Catcher Rye review summary

The Catcher in the Rye:

Since his debut in 1951 as The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield has been synonymous with "cynical adolescent." Holden narrates the story of a couple of days in his sixteen-year-old life, just after he's been expelled from prep school, in a slang that sounds edgy even today and keeps this novel on banned book lists. It begins, "If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth. In the first place, that stuff bores me, and in the second place, my parents would have about two hemorrhages apiece if I told anything pretty personal about them." His constant wry observations about what he encounters, from teachers to phonies (the two of course are not mutually exclusive) capture the essence of the eternal teenage experience of alienation.

Price: $13.99
Published by Back Bay Books on 2001-01-30.

Average rating (2754 reviews):

Rating: 8.0

Recent reviews:

Reviewed by anonymous on 2008-06-30: I first read this book in the 9th grade. Hated the character so much I only got half way through the book and just BSed my way through the class. However, since it was a "classic" I decided I should pick (read more ...)
Rating: 2.0

Reviewed by anonymous on 2008-06-27: Like another reviewer said, I finally read this book because it's referred to often in other literature and movies. It really started to get on my nerves around chapter 3. I only kept reading because I wanted to give the book (read more ...)
Rating: 4.0

Reviewed by anonymous on 2008-06-26: I first read this novel in 6th grade. I was enthralled then, and I've read it three times since, all at different periods of my life. I still love it. Holden is a character who faces a conflict that many of (read more ...)
Rating: 10.0

Reviewed by anonymous on 2008-06-23: Holden Caufield is possibly my favorite fictional character. Or should I say, he's the one I could most relate to. If you've ever been depressed and lonely, you can relate to Holden. If you're cynical, you can relate to Holden. Some (read more ...)
Rating: 10.0

Reviewed by anonymous on 2008-06-20: if u want to read a huge knock off of "The Catcher In The Rye", then read "King Dork" by Frank Portman. Its really funny if you have read this book. (read more ...)
Rating: 4.0