Reviews

Buszujący w zbożu by J.D. Salinger

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coldmerury's review against another edition

5.0

rip holden you would've loved "I can't handle change" by roar

i could talk about this book for hours, i've annotated the shit out of it.
He's young, depressed and terrified of change and of growing up and losing this youthful innocence, to become as disappointing as the adults around him. He's desperate for connection with people but unable to search for it properly and unwilling to confront his issues, thus "protecting" himself in a shell of cynicism and chooses isolation which only worsens the situation.
Progress, healing, is not linear, he's doing his best, stop saying you hate him he's so special to me</3

lauraborkpower's review against another edition

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3.0

Certainly not his best, but it's Salinger so I like it. I feel the need to re-read it every few years because I continually forget chunks of the story. That doesn't give me faith in the story itself, but it's a quick read and I don't mind.

gwen_wfr's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious reflective

4.0

havanaxo's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

isabellevlach's review against another edition

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1.0

cannot understand how this snoozefest became a classic. the protagonist is so incredibly unlikable and the writing style is maybe even worse. be prepared to read the words “goddamn, and all, depressing as hell, phony” about 363845 times while reading this book. our 17 year old angsty narrator, Holden, considers literally everyone around him to be phony and unbearable. especially the women. every woman that’s introduced is described as being dumb, and he’s incapable of talking about a woman without mentioning her böobs or bùtt.

i was deeply disturbed when reading about 16 year old Holden hiring a prostitute and was extremely relieved when nothing happened between them. pretty much the entire rest of the book is Holden meandering through the streets of NYC finding places to drink and contemplating going on dates with girls.

the one redeeming thing about him is perhaps the way that he loves his little sister so much, but this was ruined for me at the end when his sister gets sad and he talks about how he wanted to make her cry even harder and how he thought maybe he hated her. (side note: this is a deeply disturbing pattern i’ve noticed reading books with male authors).

apparently this book is supposed to be some great critique of society, but really all it is to me is a teenager with a temporary superiority complex and mild depression complaining about the world. i already went through this phase and it was miserable then, and it’s just as miserable to read about as an adult.