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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
adventurous
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-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
challenging
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
if nothing else, this is a hilariously accurate depiction of literally every 15 year old boy who thinks everything is cringe, and has the same realizations that girls had at like 8 years old. it’s funny how this holds up (“cringe” is the new “phony”.) the unique narrative voice is very obviously the focus here, which is fine for a while. the problem is just that he basically says the same thing over and over…it gets very repetitive after a while, with very little plot to break it up. i mean literally he’s just kinda walking around nyc, having thoughts and occasional conversation. i can appreciate a good plotless book but it’s not completely well executed here.
i think huge fans of this book are often young (or read the book young, which is common bcs this is typical school-assigned reading.) this is a problem bcs holden’s worldview is…naïve, annoying, sometimes problematic. paradoxically, i both wish i read this when i was younger, and feel glad that i didn’t. i would’ve enjoyed this much more had i been younger and more able to relate to holden. but that would mean id have understood the work less—to truly relate to holden would mean looking past his unreliable narration and distorted way of viewing things. maybe this is a book best read when young, then reread a few years later? idk.
all of this to say: i think there’s a lot about this that works, which is what earns it a 3 star rating for me. i’m just also not the biggest fan. honestly, even if i ignored my genuine critiques of this…the main issue is simply that was bored, and that’s enough
i think huge fans of this book are often young (or read the book young, which is common bcs this is typical school-assigned reading.) this is a problem bcs holden’s worldview is…naïve, annoying, sometimes problematic. paradoxically, i both wish i read this when i was younger, and feel glad that i didn’t. i would’ve enjoyed this much more had i been younger and more able to relate to holden. but that would mean id have understood the work less—to truly relate to holden would mean looking past his unreliable narration and distorted way of viewing things. maybe this is a book best read when young, then reread a few years later? idk.
all of this to say: i think there’s a lot about this that works, which is what earns it a 3 star rating for me. i’m just also not the biggest fan. honestly, even if i ignored my genuine critiques of this…the main issue is simply that was bored, and that’s enough
adventurous
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-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
adventurous
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
i just dont really get this i think. this is just a teenage boys angst phase with small nuances that i did pick up on. nothing extraordinary. a nice fairly quick read with the non-formal writing style
challenging
emotional
reflective
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
The Catcher in the Rye is a book by J. D. Salinger which centers around themes of growing up, responsibility and coming of age. The main character, Holden, is an adolescent boy who is going through the struggles of growing up. The book includes conflicts of person vs. person, person vs. society and most importantly, person vs. self.
People usually misunderstand Holden's character and act like he's a bad person who doesn't care about anything but himself. While that is partly true, what they don't understand is that Holden isn't supposed to be liked. He isn't supposed to be this "good protagonist" that should be looked up to. He's just a boy trying to figure out who he is, after being subjected to the cruelties of life. He's a boy recovering from his molestation and he's just only starting to realise the meaning of responsibility.
He's not liked by people and he shouldn't be. He's not a good person. But he isn't an inheretly bad person either. He's just a boy, akin to Phaeton, dare I say, trying to take the reins of life into his hands, flailing his hands around aimlessly, trying to understand how it works.
People usually misunderstand Holden's character and act like he's a bad person who doesn't care about anything but himself. While that is partly true, what they don't understand is that Holden isn't supposed to be liked. He isn't supposed to be this "good protagonist" that should be looked up to. He's just a boy trying to figure out who he is, after being subjected to the cruelties of life. He's a boy recovering from his molestation and he's just only starting to realise the meaning of responsibility.
He's not liked by people and he shouldn't be. He's not a good person. But he isn't an inheretly bad person either. He's just a boy, akin to Phaeton, dare I say, trying to take the reins of life into his hands, flailing his hands around aimlessly, trying to understand how it works.
I know for some people this is their favorite book and they can reread it all the time, but oh my goodness! This book was definitely not what I thought it would be. I did not like it at all. However, I'm glad I read it and was able to experience a "classic."