Review by yomanyomama - The Catcher in the Rye

yomanyomama 's review for:

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

4.0

adventurous challenging emotional funny informative inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Oh. My. Goodness. I’m someone who did not read this for school and I was honestly so suprised when everyone said they didn’t like it and thought holden was evil and annoying. He’s a TEENAGER. He is nowhere near evil, and I didn’t find him annoying at all, I found him insightful. And anyways, he wasn’t going off telling everyone they sucked, he just felt it. He feels that many people in the world are fake, along with many things, and that there will always be something keeping you from reaching full happiness in this life. Always an annoyance or variable to some extent and he struggles to make peace with that reality, and that just because a part of something or someone is bad, doesn’t mean you should ignore all of the good. VIDEO ESSAY ON THIS BOOK AS A WHOLE IN THE WORKS😄. He feels betrayed and misunderstood, while also subconsciously falling trap into the phoniness of the world, exhibited in his constant white lies. His sister resembles innocence and that brings him joy to a time of little cares and genuineness all around. I relate to Holden deeply. This book might not have a diverse cast racially, but it does have characters with tons of personality and quirks. So many things happened in such a little amount of time. And they weren’t unrealistic things, which I liked because just because something isn’t stereotypically high stakes or exciting doesn’t mean it’s not extremely entertaining or brilliant. The conversations and insights themselves really kept me reading. The plot isn’t crazy (it didn’t need to be because of the characters themselves drives the story impeccably just by simply existing even) and it was very funny at times. If their ever were to be a movie, I think Greta Gerwig and Wes Anderson should work on it together. I know, I know, they’re popular, but I really think they would be the ones to make it pop. But as much as I would enjoy a movie, I don’t think it would be true to the book if there was one, especially since Holden hated films. However, I do still think that if done correctly it could be brilliant. The whole point at the end of the book is that he seems to not think everything too phony anymore. He’s very much a teenager, impulsive too. But not evil, and actually a very good and intelligent person. Would recommend. Anways, he clearly has some favorite words. This kid curses every two seconds, even if light 💀. I also thought his last name reminded me of cauliflower. Holden Caulfield, you have issues and rightfully so, but your future is bright. OH MY GOODNESS WHY ARE SO MANY CONTENT WARNINGS IN THIS BOOK 😭😭.

Content Warnings