those around him, showing a certain discomfort with the entire topic of sexuality.
 
In some ways, though, iit was an interesting read.  The story is told as it flows from Holden's mind, at times very much of a stream of consciousness feel to it.  The flow was often a bit disjointed and almost reminded me of the flow of Anthony Swofford's Jarhead book.  But it is through this perspective and style of writing that we become privvy to the inner workings of Holden's mind.  Yet, as the story unfolded, I still liked it less and less.
 
My Recommendation
 
Classic literature or not, it just didn't appeal to me.  But I also think that is a matter of "to each his own."  From a analytical standpoint, it was an interesting read, but it just didnt touch me in any way.

[ellieroth]

Publicado originalmente: El Extraño Gato del Cuento

Ahora que estuve buscando algunos datos del libro, es muy gracioso ver como hay gente que ama u odio a muerte este libro. Confieso que pensé que no me iba a gustar, no tanto por el tema del libro, es más por una cosa muy superficial: algunas personas a las que le doy la contra en los gustos, les gustó el libro, deduje que como a ellos les gustó yo lo odiaría. Pero obviamente no fue así.

Es sencillo: o te identificas o no te identificas.

Esa es una de las frases que más he leído en varias reseñas. Y es muy cierto. Holden es incorrecto, es la mente propia de un cínico al descubierto, sin hipocresías. Todo eso en su mente por supuesto. Es cruel, burlón, malcriado, bastante antipático a veces. Es la mente de una persona horrible al descubierto. Me sentí completamente identificada.

.Todos los que lloran como cosacos con esa imbecilidad de película suelen ser luego unos cabrones de mucho cuidado.

Si siguen a Isaac Marion (Warm Bodies) en Twitter, habrán leído sus tweets ácidos y medios pesados. El Guardián Entre el Centeno es como la cuenta de Twitter de Isaac pero en libro. Toda la vida nos han enseñado a que debemos ser buenas personas, que no debemos pensar mal de las personas y blah blah, para mí leer un libro como éste ha sido tranquilizador. En cierta forma, porque como da a entender Holden, él no está exactamente lo que se puede decir bien.

Siempre he sabido terminaré en un "casa de reposo". Y que soy demasiado masculina para ser normal.

Se supone que este es un libro dónde la mayoría de chicos se siente cómodos al leerlo, porque capta bastante la mente masculina pero todo lo que leía en el libro, no me hacía más que asentir a su cinismo y lo imbécil que puede ser Holden. Y como leí por ahí, leer El Guardián Entre el Centeno es como leer la mente de un psicópata. Aunque Holden esté bastante mal de la cabeza, quiero tener la esperanza que mi cabeza no está tan mal, que mi locura es talento y que solo me falta descubrir en qué. Sí...

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[Reese]

Super good. Everyone should read this one!

[mary]

I really enjoy this book. I think that most teenagers, at least those in the first world, can relate to the emotions Holden experiences. I think this book is much more than the typical 'share the angst' novel that seems to be popular amongst teenagers. However, most of the reviews I have encountered tend to categorize the book as such. I found the book profoundly sad, I think Holden is just so pure. To me he seemed to have such an innocence about him despite his rough language. I felt like he must be beyond lonely since he offered to buy nearly every single character in this book a drink.

[kimbacaffeinate]

I read this in high school, and enjoyed it.

[Michael @ Knowledge Lost]

On one hand The Catcher In The Rye was an impressive insight of teenage life. I identified with many of those feelings when I was in high school. I remember feeling alone, annoyed all the time and never feeling like doing anything. In this aspect J. D. Salinger was a master at capturing the feelings of my youth. But on the other hand, Holden Caulfield is the most annoying character I’ve ever read; I’ve wanted to punch him in the face so many times. He just infuriated me and I struggled to read this book because of that fact. On the upside there is a scene where Holden is having a conversation with an old school teacher, Mr. Antolini. The teacher told him that one day, he will discover what he is meant to do with his life, and on that day he will wish he paid attention in school. This is probably the most identifiable scene in the book; I know the feeling of wishing I paid attention and discovering a passion later in life.

Despite all the Controversy I really want to know why this book is always assigned to students in school. A book about teenage angst and dropping out of school; is that something you want students to learn about? High School Teacher who was involved in the controversy in America Shelley Keller-Gage stated; “[They:] are being just like Holden . . . They are trying to be catchers in the rye.”

[wyvernfriend]

Holden Caulfield is one of those characters that lives in the immagination of a lot of people. A young man unsure of his place in the world, not really trying to fit in and struggling with his feelings of being rootless and aimless. This is a snapshot of a few days in his life, the people he interacts with and his attitude to them. He is a sorry character, but I could see reflections of my own life in his.

I would probably have enjoyed this more as a teenager but I really disliked those years so a revisit is a bit torturous.