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What are readers saying about Catcher in the Rye?
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-07-09 03:37:08.
(Language: English)
 
In the first few chapters I could not stop hating Holden for his irritating-always complaining-calling everybody around a ‘phony’ and a ‘moron’- attitude. Well then somehow, I realized that this book got me hooked up until the end. This book talks about a teenage boy who is afraid of growing up, insecure and is still in search of who he is and what he wants. He experiences a conflict between the childhood and the adulthood world. This book reminds me that having a feeling about being alienated and isolated in your teenage years is just a phase that would soon just past. And hey, it’s normal. As much as I hated Holden at first, I just could not help being sorry for this guy, and at some point I realized that I’ve been this guy! This book touched me deeply. I found the relationship between Holden and his sister—Phoebe very touching. Sometimes a younger person or another person may know you better than you think you know yourself. In the end, he realized that his thought about wanting to live better off isolated is a mistake. He cannot live alone as well as others around him cannot live without him. Another character in this book who I found important is his teacher who Holden came to seek comfort in the end (I forgot that teacher’s name). This teacher tells him to focus back to his studies so that he could actually find what he is interested in the most. School is not about getting straight A’s, it is a world where you could discover who you really are and what you really want to do in your life. Genius! Holden shows that he is interested in English (the only subject he didn’t fail) even though he didn’t realize it yet. Holden is not as bad as he thinks he is, he is just a guy trying to figure out his place in his world. Aren’t we all??? 
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-09-06 02:05:50.
(Language: English)
If anybody tells you the following, "The main character is going through the transformation from a teenager to the adult," is a bunch of bullshit. Take the following quote, "Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around - nobody big, I mean - except me. And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. 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 do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd really like to be." Everyone says the kids are kids, and he is catching them from becoming a phony adult. Bullshit! He doesn't want 'Any of the big ones' there because they are horrible at making people feel better. Falling off the cliff is sinking into a deep depression and becoming alienated by the people around them. Holden does not want that to happen to kids, he wants to save them from the troubles he has experienced in life for god's sake....At any rate, it is a good book, but definitely not the type of book that is life altering in any sense. Salinger's writing of weaving dialog in and entering the character's mind is arguably the best thing I have read. The best or worst is Salinger omitting scene details. The best thing about this negligence is it keeps the book more fast pace, however the worst part of leaving these details the reader looses out on how Holden feels about the surroundings which in my opinion, is vital in understanding where he is coming from. It would be nice to read to get a better understanding or feeling of Holden's despair. Overall: Read the god damn book. ;-)
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-01-05 08:32:04.
(Language: English)
It's not that I think people read too much into this book because there is certainly a lot to be gleaned from it throughout, but I feel that this story is more simple than it's sometimes made out to be. On the simplest level, it's a glimpse into the life of a young guy with a couple of screws loose that almost anyone can relate to. Salinger was obviously a genius in being able to make it so relatable, and I think it put people at ease who sometimes think they are crazy, but when they meet Holden they realize that he thinks just as peculiar thoughts as they, and though he's a little bit strange, there isn't anything wrong with him, or if there is something wrong, then the crazy reader doesn't want to be right, and instead would rather be like Holden. The part of the story that the title comes from is probably the most profound thing we learn about Holden, and though his wish to be the catcher in the rye is absurd, it is touching because of the innocence that man is desperate to hold on to. In this passage Holden relates that he wants nothing more than to help make sure children don't fall of a cliff while they are playing in a rye field. We may even think that on some ethereal plane Holden could one day be the catcher he dreams to be (in heaven perhaps). Interestingly, but perhaps not surprisingly, Mark David Chapman quoted this passage in court when he plead guilty to killing John Lennon. I certainly don't condone the act of Chapman, but there is an urge to understand it. Apparently Chapman thought because of this passage he himself understood why he did it, and to an extent I agree that it does help to explain the motives of Chapman because Salinger pinpointed a desperation in people that is illustrated in the famous passage. Obviously, I give this book an A+, but feel free to add as many pluses as you'd like.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-04-27 10:45:37.
(Language: English)
There is this book that really got me, called The Catcher in the Rye, if you want to know the truth. It's all about this swell kid named Holden Caulfield. He used to go to a boy's school, but it was full of phonies, so he cut it out. I'm not kidding. Anyway, he spends a couple of days in goddam New York. He takes trains and goes dancing and to movies and museums and the zoo like mad. The thing is, while he's doing these things he's missing his dead brother Allie and being lonely and all. I felt sorry as hell for Holden. He buys this record for his sister old Phoebe and ends up breaking it to pieces. I hate that. It's funny, but the way that corny guy loved his sister really got me. I mean, he's always talking about how she's just an innocent kid but how she's the only one he can really talk to. I don't understand that because girls can drive you crazy. They really can. I think Holden has this thing about not wanting to grow up and just hold on to innocence. I just don't know. What really knocks me out about this book is some crazy red hunting hat that Holden always wears. He won't hardly walk around without it. Take most people. They don't go around wearing hunting hats, if you know what I mean. If you do you are a moron. Don't ever try to be sexy while wearing a hunting hat. People always think that you should be in a mental hospital. Morons. What really knocks me out is how Holden always talks about getting together with this one girl he used to know but he never does. That kills me. It also kills me that he has to watch out for Mr. Antolini. That guy is flitty, boy. Adults are phony. Anyway, I was reading this book and wondering about the ducks in the park and phonies and children running and playing in a huge rye field on the edge of a cliff. All you knew was you were happy reading it. You really were. Tell your friends that it is a good book to read. I know you won't, though. People never give your message to anybody.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-05-28 10:57:33.
(Language: English)
This is the book that many many people love to love and as many people love to hate. There are two kinds of people who love the book. And two kinds of people who dislike it. ----- Love? First, there are the 16-20 year old boys (or men that read it when they were 16-20); they think that just because they feel depressed and angsty too it means they identify with Holden. For these, and for the teachers that encourage them to think so, I will simply quote Louis Menand, who wrote in an amazing article in the New Yorker: "Supposedly, kids respond to The Catcher in the Rye because they recognize themselves in the character of Holden Caulfield. Salinger is imagined to have given voice to what every adolescent, or, at least, every sensitive, intelligent, middle-class adolescent, thinks but is too inhibited to say, which is that success is a sham, and that successful people are mostly phonies. Reading Holden’s story is supposed to be the literary equivalent of looking in a mirror for the first time. This seems to underestimate the originality of the book. Fourteen-year-olds, even sensitive, intelligent, middle-class fourteen-year-olds, generally do not think that success is a sham, and if they sometimes feel unhappy, or angry, or out of it, it’s not because they think most other people are phonies. The whole emotional burden of adolescence is that you don’t know why you feel unhappy, or angry, or out of it. The appeal of “The Catcher in the Rye,” what makes it addictive, is that it provides you with a reason. It gives a content to chemistry. Holden talks like a teen-ager, and this makes it natural to assume that he thinks like a teen-ager as well. But like all the wise boys and girls in Salinger’s fiction—like Esmé and Teddy and the many brilliant Glasses—Holden thinks like an adult. No teen-ager (and very few grownups, for that matter) sees through other human beings as quickly, as clearly, or as unforgivingly as he does. Holden is a demon of verbal incision. He sums people up like a novelist.(...) The New Yorker’s editors were right: Holden isn’t an ordinary teen-ager—he’s a prodigy. He seems (and this is why his character can be so addictive) to have something that few people ever consistently attain: an attitude toward life." ----- Then there are the people who know that, while not Salinger's best book, Catcher is still a great literary achievement. So if you do not just like the book because you think "Yeah! Everyone is fake seems like a good reason to justify why I'm moody all the time" -if you really, truly enjoyed this book, then do yourself a favour and look for Salinger's other works as well because Catcher is by no means his best. ----- Hate? It's been like that in the entire history of great books: someone will have to say "I really don't see what the fuss is about". Which is perfectly okay. It's okay not to like the book, and it's okay if this is not a book that speaks to you. That's the first category of haters, the ones that simply have different tastes. ----- The second category of haters - and the most vocal one - consists of, ironically, the people that have fallen completely into Salinger's trap. And by that I mean this: Catcher is without a doubt Salinger's most accessible book - and possibly the only book in which he doesn't "show off". He doesn't show off his vocabulary, he doesn't show off his wit, he doesn't write 6-line sentences that make your brain hurt - in other words, he tries to make the narrator speak like a teenager. And people fall for this deceptive simplicity of the novel. The people that fall for it the most are the ones that will say the book has bad grammar, limited vocabulary and a simplistic writing style. And the joke's on them. Because that's exactly what Salinger wanted to achieve. First there was Catcher and people said Salinger was being too accessible, writing for the masses, or for high-school students. Then there was Raise High the Roof Beam and Franny and Zooey and people said he was being "too clever". That's how these things go - you can't have everyone love you at the same time. Personally, I believe that "The Catcher in the Rye" is a great book and a landmark in the history of American Literature. A lot of people won't agree with that. But you know what? You don't have to enjoy Hemingway or Fitzgerald or Joyce or Thompson (I don't) in order to acknowledge their literary merit - and in the perfect world everyone would do that much for Salinger. But this is not a perfect world. And there will always be dissenting opinions.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-04-09 07:28:49.
(Language: English)
I remember in my freshment year, Dr.Li(Whenever I recalled this title, I couldn't help grinning) highly recommented us to read The Catcher in the Rye. Since I thought my reading level was still dwelling over the popular books, it was not in my reading list. Two years past, and I finally picked up this book. I must confess that after reading it, I didn't get a strong impression of it. Chiefly because it was elaborated through a teenage's perspectives. As to me, I am way above that age. Perhaps once, I had similar feelings like Holden- the protagnist in the book: the isolated sentiments, the poignant aversion to hypocrites and the unadaptableness to society. In a word, life sucks. Though some of the embers remain deep down in my heart, most of them have gone with the wind.Nevertheless, one scene of the book did touch me: the conversation between Holden and his sister-Phoebe. At that point, Holden wished he'd just be the catcher in the rye and protected the innocence of other teenages. This saying originally came from the work of Robert Burns. The brilliance of J.D.Salinger lies in that he gave this saying a new meaning. And this meaning resonates people's compassions towards Holden and his dilemma.What I don't like about the book, however, is its ending. Usually, authors are supposed to attach great sentences and meaningful messages to the last chapter. But it didn't happen in this book. I couldn't help but feel that it has a good start, but a poor finish.Perchance, my literature accomplishment limit my view on this book so that it didn't reach the same level as The Bell Jar in my opinion.
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Sarah posted a review at 2010-02-22 08:51:15.
(Language: English)
In J.D. Salinger's brilliant coming-of-age novel, Holden Caulfield, a seventeen year old prep school adolescent relates his lonely, life-changing twenty-four hour stay in New York City as he experiences the phoniness of the adult world while attempting to deal with the death of his younger brother, an overwhelming compulsion to lie and troubling sexual experiences. Salinger, whose characters are among the best and most developed in all of literature has captured the eternal angst of growing into adulthood in the person of Holden Caulfield. Anyone who has reached the age of sixteen will be able to identify with this unique and yet universal character, for Holden contains bits and pieces of all of us. It is for this very reason that The Catcher in the Rye has become one of the most beloved and enduring works in world literature. As always, Salinger's writing is so brilliant, his characters so real, that he need not employ artifice of any kind. This is a study of the complex problems haunting all adolescents as they mature into adulthood and Salinger wisely chooses to keep his narrative and prose straightforward and simple. While analyzing the city raging about him, Holden's attention is captured by a child walking in the street "singing and humming." Realizing that the child is singing the familiar refrain, "If a body meet a body, comin' through the rye," Holden, himself, says that he feels "not so depressed." The title's words, however, are more than just a pretty ditty that Holden happens to like. In the stroke of pure genius that is Salinger, himself, he wisely sums up the book's theme in its title. By this amazing book's end, we must reach the conclusion that there are times when we all need a "catcher in the rye." We are, indeed, blessed if we have one.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-07-15 12:39:22.
(Language: English)
Okay, here's the thing: back in my sophomore year of high school we were told that we would not be reading this book in our honors English class, but the regular classes were. Why? I haven't the slightest but it really bothered me that we would not be reading it. I decided that I was going to read it instead of the assigned reading (To Kill a Mockingbird, which I read and fell in love with but that's another story entirely.) It's an easy book to plow through because the chapters are short and the unreliable narration really appealed to me. At first, I thought what just about everyone thinks of Holden: that he was an irritating, whiny teenager who needs the snot beaten out of him so he can come to grips with the real world (although maybe not in those words, yeah?) And I loved him for that. The more the story progresses, the reader is able to see different sides of his personality. Holden wasn't some stuck up teenager; he was very troubled and lonely. By the time he has his infamous conversation with Phoebe in her room, my opinion of him did a complete 180. Holden is a very sensitive character who was teetering on the verge of a nervous breakdown throughout the course of the story, and when you go back and reread every chapter you pick up on that. It makes the story a bit sadder. The only *real* complaint I can understand from people is the ending. Not everyone appreciates how Salinger's character tells it, but I thought it was the most ingenius aspect to the novel. Even though he doesn't directly tell you what happened, it's completely obvious to me. As soon as I finished, I went back and reread it right away; and have reread several times more. It's a "classic" for a reason - and dearly loved book by this reader.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-05-23 09:02:06.
(Language: Spanish)
Es la historia de un chavo; flaco, alto, diesicéis años y acabado de expulsar de otro colegio. La historia comienza así: SI DE VERDAD LES INTERESA LO QUE VOY A CONTARLES, LO PRIMERO QUE QUERRÁN SABER ES DÓNDE NACÍ, CÓMO FUE TODO ESE ROLLO DE MI INFANCIA, QUÉ HACÍAN MIS PADRES ANTES DE TENERME A MÍ, Y DEMÁS PUÑETAS ESTILO DAVID COPPERFIELD, PERO NO TENGO GANAS DE CONTARLES NADA DE ESO. PRIMERO PORQUE ES UNA LATA, Y, SEGUNDO, PORQUE A MIS PADRES LES DARÍA UN ATAQUE SI YO ME PUSIERA AQUÍ A HABLARLES DE SU VIDA PRIVADA. Y así sigue todo el libro. El tipo está atormentado pero afortunadamente no esningún intelectual ni nada de eso. Peleado con todo y con todos, un adolescente pues. Como si Henry Chinasky hubiese nacido en una familia bien. La historia está llena de observaciones y autoobservaciones sin adornos ni pudores. Realmente se va rapido porque está narrado en primera persona y el humor (auqneu nada como para doblarse de la risa) nunca abandona la trama. Muy bueno la verdad. Pocos son los libros considerados "clasicos" que no le piden mucha paciencia al que los lee y este es uno de esos, es agil y no decae (aunque a veces no parece muy profndo pero conserva tu atención que es lo mejor que se le puede pedir a cualquier lectura). Ideal para el metro o alguna noche larga. Hay dos traducciones, una española y otra argentina. Si no quieren encontrars e con horteras y gilipollas y joderes a cada rato leanse la argentína (Ediciones Nebulae) además está más barata.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-03-09 08:59:01.
(Language: English)
Written by ‘J. D. Salinger’, ’Catcher in the Rye’ is a novel about the life of a seventeen year old boy – ‘Holden’ who is also the narrator of the story. The novel encompasses his understanding and condemnation of the world around him. Holden, the narrator and protagonist of the story, doesn’t seem to be a very emotional person but has his own views and thoughts that keep him a tad alienated from the world. The only friend of him is his sister Phoebe whom he wants never to grow up. The other important characters in the novel are Salley Hayes – a girl to whom Holden was attracted at some point of his life, Sunny – a prostitute whom Holden once meets and Maurice – Sunny’s pimp. The writing style of the author is very interesting. As the book is written in first person, it becomes interactive and the narration and thoughts of the protagonist made the book even more interesting. The language used is full of profanity and blasphemy. The narrating style of the author was pretty casual which seemed to amuse me. At some places the narrator has used a cynical way of writing while at some places I could find the writing style satirical. I liked the book very much because of its simplicity of narration and a teenage connection that I could built with the characters. I liked that the thoughts that author had for different characters are explained briefly but effectively. This book arouses a lot of emotions and provokes a thought process. One can easily connect to the incidents that happen in the life of Holden. One cannot afford to not read this book. It’s a gem of a book and could help one understand the aspects of the outer world and one’s own life. I would recommend that this book be read by everyone at least once.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-11-09 08:00:43.
(Language: English)
Written in 1951, the novel remains controversial to this day for its 'liberal use of profanity and portrayal of sexuality and teenage angst'; it has been one of the most frequently challenged books; yet, it also has become one of the most important literary works of the last century, rated as one of the best (Time), and a common part of high school and college curricula worldwide. Why? How often does one read a novel written in the first person? Anyone who thinks this novel is 'over rated' or 'pointless' (see other reviews) either did not finish the novel or can not understand how an individual coming from a 'good' background, can be so contradictory, pessimistic and cynical whilst thinking he is not. If one does not finish the book or skims it, then the whole point of the book is lost - which is why it is written in the first person. More importantly the reader must know from where the story was reportedly written and in what emotional state the protagonist was. It is only then that we truly realize how important it is to have empathy for friends, neighbors, fellow passengers in public transit etc... because we undoubtedly will never know their 'secret history/past' which causes the behaviors they exhibit. Did his brother's untimely death only 3 years earlier not factor into any of those who critique harshly this novel? Do readers not see the off-hand dismissing of individual needs and problems when those individuals are supposed to be under their guidance (parents, teachers, church leaders etc.)? I agree with Ms Hamilton (below) "it can always teach a lesson no matter what generation reads it..."
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Elizabeth posted a review at 2010-06-13 11:38:45.
(Language: English)
Remember the past… Imagine you were a child, what kind of life did you have? What kind of childhood did you have? Do you remember? The book The Catcher In The Rye runs through a variety of experiences that you could have experienced. It starts out with an average 15-year-old boy who is our protagonist. He gets kicked out of school. He had decided to go back home, along the way meeting a few quirky characters that you may have met. The book is aimed at teenagers of this time or people who would have had a similar childhood. Readers would be allowed to compare their childhood to this. Teenagers would be able to see the hardships of earlier years and what they could or have already experienced could be examined. The story itself has a strong alcohol and smoking influence. Parents who would want to teach their kids to act responsible with the 2 factors are advised to read the book. Teen family issues are also addressed, as the protagonist does not want the parents to know about him getting kicked out. Whether this is an issue or is relevant to teenage pride today is your own opinion. Holden has a lot of ideas on society at the time, about language and phonies. Holden says most of this directly “… With Dr Thurmer some weeks ago. They’re Grand people”. “… Grand. There’s a word I really hate. It’s a phony.” The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger runs through the basic stereotypical ideas of a teenage life. The story stars off slow, but it grows stronger in the middle till the end. It is a good read.
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Raj posted a review at 2009-07-01 06:09:22.
(Language: English)
Holden Caulfield, a teenager growing up in 1950s in New York, has been expelled school for poor achievement once again. Here begins the story of Holden, who narrates in a monologue about the 3 days before claiming insanity. The narration is about Holden talking loudly in his mind (something what we all do) about his nervous breakdown, unexplained depression, impulsive spending, and erratic behavior, to eventual nervous collapse. Holden's tale begins at Pencey (school), which he despises for its prevailing phoniness. Holden finds a lot of people and attitudes unbearably phony. He leaves the hostel after getting into fistfight with Mr. Ladiesman Stradler, as he could not bear that this guy is taking his friend (a girl) out for a date. He comes to New York, but doesn’t go home, he checks in a derelict hotel called edmont. He spends two days here in drunkenness, loneliness, getting beaten by pimp for not engaging hooker, getting to be petted by his ex teacher! All things leave him so depressed, and he sees the world as most cruel place to grow up. Holden begins to envision (more delusion) himself as a guardian of children, someone who will protect their innocence (which is rarity nowadays). This hope is crystallized in a vision of himself as the catcher in the rye--a sort of guard at the edges of a field where children can run free and play, a guardian who can keep these kids from falling, in their exuberance, over the field's edges. Holden decides not to mention much about the present day, finding it inconsequential. He alludes to "getting sick" and living in a mental hospital, and mentions that he'll be attending another school in September. Holden says that he has found himself missing Stradlater, Ackley, and the others, warning the reader that the same thing could happen to them. Its very tough at least for me to weave a structure of the story with only one main element, but the author has succeeded wonderfully. is Holden actually the one who is going insane, or is it society which has lost it's mind for failing to see the hopelessness of their own lives? I found multiple interpretation of same event which I like, cos I do the very thing. Holden is disgruntled, alienated, isolated, directionless, and sarcastic. To him becoming a adult is to lose innocence and struggles to change and grow up. The novel still courts controversy that actually has increased its popularity.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-12-02 03:18:20.
(Language: English)
The Catcher in the Rye: Book ReviewHolden Caulfield, the protagonist of The Catcher in the Rye, smokes, drinks and associates himself with prostitutes. Did American culture justify his behaviors? The cultural taboos within J.D. Salinger’s timeless novel awoke nationwide controversy, which in fact lasts to this very moment. The American educational system stands on the brink of deciding whether to accept this eccentric novel to broaden the educational mix. However, the cultural taboo must be broken both in and out of The Catcher in the Rye so as to probe human nature without boundaries. The conflict of the plot develops from the adolescence that Holden faces, and it is delivered to the readers precisely. The liberal educators insist on the value of the novel’s voice and critical analysis of what teenagers face in adolescence. Just as Huckleberry Finn is useful in studying the vernacular origins of the 1800s, The Catcher in the Rye shows the teenage diction of the 1950s. Speaking in a truly original dialect, the characters seem more realistic: every line contains a juvenile imagery. The slang that the characters speak is still uneasy to this very day. Salinger is an expert in colloquialism that the readers can feel the human nature bodily. On the other hand, others continually protest the novel’s vulgarity and inappropriateness. The profane language and the repetitive nature of the protagonist are the leading reasons. In it, Holden Caulfield’s moral and physical journey in adolescence shows all but good will and virtue. Holden is just another teenage iconoclast contradicting the most clear-cut and definite societal norms. Nevertheless, Salinger’s other characters have their own trademarks that capture the various characters in the world: many people, mesmerized by Holden’s idiosyncrasy, seem to forget about the stock characters. The stock characters are present to portray human nature and ease the tension of the book. For example, Sally Hayes, Holden’s girlfriend, and Phoebe, Holden’s young sister, are the symbols of the innocent that reflects the opposite side of the ones tainted by the world. Holden, however, demonstrates what happens when one encounters the real world and makes the “fall”: one loses his child-like innocence. The plot is written in such a way that keeps the readers focused and entertained. The emotions and actions of the characters are portrayed descriptively that make strong impacts: when Holden feels dismal, the readers would feel downhearted, when he starts smoking, drinking and lusting, they would feel unpleasant, and when he thinks everyone around him is “phony,” they would pity him. Therefore, understanding the character’s behaviors allows the readers to redeem their childhoods—when they did not see the cliffs ahead and simply ran through the rye. The Catcher in the Rye is a controversial book that comprises heated debates with diverse issues. However the question is, will The Catcher in the Rye refine and diversify American literature? Or will it rather force readers to deviate from such taboo subjects and interpret the idiomatic context only literally? It is in fact our duty to justify the cultural taboos in our society and allow the readers to understand the human nature without censors through this far-reaching novel.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-06-12 05:40:14.
(Language: English)
A review yeh? I guess one has to be really in the mood for that sort of thing. It kills me, it really does. I mean you don't really know a person just 'coz you read about him somewhere, now do you? You bunch of phoneys, you think you can just sit there and tell me all about me! ::: Guess that's what Holden Caulfield would have to say if he ever came across this ;) Or he might just agree with those that call him a whiny worthless piece of confused teenage junk and say "Yes yes you are right of course I am a moron" and shoot the bull around a bit just to make you feel smart and good about yourself so that you'd shut the hell up sooner lol. Either ways you'd really like to know what he has to say especially if it was something about you. Because like him or hate him there's absolutely no denying the fact that Holden Caulfield is not your average pimply faced moody whiny depressed 16 yr old failure. There's obviously more to him and you know it. For starters he is very very astute with an uncanny ability to see the truth about most people be they good or bad, true he thinks they are all nothing but "phoney" but am sure if Holden was to meet himself and have a conversation with himself he'd say he was "phoney" himself given how he never says what he thinks! He's always saying something that the occasion demands or the rare person that he actually ever talks to seem to demand! He is a parody in himself!!! I will admit however the whole I-am-the-misunderstood-teenager-talking-in-my-head-hating-everything-and-everyone-I-meet thing resulting in a 230 page worth of monologue did take a bit getting used to!!! But its certainly worth a read, more than one at that too because there's more to Holden and more to the story than what meets the eye. That's not saying it isn't a "real pain in the ass" sometimes of course ;):D This is the first time I read it and at 26 I sometimes think Holden needs to get whacked and really hard at that and sometimes I see glimpses of the fine man that he can be once he allows himself to warm up to the idea. I have a feeling Holden is trying very hard to live up to the image of a "cynical adolescent" and in doing so he's overdoing it! Coming from an affluent New York family he's flunking out of yet another prep school and then proceeding to run away from boarding to spend a few days alone in New York City meeting strangers, friends and family alike before he can make up his mind as to what to do with himself next. There are however two very important characters whom we only ever hear about but never meet as Holden keeps returning to them in his mind over and over again. These two people hold the key to a lot of mystery and enigma that is Holden himself and am sure if we were to meet them maybe we would be able to understand him a whole lot better. They are his brother Allie who was 2 yrs his younger and had died at the age of 11 of leukaemia and his childhood friend Jane Gallangher who is now studying in some other school and with whom he has long since lost contact. It's pretty obvious Allie's death had been a big big blow to Holden who has a long long way to go before he can come to terms with it. He probably even has a misplaced sense of survivor's guilt which vividly comes to the surface in lines like " I know he is dead! Don't you think I know that? I can still like him though, can't I? Just because somebody's dead, you dont just stop liking them, for God's sake- especially if they were about a thousand times nicer than the people you know that're alive and all". Then there's Jane, his next door neighbour and the girl he played with "summer before last". He remembers every single little thing about her, every single of her expressions, every single feeling he ever had while with her. He even gets into a fight for her with his room mate who is currently dating her and has a reputation of being quite the ladies' man. He thinks Stradlater is no good for her and everytime he thinks of them out together he feels like spilling Stradlater's gut. He is obviously carrying a torch for the lady and gets completely psyched out by the fact that she in turn remembers him as well and has happened to mention him to her date for the evening but of course Holden keeps putting off all opportunities to actually meet or talk to her again. As with most things in his life Holden has no clue what to make out of it all, let alone how to deal with it! And well, he's not in much of a rush to find out either. He'd rather "digress" from the matter at hand just as he frankly admits " The trouble with me is, I like it when somebody digresses. It's more interesting and all". The most beautiful aspect of the book that everyone just has to agree to no matter how big a cynic he/she is, is the relationship between Holden and his kid sister Phoebe. Phoebe is all of 10 yrs old and as with most kid sisters is in complete and utter awe of her elder brother. Her unquestioning devotion and steadfast love humbles even Holden who proudly asserts "You never saw a kid so pretty and smart your whole life." She's the only one he's sorry he ever let down and its she who brings him back to his senses at the end of the story but you just have to read it to know how cute they are together :))) I am yet to come across a brother-sister duo who tugs at your heartstrings as sweetly as these two. Infact although Holden keeps jabbering about all the phoney louts populating the whole goddamn planet that he just can't stand through the entire book, you come face to face with touching glimpses of human kindness in very unlikely characters in the book. Right from the "touchy" New York cab driver who gets all upset to even think that the fish in the lagoon at Central Park might just die when the lagoon freezes over in winter and insists " They live in the goddamn ice. It's their nature, for Chrissake. They get frozen right in one position for the winter" and "their bodies take in nutrition and all, right through the goddamn seaweed and crap that's in the ice. They got pores open the whole time." to the young prostitute who takes only her due from Holden's wallet and prevents him from getting unnecessarily roughed up by her pimp. At the same time of course Holden do sometimes mercilessly point out the truth about human nature that might elude most his age like when he points out the lady who sits next to him at the theatre who cries her eyes out at the trials of the young lovers in the movie was anything but softhearted in real life as she persistently ignores her little kid who has come to the theatres with her and have picked a very inconvenient time to want to go to the loo! "She kept telling him to sit still and behave himself. She was about as kind-hearted as a goddamn wolf." Maybe sometimes Holden is too harsh in his judgement about the world and the people in it and he gives most people who wants to help him out a very hard time with the job and you hate him for that but you cannot help but wonder why he goes to such lengths to alienate himself. Maybe its because he lost a brother who was part of him, maybe because he witnesses a classmate commit suicide wearing Holden's own turtleneck sweater having been bullied by yet other classmates or maybe because he was abused as a child. Child abuse does rear its ugly head more than just once in the book but it is almost instantly swept under the carpet again both by the characters and by the protagonist himself. No one offers an explanation for Jane's silent tears at the prospect of having to even speak to her "bloodhound" of a stepfather, or why Holden thinks his classmate's offer to get Holden's head looked into by his psychoanalyst father immediately brings about a knee jerk smirky taunt from our protagonist " What would he do to me? I mean what would he do to me?" or why Holden automatically jumps the gun when his former English teacher, a good family friend, an intellect and a guide-cum-friend to Holden, Mr Antolini is found patting him on the head while he sleeps on their couch one night. One is left to wonder as Holden says " Boy, I was shaking like a madman. I was sweating too. When something perverty like that happens, I start sweating like a bastard. That kind of stuff's happened to me about twenty times since I was a kid. I can't stand it", just as to what he was alluding to exactly??? All of a sudden he no longer seems to be just your regular confused teenager anymore, now does he?!!! Maybe he just doesn't know how and who to ask for help or even that he needs it in the first place!!! So if I were you I wouldn't be in too much of a rush to condemn Holden for his lack of focus, for putting the people who loves him through hell or for using foul language the whole time! Maybe he just doesn't know any better...maybe he just wants someone like Phoebe who can "really listen" to him!!! Or maybe he just has bad hormones and need to grow up!!! lol ;) :D
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-09-12 01:41:41.
(Language: English)
As you read the novel, you wonder why it has been given a classic status..The American slang language that has been used extensively throughtout the book is goddamn frustrating (see...that kind of language rubs off on you pretty quickly). I'm one of those readers who reads a book for its language first and then for its story...If you are one like me, you would be HEAVILY dissapointed. The central character in this novel is a rich teenager who has appreciation for nothing and is forever depressed , whining, getting into trouble and it seems like the only thing on his mind is SEX and Girls...While a number of reviews call this book out as one with which teenagers can relate, I sincerely hope(for the teenager' sake) that this is not the case.. The book is a drag and you have to push yourself to get through to the last chapter....The 'Catcher in the Rye' is certainly not a book for me...Most books give you at least something that you can takeaway and all that this book leaves you with is a bunch of slang words (corny, phony, crumby..etc)..You get so used to the substandard language in the book that when words like bourgeois get thrown, you wonder where that hard-hitting snowball came from. The book was published around 1951 or so and I guess its rather anachronistic today To round off the review in Mr Holden' words This book is crappy and all..Its so goddamn boring and makes you depresseing that you almost want to vomit. The narrator is shooting bull and he is one sonnuvaofa.... With that, I've given you a taste of this book and its language...Enuff said.
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maze posted a review at 2011-12-17 10:36:18.
(Language: English)
I wish I could give it a 4 1/2 (as stated via goodreads.com). In fact a 5 would do really and I have found myself changing it from 5 to 4 and the other way round. I suppose its silly when they say 5 indicates that the book was 'amazing' and if amazing wouldn't really be the word you would choose but would 'amazing' and 'I really infinitely loved it' be in the same category? Ah, the overanalyzation. So long as I know that I loved it, its good enough. Though, I may change the rating to a 5 again ha. I had no qualms about this book. Yes, I did wonder many times where the story was leading me to but I related so much to Holden's character. I didn't reach the point of wanting to strangle him like most who read this did. Fact is, that would have been hypocritical since his character was like a spitting image of what I was, am or could get. Besides, he portrayed Holden so human like. And that is how we could get too. We all have our sides. It made me laugh so much that I just needed to read it out loud and share it with my sister, which made her laugh too. Those real belly jiggling laughters. How many authors could do that? I found myself referring to see again and again when this book was written because I couldn't believe my eyes that someone from the 50s could sound as him. It was in a way, like a timeless touch with a hint of modern day. I was actually terrified of reading this book because I thought I wasn't cut out for it but I'm glad I read it from A-Z. There are lots of memorable things in this book. The part on seeing himself as when kids would come and play in a field of rye and he saw himself as the catcher..looking out for them and scooping them safely when they get close to the cliff touched me so much. This was a case of a young man who was misunderstood and in spite of how he may have appeared, and how he may have seemed stalled and just striding along, he had a big heart. Holden was someone who just wanted to keep the pieces together.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-07-02 02:22:34.
(Language: English)
I just finished reading this classic by JD Salinger “Catcher in the Ryeâ€. Reading the book was like reading a 16 year old kid, Holden Caulfield’s blog, a medium through which he is venting out his angst towards life in general. The author Is Holden as in, the book is written in first person. The kid is angry, depressed, sick and tired of his monotonous life, sick of going to schools full of phony people. Phony as in fake, hypocrite, pretentious. Holden, has been a drop out from most of the prestigious schools, the novel begins when he is about to drop out of yet another school. Spread across around 3-4 days of his life in New York, a place where he was born and brought up, the entire book is a reading of his thoughts he has during these days. The language of the book is that of a high school going American kid extremely casual and smooth and most importantly its like a talking. When you read the book you feel as if you are listening to some on radio or something and not reading a piece of literature. Phrases like, “anyways, as I was sayingâ€, “…if you wanna know the truthâ€, “man that kills me†are extremely common throughout the book. The language sort of grows over you. After reading bout 10 chapters of the book I myself started using that kinda words while I was on Gtalk. Its strange one has to read it to know it I guess. There is ample humor in the book. Humor is bound to be coz you are looking at the world through this kid’s eyes. So when one of his teacher gives him a serious lecture on how to go about his life, how to find what is it that he wants according to the mind he has got, all he can gather from the speech is that he was being very nice trying to help me find the size of my mind. Everything that’s serious and important to us adults seems to be funny and phony to him. There is a line in the book where Holden talks about his favorite authors and books, he says he likes reading those books the most where he feels like he can call up the author as if the author is his buddy and discuss the characters and events in the book. This book is exactly that book. As I was reading it, I felt like talking to Holden. Felt like telling, “Kid, don’t be such a pessimist, life is not all that bad. You are a beautiful person, don’t let all your negative energy ruin that beauty of yours.†I believe this is what has made the book a classic, the way you connect to the protagonist. Holden has an opinion about everything and body. Most of the time he isn’t impressed and is sarcastic. But there are things which he likes. His sister, the nuns a the station the ducks in the lagoon. I wonder what opinion will he have for me if he happens to meet me. Would he think I am a phony or would he like me? That’s how much I could connect with the character
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-10-08 10:07:27.
(Language: English)
In lieu of an actual review for this classic, I'll simply post from another message board where I discussed my current re-read of it, specifically the fact that so many people despise it for one reason or another: Having finally given Catcher the time it deserved (I never finished it first time round) I can now honestly say that not appreciating it means you missed the point. I can see how it could be unlikeable. Holden is an annoying narrator. He vascilates from one opinion to the opposite in the span of a page, he rambles on often, he's got a low tolerance threshhold, and there are times he's just an ass. But, er, that's the point. If you don't like Holden, Salinger did his job. On the same token, I find it hard to hate Holden, because I see bits of me in him. Less now than when I look back on when I was his age, but I think most teens should be able to relate to Holden, especially male teens. If you can't, you're either incredibly well adjusted, and if that's the case, you lucked out, or you're the sort of person that drives someone to become Holden, jaded by everything before graduating High School, convinced everyone is phony... not that Holden himself isn't phony at times, but every teen is. The book isn't about events. The events are commonplace. They're supposed to be. It's about the character, and what he says, and to extrapolate, what it means. You could say it's cautionary, that Salinger is laughing at the spoiled rich brat he's writing Holden as, and that we the reader should take it as warning not to become him. We could see it as dystopian, that Salinger was commenting on the shallowness of American culture through the eyes of a child, one well-off enough to both see its most glaring pettiness as well as partake in it's seedier aspects. You could even see it as a bit of a commentary about what really matters... about how even the most cynical teen out there still has something they love (in Holden's case, family). You could even take that a step further, and see it psychologically... what damage a loss like that of Allie could cause in a young mind, etc. There's a lot to look into in The Catcher in the Rye... even the admittedly weak explaination of the title could spark discussion as to what it says about or means in terms of his character. These are just the impressions I get from it... hardly researched, but then, the best book discussions shouldn't come from research but from your heart. I just think that with many classics, people start looking for something huge... a big, rollicking plot, some amazing humour or poetic language, and sometimes the brilliance of a book is so much more subtle. Not that Holden can't turn a phrase, and certainly not to say that there are times when Holden's sheer contradictory nature jumps the line into humorous, and not even to say there aren't some big and poignant moments in the mundanity (word?) of the plot... simply that in a book like this, even those moneymaker bits are understated.
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Melanie posted a review at 2008-09-26 02:56:28.
(Language: English)
As a child, we are protected from life. There really aren’t many choices available, and we are certainly sheltered from a lot of the harder parts of life. It seems like children don’t feel the need for meaning quite like adults do- maybe because they aren’t forced to face the daily grind. There’s boredom, but that is not what I am talking about. Kids don’t really have to compromise like adults do. As you enter adulthood you could start to see things and people as phony or fake. Maybe not people, but certain tasks or events certainly are. There’s a constant struggle in all of us between the meaningful and the mundane; the temporary and the eternal. There is a conflict, simply of time and energy. We desire the intentional and struggle towards spirituality; all while trying to earn a paycheck, wash our dishes, and sleep each night. It kind of reminds me of what I picture an AA meeting to look like. I think, rarely could someone find a place where people are more vulnerable, open, and honest with each other. Even if they win over addiction… how could life ever feel as full after that brief moment shared with others who completely understand? At the same time, the point of those meetings is to help people live- not just free from drugs, but maybe free to live in the mundane? Free to enjoy the dance of life, the needs of the soul balanced with the chores too. This doesn’t have to be depressing, but it does require compromise- or a sense of a time and place for everything- including the day-to-day.Catcher in the rye touches on some of these questions. Holden struggles with growing up. He sees everything as meaningless and adults as predictable and fake. I think he is mourning the loss of his innocence… maybe not just right from wrong, but the loss of dreams growing up seems to require. Holden, while at the museum that is exactly the same as it was when he was a kid says he likes it, because each time you visit "the only thing that would be different would be you…" and goes on to say "certain things they should stay the way they are. You ought to be able to stick them in one of those big glass cases and just leave them alone. I know that's impossible, but it’s too bad anyway." One thing I thought of to help explain Holden's struggle with growing up is this: Coffee. When I was a kid, I used to smell my dad's coffee- that strong sugary-sweet smell of roasted beans. You wait for your chance to be let in on this excellent secret. Thinking it is just the caffeine that is preventing your parents from giving you a taste. Finally, they do and then all your dreams of that sweet flavor come crashing down! It's wrecked! Coffee isn't at all what you thought it was! That is, until the day you give it another chance, you start to be able to smell and taste the different tones coffee has. You can appreciate it for its varied, and almost living flavors. You see… Coffee isn't bad- it just wasn't what you always thought. The key is in finding the hidden flavors and getting over the fact that it will never taste as sweet as it smells. I think Holden struggled with the initial shock, that although life is more bitter than it "smells", or than you think it will be, there are the hidden joys and sweet flavors that make it almost better!This book doesn’t really set out to answer any of the questions it raises. Holden experiences the extremes of entering into adulthood and relates it in a way everyone, maybe especially, teenagers can understand. He is a flawed character who is desperate and depressed. As the reader, you can see why he feels the way he does, as he explains it so well you almost feel it with him. However, you can also see the flaws in his thinking. The author doesn't romanticize Holden's life, you don't read it thinking he has some special key to life that we all need. You simply feel his struggle to fit in and hope eventually he can learn to play the game and see the beauty that is there, hidden a little.
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Aaron posted a review at 2009-07-25 02:20:12.
(Language: English)
I did not like this novel. It was immature, depressing and filled with foul language. There was, however, exactly two redeeming qualities, which I will get to. First of all, something is terribly wrong with Holden. I suspect that the entire novel is based upon a first alcoholic binge. Holden is a drunken and stupid extrovert. He knows that he is fairly stupid (not as brilliant as either his dead brother Allie, his prostitute writing brother D.B. or his young sister Phoebe), yet he knows he is more intelligent than most other people. Holden recognizes "phoniness", or superficiality everywhere but within himself. He is incessantly on the phone setting up meeting after meeting with girls and friends. He would probably go insane if he had to spend one day alone with his own thoughts. The entire novel takes Holden's encounters with others one after another in a crazy break-neck speed. It is a bit ridiculous. The beautiful thing about Holden is his youthful cynicism and his sensitive intelligence. Holden seemingly by chance stumbles upon many epiphanies. He sees through the material world into the heart of reality. He feels sorry for everyone. Everything depresses him. Nothing attracts him in the material world. In his rebellion and cynicism he unwittingly finds wisdom and sagacity—fairly useless things in a modern society. I must give an answer to Holden's statement that Jesus' disciples were as useful to Jesus as a hole in the head before crucifixion (afterwords they of course built the Body of Christ), and that Jesus picked the disciples at random. Holden said that he likes anyone in the Bible better than Jesus' disciples because they kept letting Him down. Arthur Childs only response to Holden on this matter was that he didn't read the Bible or go to church and that if he didn't like the disciples, he didn't like Jesus. That is not an answer! My response to Holden would have been that nothing is random and everything is random. Jesus picked His disciples so that they might be an example. They mirror all followers of Christ—we are useless to Him as they were. If we don't like the disciples, it is not Jesus that we don't like as well, but it is ourselves. No doubt the disciples realized their erring ways after His crucifixion (especially after He visited a few of them through the walls) and tried as best they could to mend their uselessness. Now. It was well worth wading through all the nonsense adventures that Holden had, with his little witticisms now and then, to come to the speech of the "flit" and intellectual, Mr. Antolini (whose wife was obviously standing in as a mother-figure). Mr. Antolini could plainly see the heart of Holden's rebellion. He recommended education as the tool for Holden to explore himself. I'm not sure if I agree or not. Certainly for some people, but I doubt we should have Frank Herbert's "Dune" had he not dropped out and and pursued his own interests... Listen now to Mr. Antolini's words, and beware of him standing over you in the dark, salivating... "This fall I think you're riding for—it's a special kind of fall, a horrible kind. The man falling isn't permitted to feel or hear himself hit bottom. He just keeps falling and falling. The whole arrangement's designed for men who, at some time or other in their lives, were looking for something their own environment couldn't supply them with. Or they thought their own environment couldn't supply them with. So they gave up looking. They gave it up before they ever really even got started. You follow me?".
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-07-28 02:37:41.
(Language: French)
Le jour où j'ai rencontré Holden Caufield, j'en suis tombée irrémédiablement amoureuse..... Je l'ai aperçu au détour des pages d'un livre « The Catcher in The Rye » ou si vous préférez dans « L'attrape coeur » de J.D Salinger. La poésie des mots ne s'invente pas. Dès le titre, j'ai su qu'il ferait partie de moi. Holden, jeune adolescent de 16 ans issu d'une famille aisée américaine, se fait renvoyer de son école juste avant les fêtes de Noël. Toute la beauté du livre consiste à nous faire vivre les trois jours de fugue d'Holden dans un New York enneigé. Alors on le suit dans son errance, on le sent perdu et désemparé face au monde qui l'entoure. Parce qu' Holden est d'une fragilité féroce, il en devient très touchant. Combien de fois ai-je eu envie de le prendre dans mes bras, de m'asseoir près de lui, juste pour que dans un silence, nos âmes se rencontrent. On a tous eu envie un jour de dire stop, de hurler à ce monde d'adultes notre rage, notre incompréhension. Certains partent, d'autres restent mais au fond de notre coeur, nous sommes tous des Holden en puissance. Nous sommes à la recherche de notre identité, pas celle qu'on nous impose dans notre vie actuelle, le vrai nous, caché dans la profondeur de notre âme. Holden cherche des raisons de vivre, d'espérer, d'avancer dans un monde où il ne se reconnaît pas vraiment. Cette errance dans New York est une plongée dans ses propres abîmes. Peu importe la fin du livre, l'important est dans cette capacité que nous avons de nous relever dans les moments de faiblesse, la rage du désespoir qui veut encore y croire.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-10-25 03:33:12.
(Language: English)
it is quite clear when reading the reviews in here that holden was just so spot on about everything he 'whined' about. i mean, COME ON, most people in here (even the ones that like the book) seem to think that this is a book about a teenage 'phase' that we all go through and then get over. if you really like this book you like it even when you are 50, because this is not a book about teenage rebelion, it is a book about the difficulty in coming to terms with life and the things that piss us off - and actually in the end holden manages to embrace even the things that pissed him off, which shows much more maturity and understanding of life than most people show in here...calling holden an 'emo'!...for fuck's sake!...all these people in here who think that they are so grown up and have really accepted life, really have only accepted life as it is imposed on them by the powerful in this world (who i don't even think are the majority)..maybe most of these people even belong to the powerful of this world (considering that they are using facebook they must do). in any case, they have accepted the life that they see people around them conforming to and they have the cheek to say that this is what life is...they say THIS IS LIFE, get on with it...but that is just so narrow-minded it makes me want to puke (as holden would say)....life surely must include so much more, it includes everything that is just so different from us that we can't understand, everything that we hate and pisses us off...it includes holden and me and everyone who loves this book and everyone who hates it...and the fact that so many people are pissed off with this book just proves that they are also whiners, just from the other end of the spectrum...i am sorry to disappoint you dear ireaders but there are people like holden out there, there are 'emos' and 'badasses' and 'rockers' and 'rebels' and you will just have to deal with it. the sad thing is that you won't deal with it and you surely won't be able to transform your frustration into a literary classic in any hurry that's for sure!
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-12-01 07:56:44.
(Language: English)
The book, Catcher in the Rye, is a first person’s narration that reflects the negative society by illustrating mainly two different groups: People who have already became unconscious to all the lies and phoniness in the society and the others who are not yet harmed but are still pure and innocent. As a book reviewer, two words that could summarize this book are ‘puzzling’, but ‘impressive’. The word ‘puzzling’ indicates the numerous symbols the book contains, and the word ‘impressive’ shows how all of these symbols connect each other to support one crucial theme of the Catcher in the Rye. After reading the book, I have heard many people commenting how they do not get the whole point of the book, how the dictation and illustration used by the author is not so attractive to the readers. However, I think the opposite way: the book is very intriguing; once you find out the author’s intention of the book, it allows you to go deeper and deeper into the book. I was able to come up with the two simple words previously mentioned by first being influenced by the setting of this book. The book starts in Agerstown, Pennsylvania, where the author illustrates as a negative place full of lies and phoniness. The author elaborates the negativity of the society with a pessimistic tone by introducing several ideas such as sex and prostitutes. It is true how up till this point, the readers might find the book very weird and unsatisfactory. However, the author, Salinger, does a great job of starting to introduce new ideas. The protagonist, Holden, contradicts such society but emphasizes his “ideal” society by hinting the readers through other symbols such as the museum. When Holden is in the museum, he states, “The best thing in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was”. This symbol meant the world that Holden wants to live in, a world that does not change by keeping its innocence. Furthermore, this was not the end. There were more and more things that I got to find out as I read along. But the last “give-away” hint of this theme of the book was when Holden mentions song of a “If a body catch a body” to the antagonist, Phoebe, where he would like to “catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff […] and be the catcher in the rye” (225). This mainly concludes how the author emphasizes the innocence in the society. So looking back, Salinger has used innovative literary technique to attract the readers. At first, it may have seemed dull with the prosaic background, but the author elaborated his work by adding symbols. These symbols created climax as hints were given step by step until the readers were able to find out about the final theme. Thus, The Catcher in the Rye is a mystery that was to be solved by the reader by obtaining a full clear answer in the end.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-11-07 03:38:44.
(Language: English)
J'ai trouvé mille raisons de lire The Catcher in the Rye. Durant ces dernières semaines, ce livre était partout ou je regardais. Une amie chère le lisait en vacances à la plage. The Economist m'apprend que c'est l'un des livres retenus par l'Etat chilien dans son programme d'laphabétisation de masse. Dans White Teeth de Zadie Smith, c'est l'un des livres que brûle la mère de Millat Iqbal, pour lui donner une bonne leçon : l'adolescent plus ou moins islamiste est allé à Bradford brûler Les Versets Sataniques, sa mère lui rend la pareille. Mais surtout, j'ai lu et vu un super reportage dans la revue Transfuge et sur Canal Jimmy dans lequel Beigbeder, fan absolu du livre, partait à la recherche de son auteur, et dans lequel il croise plein d'auteurs que j'aime bien (Darieussecq, McInerney, ...) qui expliquent chacun à leur manière comment ce livre a changé leur vie. Face à tout ça, il fallait bien que je me l'envoie. Holden Caufield, le narrateur et personnage principal, et l'archétype du teenager mal dans ses baskets. Cette histoire de gamin mal dans sa peau et bien que dans sa solitude, se baladant sans but dans un monde trop grand pour lui, ne vous paraîtra pas révolutionnaire a priori. Vous mêmes avez été adolescents, et vous avez vu plein de films et pleins de livres qui vous ont conforté dans votre obstination à claquer les portes et à aimer Nirvana. Mais là , on parle de 1951 ! Un 1951 new-yorkais et jeune, pre-rock and roll, encore à des années et des années de la révolution sexuelle et du Viêt-Nam, et pourtant Holden est hyper-moderne et exact. En fait, Holden est un post-Rimbaud, pre-James Dean. En vrai, tout le monde, à toutes les époques, a eu sa crise d'adolescence, mais The Catcher in the Rye est la première fois que ça crée en soi la base d'un livre, et la vrai révolution est là . Rimbaud écrit : "Il faut être résolument moderne". Lui l'est, toujours. Je l'ai relu avec une amie qui découvrait la poésie française récemment, et je vous promets que même si vous avez l'impression d'avoir vieilli (la fac est loin, vous payez des impôts, vous allez chez Ikea, vous votez MoDem) vous pouvez toujours le lire et en tomber à genoux. The Catcher in the Rye vous fera la même chose, il vous redonnera une image de vous, de nous tous, dans ce moment difficile quand on n'est pas du tout un enfant et le mot adulte nous fait gerber. Dieu sait si j'ai eu une période adolescente (ok, justement pas Dieu, mais ma mère, c'est sûr), et ce livre est un hommage à cet état d'esprit, à cette révolte sans cause, à cet ajustement au monde des autres gens, quand celui que l'on a dans la tête est bien meilleur. Je suis vert de ne pas avoir découvert ce livre à 14 ans, comme Millat Iqbal et Frédéric Beigbeder, plutôt qu'à bientôt deux fois plus. Je les remercie tout de même tous deux de me l'avoir conseillé. Dans le reportage susmentionné, Beigbeder va à New-York pour retracer les errances de Holden. Il va ensuite dans la forêt ou J.D. Salinger, l'auteur, s'est retranché depuis les années soixante. Je vais lui laisser la quète de son mentor, qui m'intéresse moins; mais je vais suivre son exemple : je me prépare un pélérinage à New-York sur les traces d'Holden Caulfield, livre en main. More on : http://laminutelitterairedelouisbernard.blogspot.com/
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