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The (in)famous story of Holden Caulfield’s descent into delinquency, credited with inspiring murder (of John Lennon) and attempted murder (Ronald Reagan, amongst others) and, more trivially, of bringing the word “phony” to prominence, as well as being too frank in its use of swearing and sexual references for some tastes.
The title relates to Holden imagining himself in a field of young children playing tag, catching them lest they get too near to a cliff (a metaphor for descent into the depravit ...more
The title relates to Holden imagining himself in a field of young children playing tag, catching them lest they get too near to a cliff (a metaphor for descent into the depravit ...more

I am glad I finally read this book and almost wish I had been able to read when it was first written or at least when I was a teenager. I enjoyed the first person storytelling and the honesty with which Holden narrates. I imagine the book, being in a teenage boy's vernacular, is not supposed to be grammatically pleasing but sometimes the language and sentence structure made it hard for me to read. As the mother of a 13 year old boy some of the story was cringe worthy. I cannot imagine my son, ev
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None of the English classes I took in high school ever included this book in the syllabus. In recent years, I had read/heard about it over and over and always meant to read it because I knew it is considered a classic. My daughter read it last year for 11th grade English and loved it so I decided it was time to try it. I've got to admnit unfortuantely that I just don't get this book. I don't understand what it is supposed to be about. Holden Caulfield has recently been asked to leave his boardin
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Summary: Teen angst mixed with a digestable dollop of life's larger thoughts and ideas.
Things I liked:
The narrative style: The voice of narrator is amusing and self reflective. I enjoyed the observations he made and style in which he made them.
Things I thought could have been improved: I found the end of the book quite jarring (view spoiler) I guess this was in keeping with the general style of the book.
Standout feature: I thought Hold ...more
Things I liked:
The narrative style: The voice of narrator is amusing and self reflective. I enjoyed the observations he made and style in which he made them.
Things I thought could have been improved: I found the end of the book quite jarring (view spoiler) I guess this was in keeping with the general style of the book.
Standout feature: I thought Hold ...more

Apr 06, 2008
Kristina
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Jul 02, 2008
Kelli
marked it as to-read

Mar 24, 2009
Lianne
marked it as to-read


Dec 21, 2010
Steph
marked it as to-read