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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Maybe I wouldn't have expected much from it if it weren't "a classic" but I thought it would be good and man does this book sucks. Everyone says it's so great and it's just some teenager whining. Super boring & nothing happens. Booooo this book
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
i don't really like this book :( it's complicated and there's a lot to go through
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The Catcher in the Rye is a coming-of-age story told through the eyes of teenaged Holden Caulfield who has just been kicked out of school and decides to spend the next two days wandering aimlessly around New York City. He spends this time noting his observations of the world in all his angst, joy, sorrow and bitterness. It is classic adolescent reality with a touch of cynicism and typical youthful frustration.
This book is a classic for a reason. Despite being written in 1951, the raw emotions that plague teenagers of any era are openly and plainly described in Holden’s wry voice. His view of the world, of adults, of the phoniness of it all belongs to no one generation.
I read Catcher in the Rye for the first time when I was sixteen and, for me, Holden was something of a hero. He put into words so much of what I was already feeling. He understood the nuances of my generation’s complaints about the world we live in, the frustration for the adults that had so many unreasonable expectations of us, and the frightening uncertainty of what the future was all about.
Then I read it again when I was in my late twenties, and I had children of my own. My children were just toddlers at the time, but I began to feel a bit sorry for Holden this time around. I wished that I could tell him that it isn’t really all that bad. And yet, I wasn’t so far removed from my own adolescence that I didn’t understand where he was coming from. I remembered, really remembered, what a frustrating and difficult time those teenage years were.
I then read it again in my thirties with teenagers of my own and began to see Holden’s angst reflected in my own children’s faces. I felt sorry for them both. And, by now, I was just enough removed from my own adolescence and so entrenched in my own parental struggles, that I was frustrated with Holden. He just didn’t understand that the adults of the world are just trying their damnedest to get it right too. That the struggle isn’t reserved for just teenagers. What a selfish thought. I didn’t much like Holden then and I sure hoped none of my angsty teenagers would meet a Holden of their own.
I’m in my fifties now, my children are grown, and I just finished Catcher in the Rye once again. This time around I found Holden’s voice a beautiful, poetic anthem for a timeless, adolescent truth. I appreciate his frustration and wish I could talk to him, to tell him that it’s okay to not understand, not to know who he is just yet, to be frustrated because nothing seems to fit the way that seems reasonable. It’s perfectly alright to think that adults don’t understand because they probably don’t – or, at least, they have forgotten. Now, like so many of the adults that Holden meets in those few days of wandering, I would love to have a minute or two to mentor him, only for him to think me a little ridiculous and out-of-touch.
This book, for all its greatness and brilliance, is not for everyone all the time. There is a lot of brooding and roaming and mundaneness. It is a moody book and one that is woven together with vast ideas spoken through common occurrences and plain actions. I’ve heard it called ‘boring’ and ‘pointless’ and I wouldn’t disagree with them. Not because it’s true, but because it would be true if you didn’t approach it in the right mood. Holden Caulfield himself is often ‘not in the mood’, so it’s perfectly okay if you aren’t either. But maybe hold off reading this until you are.
This book is a classic for a reason. Despite being written in 1951, the raw emotions that plague teenagers of any era are openly and plainly described in Holden’s wry voice. His view of the world, of adults, of the phoniness of it all belongs to no one generation.
I read Catcher in the Rye for the first time when I was sixteen and, for me, Holden was something of a hero. He put into words so much of what I was already feeling. He understood the nuances of my generation’s complaints about the world we live in, the frustration for the adults that had so many unreasonable expectations of us, and the frightening uncertainty of what the future was all about.
Then I read it again when I was in my late twenties, and I had children of my own. My children were just toddlers at the time, but I began to feel a bit sorry for Holden this time around. I wished that I could tell him that it isn’t really all that bad. And yet, I wasn’t so far removed from my own adolescence that I didn’t understand where he was coming from. I remembered, really remembered, what a frustrating and difficult time those teenage years were.
I then read it again in my thirties with teenagers of my own and began to see Holden’s angst reflected in my own children’s faces. I felt sorry for them both. And, by now, I was just enough removed from my own adolescence and so entrenched in my own parental struggles, that I was frustrated with Holden. He just didn’t understand that the adults of the world are just trying their damnedest to get it right too. That the struggle isn’t reserved for just teenagers. What a selfish thought. I didn’t much like Holden then and I sure hoped none of my angsty teenagers would meet a Holden of their own.
I’m in my fifties now, my children are grown, and I just finished Catcher in the Rye once again. This time around I found Holden’s voice a beautiful, poetic anthem for a timeless, adolescent truth. I appreciate his frustration and wish I could talk to him, to tell him that it’s okay to not understand, not to know who he is just yet, to be frustrated because nothing seems to fit the way that seems reasonable. It’s perfectly alright to think that adults don’t understand because they probably don’t – or, at least, they have forgotten. Now, like so many of the adults that Holden meets in those few days of wandering, I would love to have a minute or two to mentor him, only for him to think me a little ridiculous and out-of-touch.
This book, for all its greatness and brilliance, is not for everyone all the time. There is a lot of brooding and roaming and mundaneness. It is a moody book and one that is woven together with vast ideas spoken through common occurrences and plain actions. I’ve heard it called ‘boring’ and ‘pointless’ and I wouldn’t disagree with them. Not because it’s true, but because it would be true if you didn’t approach it in the right mood. Holden Caulfield himself is often ‘not in the mood’, so it’s perfectly okay if you aren’t either. But maybe hold off reading this until you are.
3-3,5/5
Hear me out...as a book it was kinda boring to read at times since there was no major plot in it, but i do appreciate the meaning behind it.
The character is an a-hole but also very relatable which i loved! I think we can all find ourselves in him a lot or a little
Hear me out...as a book it was kinda boring to read at times since there was no major plot in it, but i do appreciate the meaning behind it.
The character is an a-hole but also very relatable which i loved! I think we can all find ourselves in him a lot or a little
Genial título, un protagonista como pocos y una trama sencilla pero profunda. Con una gran aproximación al típico adolescente, el autor logra un personaje acertado y muy bien construido. La novela es un retrato de la clase alta de New york a través de los ojos de un adolescente inteligente y desorientado.
Also ranks in my favorite books of all time, and one of the few I've read more than once already. The last time I read it, I was 17. It will be interesting to see if I still think so highly of it.