Reviews with content warning for Cursing - L'attrape-coeurs by Jerome David Salinger

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Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

L'attrape-coeurs by Jerome David Salinger by J.D. Salinger, J.D. Salinger

158 reviews

kaz_brekkerrr's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

goodnightmoonie's review against another edition

1.0

challenging dark emotional sad tense 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

I know the people that love this book feel very defensive of Holden and often identify with his struggle. And I have seen quite a few pretty strong rebukes of people critiquing The Catcher in the Rye. (You must not be very smart, it requires real empathy to enjoy the book, he's literally a *child*, etc.) However I just feel there are books that better explore the ideas of grief, trauma and the emotional turbulence of adolescence. This criticism mostly requires you to defend the book by defending Holden as if he were a real person separate from the work itself. But if the actual work is repetitive, boorish, relies almost exclusively on subtext and a meandering story then what else is there to defend of Holden? I understand the argument made that his character is young and mentally ill/suffering with loss and traumas. I just don't see how that is enough on its face to make the experience of this book worth it. The only view we get of Holdens mental state and experiences are from him and he is obviously an unreliable narrator. (So no enlightening commentary to be found there) He also never has the opportunity for growth whether it be from an outside influence or internal change that would force some kind of meaningful introspection (beyond coming to the conclusion that everyone and everything is phony). I am also not opposed to a character study and every book doesn't need a strict start, middle and end with visible character growth *but* people lauding this book as a voice given to people suffering or a transgressive attempt to show the real inner life of someone struggling falls flat for me. He learns nothing about himself or his experiences over the course of his time away from home, admits he has no interest in delving any deeper than surface level recollections and from the readers perspective all we get are repetitive one note scenes of Holden being an absolute terror to everyone around him. There are far better books that don't sugar coat things or sacrifice *being real* and achieve a similar goal. Sorry but implying there's some lack of empathy or anti-intelectualism involved in not liking this book really kills me, it really does. Absolutely corny.

Content Warnings

turidt's review against another edition

5.0

emotional reflective sad tense 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: No

Content Warnings

m_allardyce's review against another edition

1.75

funny reflective sad 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

The Catcher in the Rye is the story of Holden Caulfield’s long weekend as a truant in New York City. Along the way he meets a cast of exotic characters including prostitutes, old classmates, and regrettable flings. He’s desperate to act more mature than his age, getting drunk in bars and flirting with older women, but the veneer is thin, and money is short so he soon has to return home to his parents and younger sister. The novel handles a lot of heavy themes such as grief, sexuality, adolescence, and depression, so I can see why it has become a canonical text.

I, unfortunately, hated it.

Most of the praise I’ve seen for the novel talks about the authentic portrayal of teenage angst that Salinger demonstrates throughout, praising the use of simplistic and repetitive language to contrast the mature themes. There’s the sense that Holden is every disenchanted youth looking to find himself and escape the constraints of school facing the realities of life.

Ultimately, I don’t think this is necessarily incorrect; I think my main issue with the novel is that Holden is /so/ sixteen and I am not. I think I’m too old (a morbid thought at 23) to really appreciate what the story is saying about youth and teenagerhood, and instead Holden just comes across as grating and immature. I don’t see him as an endearingly naïve protagonist growing into himself, but an insufferable child who learns little from his mistakes. The lack of overt growth by the end of the novel is a subversion of the coming-of-age genre and I feel that the story is the worse for it.

Content Warnings

perid0t's review against another edition

4.0

dark reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

cinderblox_'s review against another edition

5.0

emotional funny hopeful reflective sad 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

Those that get it, get it. Oh, and i get it. I read it in high school the first time and I related to Holden so much at the time. Rereading this as an adult, about 10 years later, it remains near and dear to my heart and i have a better understanding of it. It brought tears to my eyes. I cant even put into words what is going on through my mind about this book right now. Makes you think about grief, internal struggles, and growing up. But seriously, if it doesnt hit for you the first time, take a look at some analysis videos of it or try to reread it in the future. It doesnt deserve all the hate it gets.

Content Warnings