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The Catcher in the Rye

J.D. Salinger

Finish date: January 21, 2013

Why we're reading this: Reviewed by regular reviewer Ria http://bloggersbookshelf.blogspot.co....…more
[close] Reviewed by regular reviewer Ria http://bloggersbookshelf.blogspot.co....

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Sep 13, 2012 Lulufrances rated it it was amazing

One of my all time favourites

REREAD 7.10.2019
Still one of my favourites, due to heaps of nostalgia, due to my love for Salinger's writing in general, and due to the hilarity.
(It was surprising to me how much I didn't remember of this short novel?!)
However, I must say, I am not a rereader at heart and find I don't get a lot from it. ...more

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Feb 22, 2013 Becky Bedbug rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Of course, I'd heard of this book due to its cult-like status. However, I had no idea what it was about. My copy had no blurb. I didn't know any characters, I didn't know any events... I literally had absolutely no idea what the book was about.

Reading the first page, I was easily taken in by the informal, conversational style. By the third page, I was sick to death of it. Holden Caulfield, the 16 year old protagonist, has an extremely limited vocabulary. He admits this, but it does not make for Of course, I'd heard of this book due to its cult-like status. However, I had no idea what it was about. My copy had no blurb. I didn't know any characters, I didn't know any events... I literally had absolutely no idea what the book was about.

Reading the first page, I was easily taken in by the informal, conversational style. By the third page, I was sick to death of it. Holden Caulfield, the 16 year old protagonist, has an extremely limited vocabulary. He admits this, but it does not make for interesting reading. To make it worse, he communicates in embarrassing American teen slang, peppered with "lousy", "phoney" and "it kills me".

Holden is an angsty, self-important teenager who hates everyone and everything. He fails to recognise the people who look out for him and instead finds something to hate in everybody, pushing himself further away from them. Then he complains that he's "lonesome". Repeat for 192 pages.

There are moments of tenderness here. His relationship with his little sister Phoebe is adorable, although she seems to look out for him more than the other way around. One of the final scenes, in which he takes Phoebe to a carousel and finally feels happiness as he watches her ride it, just about saved the book for me. I can relate to him here, as I have a close relationship with my little brother. Furthermore, Holden, understandably, fixates on his younger brother Allie, who died of leukaemia aged 11. He clearly holds Allie in very high regard and it seems that his depressive nature is due to this bereavement.

I understand that, I really do. I just wish he would get over himself and stop being such a boring, moaning, hypocritical buffoon. I didn't like Holden one bit. I didn't like the repetitive style. As for the plot, there isn't one. Holden rings a friend, then goes for a drink. Then rings another friend, then goes for a drink. Then rings another friend...

I pretty much read the book in one sitting. Not because I was entranced by it, but because I couldn't wait to finish it and have it out of my life. ...more

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Feb 26, 2014 Anna Hartley rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

As my Mum based her English Literature University Masters on Salinger, I thought it was about time I tried one of his offerings myself. I was far from disappointed. The Catcher in the Rye is a wonderful coming-of-age story with none of the clichés that are included in many other ones. It is nothing if not original and yet Salinger still managed to keep me captivated into the life of Holden Caufield throughout. On the surface it seems like not a lot happens action-wise in this book, however, I th ...more

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