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What Members Thought
A guy that worked for my dad was living with us in ND while he was going to school. At 4:30 each day, we would watch Jeopardy and compete to answer more questions. There were several references to Catcher in the Rye so I read the book so I could beat the guy. Turns out that he had to read the book for a class he was taking so it was a wash. Bottom line: really good book.
Meh? A few moments of inspired insight do not a masterpiece make. I just don't get why this is on every list of "must-read" books. Maybe it was provocative when it first came out, but in our desensitized, anything-goes climate it just seems tedious. When I finished, my first instinct was to get online and read what scholars of literature have to say about because I just felt like I had somehow missed something vital.
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Another classic that I am supposed to love that I just didn't. I think I'm not a fan of first person, stream of consciousness novels, especially by moody, self-absorbed teenagers. Maybe I would have identified more if I had read it back in high school. I really didn't care for all the repetitive phrases ("and all", "I really didn't" and "goddamn" everything) and the constant mood changes, and nothing ever really happened.
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love love love this book!
Second time around proved much better. I don't remember why I hated it the first time I read it, but I enjoyed it this time. Holden may not be my favorite character in literature, but I feel like I understand him a bit more. Maybe I'm a little more jaded than I was 10 years ago.
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Gave me a absolute headache. Maybe I would have appreciated this book more as a teen, but as a mom of teens, I just wanted to smack him. Sorry to offend anyone who enjoyed it.
One of my favourite books since I was a teenager. I own it and re-read it every now and then.
Didn't get what all the hype is about..
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Oct 27, 2008
Crystal
added it
May 27, 2010
Jeni
marked it as classics-to-read
Feb 24, 2013
Kirsty
marked it as to-read
