Reviews with content warning for Child death - The Catcher in the Rye

Reviews tagging 'Child death'

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

123 reviews

grizzlysnack's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

Based on the years of people telling me this book was terrible or it sucked, I believe it's because they didn't wrap their mind around the fact that this book is supposed to show you some form of empathy.

We're shown 3 days of 16 year-old Holden's life, and the text is trying to make you feel empathetic towards him, who is struggling with the loss of his innocence. Almost everyone can relate to that.

Salinger has a unique prose when it comes to Holden's perspective and how Holden sees the world. I think that those who dislike The Catcher in the Rye either couldn't grasp the idea of putting themselves in someone else's shoes when they read through it, or were expecting a completely different type of writing (like I said, Salinger's writing style is meant to be distant from the reader, it's what makes Holden relatable).

Holden Caufield has been treated so poorly by the 'adult world' that he is making terrible decisions to get the attentions of people who couldn't care less about his well-being. I think that's where the message gets blurred, and what leads to those poor reviews of the text.

Overall I think that The Catcher in the Rye is a wonderfully written novel, coming from a 19 year-old who never read it in high school (where/when most people read this book). If you're in the mood to reflect on a fictional character's life instead of worrying about the action that is happening, this would be a perfect read for you.

Content Warnings

aylin05's review against another edition

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adventurous reflective sad fast-paced

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

2.75

For this being a book i read for a school research paper i thoroughly enjoyed it. while at times i was a little bored hearing about random people Holden knew and brought up, i think that in retrospect everything made sense. at first i didn’t understand or even like Holden, but that honestly changed by the end of the book, which was super sweet. this book deals a lot with growing up and the difficult/ scary transition between childhood and adulthood and a lot of Holden just trying to find his place in the world. I’d definitely recommend.

Content Warnings