Reviews

3.5 stars. Man, did this book book make me emotional, and not in a positive way. From my perspective, Holden Caulfield is definitely not an 'anti-hero' or 'a symbol of teenage rebellion', but rather someone who has built up so many defence and avoidance mechanisms (hating everyone and everything and not pursuing any sort of goal or passion) that they've practically lost sight of what they were protecting in the first place. He constantly seeks out others to distract him from himself,
or to boost his mood, yet has already decided that they will just let him down, regardless.

Holden is self-sabotaging and swings from manic to numb in the blink of the eye, never really deriving pleasure or optimism from anything except brief thoughts and ideals that he can't actually commit to (I've seen some reviews talk about how the book romanticizes a rebellious teen having a great time with booze and hookers and taking cabs everywhere, but I'm not sure which book they were reading). Of course, this behaviour is just as stereotypically 'rebellious' as everybody else's behaviour is stereotypically 'conforming', meaning that inevitably Holden is a walking contradiction (which is one of the main points the book makes about duality).

I ended up speed-reading the end chapters of this book, swept up in the whirlwind of Holden's anxiety and emptiness. I can definitely see how people would see him as merely an annoying, stuck-up rich kid, but as someone who has been stuck in the same toxic emotional and thought patterns as him (more the fear, numbness and the feeling of needing to protect innocence than Holden's trademark loathing of all the 'phonies'), reading his thoughts really hit a bit too close to home for me.
This is one of those rare times where I'm happy to have read a book, even if the experience of doing so was generally not an enjoyable or satisfying one. I also feel that this book could've been a bit shorter without losing any punch or meaning. I don't know if I could bear to read this book again (or, in fact, to seek out any other of Salinger's works apart from Franny and Zooey which I liked much more), but hopefully one day I will have the strength to approach it from a much more objective mindset.

luis343's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective 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

5.0

cbwilly's review against another edition

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dark funny reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

rufus_32's review against another edition

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2.0

200 page yap-fest if this book is giving you profound insights about the meaning of life i fear you’ve never had a thought in your life. i have no personal beef with holden cause he’s a teenager and whatever i jsut have beef with the people that read this book and say it completely changed their outlook on life and whatever like dog what do you mean i didn’t get anything from this book other than yeah i guess holden is kind of relatable but he’s also annoying. so. basically. whatever!

marlamorris's review against another edition

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reflective 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

4.0

a nice little classic that im glad to finally have read! i don't really understand all the hate that seems to exist in the world fo holden caulfied bc it seems his biggest crime seems to be that he's a teenager? i maybe missed the boat a bit in reading this as a newly 22 y/o but there was a lot of poignant Teen Things in this that i still felt like i could relate to and understand even now, but in a way that's more of a ' i kinda remember feeling a similar thing at 16' thing. i feel like if id read this a lot faster than i did id have some stronger feelings on it overall but there's something nice and comforting in the way being a teenager angry at the world and having a dislike for things that ppl love - like the cinema? - is something that seems to endure across time!

ariareads's review against another edition

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challenging reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

slushysands's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

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