Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Matter of Love and Hate , 28 Dec 2008
Twelve years ago, my history teacher in High School sang the praises of a book that, in his own words, every adolescent should read at some point.Three days ago, and twelve years later,Santa finally did what I hadn't in all those years,and brought me a copy of The Catcher in the Rye.
I read it in a couple of nights. The first night I felt like someone I had thought my friend had let me down in some way. I started to suspect that it might be the typical overrated classic.The boy starts a story from some place he's confined in, but he doesn't elaborate. He then starts the telling of what happened last Christmas, which eventually led to his being where he is. As much as I tried, I could find nothing especial there, just the boy and his school mates and troubles and the crazy decision of flee to avoid parental confrotation and an immature teen with a lot ot maturing to do. He most probably would end up doing something stupid and being caught and all. Perhaps it was too late. Perhaps I was too late, and should have read it just when Mr. Montejo told me to.
Yesterday night, I picked the book again. Sadly, more out of the respect I had been brewing for the last years than out of real interest, but I picked it anyway. And then IT happened.
At some point of Holden's account,everything just clicks. Where he was, why he was there, what was going on with him. So I had to read other's thoughts about this amazing character.
I wasn't really surprised at the bunch of negative reviews, and neither I was at the bunch which considered it a masterpiece. What really surprised me is that many of them, good or bad, seemed to miss something that to me was crucial to the story: that Holden is not the teenager boy going through the difficult task of coming of age and doing stupid things and leaving the innocence of childhood behind, as I had previously suspected and feared. But that his problem, his real problem, is deeper and more dangerous than that. That he is tired of everything and everyone, in serious need of help, immersed in a serious depression, inestable and anguished to a dangerous extreme.
When he first mentions his brother Allie's death of leukemia when he was 13, or how he broke all the widow glasses of their garage afterwards,he does it in an almost eerily casual manner. But later you realise that perhaps that day was the day Holden Caulfield started his race toward the very same precipice he wants to save those children of his dreams from. Unfortunately, as he says, there's no one big around to catch him.
It's not that this book leads to violent acts or has the power of perturbing minds. More like perturbed minds recognise what's really going on with Holden. That he's not only coming-of-age, but he's coming of age immersed in a depression no one seems to see or care about. When his sister confronts him, he ends up crying and clinging on to her like she's the only thing that can save him. Perhaps she is, and she literally saved him without knowing it.
Perhaps I'm in the minority, but as caustic and sad Holden's thoughts are, I don't feel his story is pessimist, but rather the tale of a catharsis that was both necessary AND urgent for him. He is conscious of many things about the world, but also about himself, contrary to many opinions I've read. And he has a good heart, and not an agressive nature. It can end well.
I wholeheartedly recommend this book, but with some warnings. If you need things happening all the time to feel there's something going on, this is not your book. If you expect a coming-of-age narrative, you won't like it either. If you are looking for different tones in the voice, you'll be dissapointed and find it lineal. And if you are an adolescent, I can't tell. You might or might not like it; you might or might not feel it.
As for me, I'm truly thankful for not having read this book when I was Holden's age. I wouldn't have liked it, and so I would have missed this amazing feeling I'm having today. The feeling of having been touched by something. It doesn't happens often, nowadays.
My apologies for the rant! :D
- BeLa
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23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Five Stars Because I can, 25 Jan 2009
For anyone interested in the 1950s New York that no longer exists, along with the youth of that era, the angst, the coming-of-age story, and the totaly uniqueness of a novel that has captivated an audience for decades, might I recommend this small but powerful and still somewhat new novel. New in the respect that it touches on the fragility of youth, the uncertainity of the world, and how lost a young man can feel, especially in a large city such as New York. This is not a complicated book, but underlying the "facility" is a deeper meaning to life; a searching for something, and ultimately this is what Salinger put into print and the reason it has stood the test of time. Few now are not familiar with Holden Caulfield and his journey through the land of teenage angst, but most will want to re-read this book at a later point in life. It is easy to label Holden now--manic depressive, bi-polar, depressed, or just messed-up teenager, but who at that age does not already have baggage? What I think most will find interesting is that, when reading this book as a teenager, you will obviously see things through Holden's eyes. Reading the book as an adult you will seen both sides of the story and this makes for an even more powerful read. Read it on any level you want, but just read it. Along with "Catch 22," "Me Talk Pretty One Day," and "Barring Some Unforeseen Accident," this is a keeper that you'll want to revisit over and over. A knock-out American classic for all ages.
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24 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Certain things they should stay the way they are. You ought to be able to stick them in one of those big glass cases...", 24 Jul 2007
This is a book that will disappoint you if you read it for its fame and controversy. You will be disappointed because you will find that there is only a loose plot (in fact the whole story takes place in about two days), and very little actually happens within it. Catcher in the Rye is not so much a story as a character portrayal - a snapshot in the life of Holden Caulfield as he gets expelled from school.
However, if you appreciate the book for what it is, then you'll find it is very likable. Contrary to some of the other reviewers I do not think that it is depressing or full of rage, or even cynical. It just describes a frame of mind that we've all had a couple of days in our lives. Holden is critical but no better than the people he criticises; angry but unwilling to do harm; seemingly hateful but appreciative of the people he dislikes.
Mostly he is just a child coming to terms with being an adolescent - and it is hard not to sympathise with him and his story.
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