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Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

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

64 reviews

challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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dark emotional funny reflective sad fast-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

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adventurous emotional funny slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I had to force myself to finish this. None of the characters are rather likeable and the plot was not interesting enough to keep me reading. I do not understand the hype around this novel, and it’s no wonder this is the only novel Salinger is really known for if his writing is similar in his other novels.

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funny reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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dark 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

i liked that this book was easy to follow as it just focuses on holdens thoughts and opinions. that being said, nothing really happens in this book. the parts of holdens life that slowly unravel and give you an idea of why he’s so depressed are interesting, but you can only listen to a privileged white man whine so much to be honest.

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adventurous challenging funny reflective sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

In one word: overrated. 
I can admit that it wasn’t as terrible as I thought at the start, but it’s definitely not a masterpiece or one of the best books ever. Honestly I considered dnfing it but I wanted to finish it so I could a) say I’ve read it and b) properly trash it. 

If this was released today and critiqued as a piece of literature, I don’t think it would get good reviews. I will never understand how this is some people’s favorite book. 
The actual process of reading it was not fun and not worth what little I got out of it. Sure, there’s some interesting (although in my opinion pretty basic) reflections, and Holden is a somewhat interesting character, but beyond that, there wasn’t much substance.
I feel like if it was at least fun to read I would’ve given it a pass for not have any like “lesson” or “deep meaning”, although I would still not consider it one of the best books of all time. I probably just have very high standards for classics, I mean something had to make it so popular and everlasting. but this was not that good. Honestly I only actually liked the last part, but the rest of the book was quite a bore. I dunno, I kind of get the point of it, but it wasn’t for me. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous emotional reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark emotional reflective tense 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

Was initially very dismissive and judgemental because Holden comes off as this angsty and cynical kid which I found annoying, but upon further reading I came to really appreciate his character.

Particularly his honesty, that his goodness does kind of shine underneath and in a subtle way, like how he hated how people yelled “Digression” at the kids who were really nervous or really excited about their oral exam topics, or how he’d rub off all the “Fuck you” lines that were written on walls because some kids might see them and be confronted by it or ruminate about it. He’s not a terrible person, to me. He’s a depressed teenager and as is common with depressed teens, particularly depressed teen boys, it’s manifesting as angst and cynicism.

But, I really came to appreciate Holden’s character. I realised that how he is reminded me of how I was between the ages of 14 and 16. Edgy, angsty, cynical but very depressed. I kind of ‘got it’ after a while and enjoyed reading more.

I had to look past my initial prejudices of him being whiny though. Once done, it was a great book to me. 5/5 would read again and again.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
emotional reflective sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings