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The Catcher in the Rye | |||||||
 
| 80% Recommended by our customers. Publisher: Little, Brown and Company Catalog: Book Release date: 1991-05-01 Media: Mass Market Paperback Number of pages: 224 Ean: 9780316769488 Book Isbn: 0316769487  Tip: compare prices with similar booksAuthor:
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| User Reviews: |
 Written on October 21, 2008 Summary: Dissatisfying. Perpetuates stupid myths. Contemptable. I've read the Glass family saga by Salinger and, while I don't LIKE them, I find them infinitely more mature, more satisfying, and less juvenile. I don't find that Holden ever LEARNS anything in this book. In a novel about the coming of age of the narrator, something should happen that makes him or her learn that their former point of view was wrong and immature. Nothing happens in this book that does that. Instead, we are "treated" to a young man who is tall and has gray hair. Indeed, he considers himself wise beyond his years. But he isn't. Really, he is an angry young man. Perhaps he is surrounded by phonies. Perhaps he justifiably loathes those around him, and perhaps he is vindicated in his displeasure for nearly everything except for his sainted young brother. I don't particularly care if thousands of people can relate to Holden Caulfield, frankly. I can't. This is true both for stylistic reasons (which I will get to in a moment) and for characterization reasons. Holden is, honestly, an obnoxious little jerk. He hates nearly everything around him, and he makes no apologies for it (which is refreshing, or would be, if he didn't hate nearly everything). The problem is that he shows no sign of intelligence, in the ENTIRE novel, but he perceives himself as suave, charming, and worldly. He is not. He is small-minded and has no greater perception of the world than a child born in Kansas in the same time would have. There is no reason to consider young Holden anything other than a stuck-up, pretentious brat. Stylistically, the novel is like a trip to a sadistic dentist who forgets your anesthesia. The language is, typically, annoying. J.D. Salinger seems incapable of properly using emphatic italics, and this is never brought into greater light than in this novel where they are used both properly (to highlight the vapidity of one of his older brother's former girlfriends, to correct the spelling and pronunciation of particular words) and improperly (to emphasize useless portions of words, much as appears in later Glass family stories). Further yet, he uses the same language over and over throughout the novel. Our obnoxious protagonist will say something that kills him or knocks him out or annoys him, and will follow it, nearly 100% of the time with, "I'm not kidding," and then an exact repetition of the same phrase. This is particularly grating when they are, by a trick of the typeset, EXACTLY above and below each other on the page. I'm not kidding, it is really annoying. Really. All that said, I understand why so many people adore this novel. If you read this when your mind is small and you are frustrated with those around you, it could feel like a life line. The problem is that it is such a nihilistic life line, because Holden never finds out just how stupid and vapid he is. This perhaps leads to my greatest frustration with this novel. It is not a coming of age story. It is merely the story of one young man's few days in New York City after being expelled from his school. Holden is what makes so many adults think that teenagers are simply small-minded. Teenagers will read this book and they will think that they are like Holden. They will reach the end, where Holden learns nothing, and they will feel vindicated in their point of view. And their point of view is WRONG. This is the problem. Because they feel vindicated, they will not seek to expand, to grow, and adults will assume that all teenagers are as foolish and small-minded as Holden Caulfield. Which is a disservice, because I have known so many teenagers so much more worldly and so much smarter, and so many adults who weren't. How much damage has Mr. Salinger done with this novel? No one can tell. The only good thing about it is that it, sadly, gives a voice to so much teenage angst and loneliness that may have no other destination for camaraderie. This validates its existence, but doesn't make it a classic. If you are seventeen and angsty (or fourteen and angsty, or forty and angsty, or...) read it and see if it fits. If you enjoy it, well, more power to you. Try to grow past it though. It is so small, and there are so many wonderful things in the world... D Harkius  Written on October 16, 2008 Summary: Just a spoiled brat doing a lot of whinging about nothing Holden Caulfield is just a puling spoiled rich brat whinging about a lot of kak. The biggest 'phony' in the book is Holden Caulfield. This book's popularity is due to it's protagonist's foul language, which is less pungent than mine was in High School. Written on October 16, 2008 Summary: we all have problems i've read the history of this book and what's it's about. and i have to say that it's just plain uninteresting. being holden's age and went through dramatic experiences i feel that it's too boring. basically a boy named holden get's kicked out of school again. everything is a recap of everything he does after he gets kicked out. the charecter keeps changing from past tense to present and it get's hard to follow the story.  Written on October 15, 2008 Summary: Right on time What was reported of the book by the seller was true and was delivered on time. Written on October 13, 2008 Summary: The place where the youth novel was born Because this is one of the most heavily reviewed books on Amazon, I will not at this late date attempt to do a comprehensive review. I'll merely focus on one reason this is such an important book and then comment on one odd yet persistent misreading of the novel. First, this is the first novel that was written with the narrative voice of a disgruntled youth. In fact, one of the most amazing developments in the 1950s was the birth of Youth. Before the fifties there was no sharp chasm dividing young and old. There were, of course, differences between being young and being older, but the main difference was mainly that you were merely younger, not that you embraced a completely different culture. CATCHER IN THE RYE anticipated everything that was about to happen in youth culture within the next few years. No novel had been written in slang before, at least not in youth slang. You would be a very rich man or woman if you could count the number of times that Holden says something like "I'm not kidding" or "I can't stand it." Salinger's genius for maintaining a consistent narrative voice from beginning to end is unquestionably one of the novel's greatest claims to fame. The second thing I wanted to mention is the rather bizarre turn that so many people consier Holden Caulfield a hero. If anything is clear in the novel, it is that Holden is a profoundly troubled, disturbed, emotionally stunted and sick individual. The events he narrates are cleary done so in a mental health institution. For all his railing against phonies, no one in the book is as phony as Holden. To appropriate the language of existentialism, he lives a completely inauthentic life. But sadly the only person who calls him on the pathetic existence he is living is his teacher that Holden suspects of making sexual overtures near the end. But clearly the events in the novel presaged some kind of emotional collapse. Holden at age 17 in the mental institution writes about significant events leading up to his collapse at age 16. That anyone could view Holden as a role model or a hero is unfathomable. I reread this because I'm about the read the Frank Portman novel KING DORK, in which CATCHER IN THE RYE features prominently. I had not read CATCHER since college, but I was pleased to discover that it was as excellent as I remembered it being. I wouldn't rate it as one of the greatest books that I've read, but it is unquestionably one of the most important American novels of the past century. |
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| List price | $6.99 | $14.00 | $7.99 | $13.00 | $15.00 | $16.00 |
| Lowest used price | $0.01 | $1.84 | $0.01 | $3.93 | $4.00 | $3.89 |
| Lowest new price | $2.24 | $4.74 | $2.48 | $6.50 | $7.98 | $5.49 |
| Collectible price | $10.00 | $16.50 | $10.00 | $13.00 | $15.00 | $16.00 |
| Catalog | Book | Book | Book | Book | Book | Book |
| Release date | 1991-05-01 | 1999-09-30 | 1988-10-11 | 2002-01-03 | 1999-10-01 | 1996-09-04 |
| Media | Mass Market Paperback | Paperback | Mass Market Paperback | Paperback | Paperback | Paperback |
| Number of pages | 224 | 180 | 281 | 112 | 192 | 464 |
| Ean | 9780316769488 | 9780743273565 | 9780446310789 | 9780142000670 | 9780140283334 | 9780684833392 |
| Book Isbn | 0316769487 | 0743273567 | 0446310786 | 0142000671 | 0140283331 | 0684833395 |
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