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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
Ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh!!
No no no no no!!!
Words I was sick of reading in this book: goddam, phony, lame, depressed, not in the mood, lonely, crumby.
I am really starting to think I should give up on classics because they bore me like 50% of the time. Or I gotta remind myself that they are not always classics because they are good, but because they were once original somehow. I guess it's because I don't know the context and so on but still, this story was sooo dull....
I found the first 50 pages or so pretty funny; the book started out at 3 stars.
However, I quickly became sick of the narration. It was EXHAUSTING to keep up with Holden's stupid rants and trains of thought!! And NOTHING was happening!
Resume of this book: Holden gets kicked out of school and wanders around town making pointless and pessimistic observations about everything, then he finally goes home and learns nothing and nothing is revealed about his future.
Apparently this is popular because it's one of the first "coming-of-age" books. To me, Holden did not mature in any way whatsoever throughout the book (although I skimmed most of the ending so who knows). I am also someone who questions adulthood all the time but I could not relate to him very much... He just whined and repeated the same shit over and had mood swings. He sounded like an insane and cynical ADHD crackhead.
I get that he is not getting along with all of society but what is so great about his long rants about ducks and hating movies and everything else he hates like old SUITCASES?!! HUH? ... I was just like "how do you even get to disliking that it makes no sense......??" Phoniness or whatever I can understand, but old suitcases and actors? Where did that come from?
And he dreams of catching kids in a field?! What? Where did the author even get these ideas from? "Hey I'll write a book about a guy wandering around the city making absolutely no sense and his dream is to catch kids in a field."
Sparknotes says it's cuz "Holden wants to catch children before they fall out of innocence into knowledge of the adult world, including knowledge of sex." HOW DO Y'ALL EVEN FIND THAT OUT!
Guess it makes sense though.
Once again, I feel like I'm the stupid one not getting it. I hate novels like this hahah.
This book is not staying on my shelves. Blechhhh.
No no no no no!!!
Words I was sick of reading in this book: goddam, phony, lame, depressed, not in the mood, lonely, crumby.
I am really starting to think I should give up on classics because they bore me like 50% of the time. Or I gotta remind myself that they are not always classics because they are good, but because they were once original somehow. I guess it's because I don't know the context and so on but still, this story was sooo dull....
I found the first 50 pages or so pretty funny; the book started out at 3 stars.
However, I quickly became sick of the narration. It was EXHAUSTING to keep up with Holden's stupid rants and trains of thought!! And NOTHING was happening!
Resume of this book: Holden gets kicked out of school and wanders around town making pointless and pessimistic observations about everything, then he finally goes home and learns nothing and nothing is revealed about his future.
Apparently this is popular because it's one of the first "coming-of-age" books. To me, Holden did not mature in any way whatsoever throughout the book (although I skimmed most of the ending so who knows). I am also someone who questions adulthood all the time but I could not relate to him very much... He just whined and repeated the same shit over and had mood swings. He sounded like an insane and cynical ADHD crackhead.
I get that he is not getting along with all of society but what is so great about his long rants about ducks and hating movies and everything else he hates like old SUITCASES?!! HUH? ... I was just like "how do you even get to disliking that it makes no sense......??" Phoniness or whatever I can understand, but old suitcases and actors? Where did that come from?
And he dreams of catching kids in a field?! What? Where did the author even get these ideas from? "Hey I'll write a book about a guy wandering around the city making absolutely no sense and his dream is to catch kids in a field."
Sparknotes says it's cuz "Holden wants to catch children before they fall out of innocence into knowledge of the adult world, including knowledge of sex." HOW DO Y'ALL EVEN FIND THAT OUT!
Guess it makes sense though.
Once again, I feel like I'm the stupid one not getting it. I hate novels like this hahah.
This book is not staying on my shelves. Blechhhh.
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
What an incredible novel. The prose flows like my own thoughts, and Holden is such a relatable and understandable character. I personally found myself finding pieces of my own worries, fears, and dreams in Holden’s.
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
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
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book gave me a few tears. There's this thing with me and family relationships. Holden's relationship with his siblings especially with Phoebe, her sister, is priceless. I wish I had the same connection like Holden had. This book makes you appreciate the simple things in life. It tells you to live a little!
And this is a quote that really made me reflect...
"The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one."
And this is a quote that really made me reflect...
"The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one."
sad
medium-paced
I don't know if I liked this book or not.
Holden is a deeply unlikeable character and his actions are highly annoying and scattered and I very much didn't enjoy reading about him. His inner monologue is equally as scattered and full of what he doesn't like about the world and literally everyone else. He's so busy calling everyone else a phony when he's the biggest phony of them all. He's trying to give the impression he's cool and knows better, but in reality, he gives away who he really is; a lonely boy who doesn't feel like he belongs anywhere to the point where he wants to leave everything behind. And I don't actually think he's trying to convince the reader of this, he's trying to convince himself.
This is a book about lonliness, teenage rebellion, underlying mental health issues (not exactly something acknowedged a lot during the 40s and 50s), and a small hope that the future might be better if you get away from where you currently are. I get why it's a classic, why it's talked about and read, but I'm not certain I liked it anyways. It has parts I liked, things I could relate to, but I think my dislike of Holden and my disagreement with a lot of his actions took away from them.
Holden is a deeply unlikeable character and his actions are highly annoying and scattered and I very much didn't enjoy reading about him. His inner monologue is equally as scattered and full of what he doesn't like about the world and literally everyone else. He's so busy calling everyone else a phony when he's the biggest phony of them all. He's trying to give the impression he's cool and knows better, but in reality, he gives away who he really is; a lonely boy who doesn't feel like he belongs anywhere to the point where he wants to leave everything behind. And I don't actually think he's trying to convince the reader of this, he's trying to convince himself.
This is a book about lonliness, teenage rebellion, underlying mental health issues (not exactly something acknowedged a lot during the 40s and 50s), and a small hope that the future might be better if you get away from where you currently are. I get why it's a classic, why it's talked about and read, but I'm not certain I liked it anyways. It has parts I liked, things I could relate to, but I think my dislike of Holden and my disagreement with a lot of his actions took away from them.
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
dark
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes