# Catcher In The Rye



## TrackStar11 (Oct 7, 2007)

What do you guys think of Catcher In The Rye? I read it once in high school but I did not really get into it. But I read it again in the summer and I loved it.


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## donteatpoop (Oct 16, 2007)

The book is nothing short of brilliant. It takes a while for it to sink in for most people, and it gets better everytime you read it. The lack of appeal it has for most people has to do with the "OK, when is something going to happen" mindset. But the characterization is fantastic, and the whole time you come to realize that the protagonistic is really messed up in the head.

Haven't read it for a few years, I really should break that out.


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## TrackStar11 (Oct 16, 2007)

Yea, it did take me a while for the book to really sink in and realize that Holden was truly messed up with all the events that happened to him in his life.


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## Buddy Glass (Oct 17, 2007)

Salinger's _The Catcher in the Rye_ is quite possibly the most abused and misunderstood piece of literature in history. Possibly.

Everytime someone publishes a novel that deals with adolescence it is compared - wrongfully - to Salinger's masterpiece. There is no novel that I know of that truly deserves comparison to _Catcher_ in that respect.

Despite popular opinion, _Catcher_ is not the teenage rebel's bible or the emo-kid's handbook. It is a formidable novel about a troubled, emotionally and psychologically unstable adolescent sadly and bravely, as Yates would have had it, at war with the world around him. He is lonely, lost, contradictory, confused and complex. The first-person narrative is deceptive; beneath it lies a subtle nuance and human compassion. Holden is repulsed by the superficiality and hypocrisy of the adult world into which he is, clumsily and reluctantly, entering.

Most criticism of the novel is based on the cult it has spawned, or rather, the cult that certain readers have created - Mr. Salinger is not to be held responsible. He simply wrote a complex, moving and enduring masterpiece, and if one is able to simply look past the conspiracy theories and the bullshit, you'll see that _The Catcher in the Rye_ is nothing short of being one of the greatest novels of the 20th Century.


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## Delvok (Nov 9, 2007)

Personally, I loved it.

I think the point where I really "got" the book was when Holden was explaining how he wanted to be the catcher in the rye, catching the children before they could get hurt. It really gave me persepctive because he takes up this front against the world for most of the novel and in this one moment, if only for a moment, he tears it all down and becomes fragile as he talks about guarding the children against the taint of the world.

Wonderful.


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## Lote-Tree (Nov 10, 2007)

One of the boring-est book I ever read...


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## Mike C (Nov 12, 2007)

Lote-Tree said:


> One of the boring-est book I ever read...



That's what all the stupid people say.

What you probably meant to say - assuming you're anything more than semi-literate - is that it's one of the most boring books you've ever read. But then again, if you read one of the most influential books of the 20th century and all you came away with is 'boring', the fault is with you, not the book. It's ok to dislike it. It's even ok to hate it, but for your sole judgement to be 'boring' suggests that maybe it just didn't have enough pretty pictures for you.


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## Lote-Tree (Nov 12, 2007)

Mike C said:


> That's what all the stupid people say.


 
The Book is boring. Calling readers stupid will not making it anymore interesting ;-)


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## Mike C (Nov 12, 2007)

Buddy Glass said:


> Everytime someone publishes a novel that deals with adolescence it is compared - wrongfully - to Salinger's masterpiece. There is no novel that I know of that truly deserves comparison to _Catcher_ in that respect.



Closest I've come across is Vernon God Little by DB Pierre. It's the satiric version for the Ipod generation. And very, very funny.


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## Dr. Malone (Nov 16, 2007)

Yeah, this novel is kick ass.
I like when the hooker and the elevator man take his money, the exact amount owed and no more.  And it's great he won't fuck the whore.  Almost a painful scene to read.
His self confidence rivaling his doubt throughout the novel is wonderful.


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## For me with Squalor (Jan 21, 2008)

"Like fun you are"

One of the most original sentences, love it. Me and my friend got into saying that. (From the hooker scene when she asks how old he is and he lies that he's 22 I think. Her reply is something that not only the reader but Holden himself mulls over for a while.)
Salinger misunderstood genius!


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## cowpops (Feb 10, 2008)

I LOVED the book.  It's probably one of my favorites.  It was boring for a grand total of 5 pages.  But it was still good writing.  The book is brilliant, and I love the wit.

<3


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## Damian_Rucci (Feb 13, 2008)

I never read it. I recently read Shoeless Joe in school so I want to read Catcher in the Rye now. My teacher always talks about it


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## wren (Mar 4, 2008)

At the risk of being unpopular I didn't find it that great.  The characterisation is really good, but there still has to be some reason why you want to know about this character and I didn't really get that.  It didn't help that I found the main character's personality actually quite annoying.  I also didn't get why such a thing has grown up around it where it's linked to lone gunmen - but then that may be because I'm british and we don't do this book in school at all.


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## SevenWritez (Mar 27, 2008)

I have five favorite novels. They are, in no particular order:

Number9Dream
Drown
The Beach
The Wind Up Bird Chronicle
And, due to reading it just two weeks ago, last but not least, The Catcher in the Rye

I work at the library in my highschool during sixth period (Fuck study hall, I rather sit in a plush swirly chair), and happened across this book while sorting through some shelves. Due to being in the Honors/Ap English convoy, I was never introduced to the book through class, and heard nothing but loathing when it was spoken of by people I knew. Anyways, I picked it up, gave it a skim, and fell in love. Finished it the next day during Chemistry class. I read up on the impact the novel had with critics, and how Salinger retreated into hiding due to all the publicity. I wish he had written a few more novels. I know he has a few more books, and I intend to read them once I finish up with the few books I'm going through now.


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## she who sleeps (Apr 14, 2008)

I picked it up when I was like, twelve. Mind you, I was a pretty precocious little reader, but I didn't much care for it. Didn't get the whole meaning, and it seemed like a pointless, rambling rant. (I was used to comprehensive and clear-cut and decipherable-plot-points writing at that point, like James Patterson and Stephen King). But now that I am fourteen and finally GET the purpose of the book, I think I'll tackle it again. I mean, there must be SOMETHING great about it for all these people to worship it so.


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## RebelGoddess (Apr 15, 2008)

There's a great thread about Catcher in the Rye in the "Books and Authors" forum.

Just FYI, in case you want to check out some more opinions : ).

Racheal


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## GoodmanBrown (Jul 16, 2008)

I love The Catcher in the Rye. It's likely the first piece of literature that I ever truly loved. Holden was someone I could identify with, and I just inhaled that novel, man. I read it at probably the perfect time, too. I see how it can be viewed as a long, rambling rant, but I could agree with it! It fascinated me at the time. If you don't get it, then you've probably never been in his position: appalled by the cruelty and complexity of the world. And that would be awkward, because I'm sure everyone has.


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## A. Mann (Dec 10, 2008)

Mike C said:


> (From the Catcher thread in Books & Authors) Holden was written as an unsympathetic character



I think this is where most of the confusion about this amazing book comes from. Holden is really one of the most sympathetic characters to be found in literature.

The common thread to much of Salinger's work is his struggle with one of the toughest concepts of Zen Buddhism. 

The goal of Buddhism is to totally rid yourself of ego. Of the 10 Precepts of Zen Buddhism #6 is to not discuss the faults of others, #7 is to not praise yourself while abusing others and #9 is to not indulge in anger.

If you have any hope at all of eliminating ego you just can't think of yourself as better than others. You can't love yourself or any one other more than you do the whole of mankind.

Almost every encounter Holden has with someone else, both those he likes and dislike, he's struggling with his image of them. Every phony has a silver lining and everybody he admires has a touch of phony in them. Even with Ackley, who he gives it to pretty hard, he concedes "That guy had just about everything. Sinus trouble, pimples, crumby fingernails. You had to feel a little sorry for the sonuvabitch." 

He uses kids, like Phoebe, Allie and others to represent innocence, a kind of pre-ego state, and his greatest desire is to protect this in them, save them from the phoniness.

In almost all of his work there is one character who has died, gone crazy or both in pursuit of this or some analogous religious goal and I don't think its a stretch to say this represents his own personal struggle with the idea particularly in contrast with his troubled youth and wartime experiences.

He could very easily have turned this into a moral tale with Holden finding success in therapy and accepting the phonies, a golden sunrise in the distance. It might have even made the point more clearly to many readers, but it wouldn't have been true to his own experience in this, and wouldn't have rang true to us. Sounds pretty putrid actually. And here's the rub, wouldn't claiming to have an answer in that way be ego? 

What I believe Salinger _hoped_ would happen is that this book would be difficult for us because we recognize the Holden in ourselves, _and_ that we/he is as big an asshole as anyone else in the book.

He addresses this much more directly in Franny & Zooey, as well as Semour: An Introduction. Catcher In The Rye is his most "Westernized" crack at it.


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## oxumoron (Dec 28, 2008)

Buddy Glass said:
			
		

> if one is able to simply look past the conspiracy theories and the bullshit, you'll see that _The Catcher in the Rye_ is nothing short of being one of the greatest novels of the 20th Century.


I read The Catcher in the Rye so many years ago. I don't remember it well. But please, will you specify what you mean by "the conspiracy theories"?


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## Squalid Glass (Aug 8, 2009)

A. Mann said:


> I think this is where most of the confusion about this amazing book comes from. Holden is really one of the most sympathetic characters to be found in literature.
> 
> The common thread to much of Salinger's work is his struggle with one of the toughest concepts of Zen Buddhism.
> 
> ...



everybody's a god damned phony. 


i think you're quite right. i mean, just read Teddy and it's like seeing Salinger's mind on paper arguing with itself. 

i, as sad and twisted as it is to say, can't wait till he dies. he probably has a whole library of finished and unfinished genius in his study, waiting to be released once he's gone.


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## panicnight26 (Aug 8, 2009)

My whole childhood was so awkward, and I never fit in because I was so different then everyone else, I wan't interested in sports like football and soccar, I was interested in things like art and music. I was a mediocre student, while everyone around me would freak out when they got a A- on something. I was so different that I was isolated and considered weird and I sort of stopped being social altogether. I got depressed, and even suicidal for few years during elementary school. I didn't connect with anyone, not even my parents. I couldn't talk to anyone about the way I felt. I hated the majority of everyone. They all just seemed to be so mean, so focused on being on top. When I saw a group of friends laughing over some stupid thing, just being "silly", it would anger me. When a guy would date a girl just to run up to his friends the next day and tell them about it, it would depress me. My life was absolute hell, I felt as if the world was created for everyone but me. But I felt as if I truly had a friend (I know that sounds stupid) when I read The Catcher in the Rye for the first time in ninth grade. Holden Caulfield just hit the nail right on the head. His conception of the world was so spot on; jackasses thrive to live happy and create more jackasses, while the good ones, the ones who don't pretend to be something they're not, are looked down upon and considered "punks". Holden was left to rot in a mental instution, after about two hundred and twenty pages of explanation of why he's the only sane person around. And the story was never sugarcoated. It didn't end with something dumb like Holden finally finding the perfect girl, or finally setting things right with school and his parents. No, it was a perfect portrait of reality; things don't end on a good note. The novel completely turned my world upside down. It made me stop feeling unsatisfied and dissapointed with the "innequities" of my life, and made me feel proud of them. Proud of being different, and proud of being "weird". It made me feel not like I was better than everyone, but that that everyone was just lost and I was the only person who truly knew where I was going. The Catcher in the Rye is the only book I can truly take seriously and not consider "just a book". It's more than that to me.


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## Dr. Malone (Aug 8, 2009)

> i, as sad and twisted as it is to say, can't wait till he dies. he probably has a whole library of finished and unfinished genius in his study, waiting to be released once he's gone.



Haha.  That's probably pretty close to the truth.

Did you see he came out of his recluse-cave to sue some guy for infringing on Catcher?  Someone wrote a sequel or a prequel or something and actually managed to get it published - all without Salinger's permission.


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## SevenWritez (Aug 11, 2009)

Dr. Malone said:


> Haha. That's probably pretty close to the truth.
> 
> Did you see he came out of his recluse-cave to sue some guy for infringing on Catcher? Someone wrote a sequel or a prequel or something and actually managed to get it published - all without Salinger's permission.


 

I'll personally off the fucker that banks on Catcher. They've already ass humped Jane Austen's corpse to death; no one is touching Holden/Salinger. 

I agree with the post before mine saying that, despite the morbidness of it, I can't wait for Salinger's death. I love all of his work.


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## Squalid Glass (Aug 12, 2009)

Dr. Malone said:


> Haha.  That's probably pretty close to the truth.
> 
> Did you see he came out of his recluse-cave to sue some guy for infringing on Catcher?  Someone wrote a sequel or a prequel or something and actually managed to get it published - all without Salinger's permission.



I did. And Colbert did quite an extraordinary report on the fiasco, parodying all of Salinger's work. My favorite Colbert moment.


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## Dr. Malone (Aug 13, 2009)

> And Colbert did quite an extraordinary report on the fiasco, parodying all of Salinger's work. My favorite Colbert moment.



Haha.  That's actually where I heard the story in the first place.  Good ol' Colbert.


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## KarenJoslin (Aug 24, 2009)

I guess Norwegians (or Swedes?) aren't up on U.S. copyright law.  If you're going to write a derivative work, you better make damn sure the original author has been dead for more than 70 years!


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## blackthorn (Aug 28, 2009)

I thought that the book was good but boring. Sorry, it just felt a bit dry to me


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## Mr. Madeleine (Nov 11, 2009)

Some schools seem to be gifted in getting students disgusted with good books, and that includes _Catcher in the Rye_. I've read it lately and though it's not my idea of great literature, I have enjoyed it. Books read at school should be read again a decade later, I think.


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## Hawk (Dec 14, 2009)

This book is amazing.  Another book that was assigned to me in 10th grade, and I read it in a week.  I love the story; I was also one of the only kids in that class that actually got the true meaning of the book, instead of just sitting there and crying about reading something.


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## caellachgregor (Jan 18, 2010)

I read the book my freshman year of high school, which may not be the best time to read anything with true depth to it. And while I will admit that the writing is masterful, I came away from that book hating it--not because I thought the story was badly written or poorly characterized, but because it underlined everything with a sense of paranoia and phoniness. Salinger accomplished what he was trying to do with it, I think, but it will probably remain as the only book I've ever hated.  On the other hand, I had to read the book _Henderson the Rain King_ at the same time and I loved that book. Surprisingly (or not, as the case may be), the rest of my class hated that book and loved _Catcher in the Rye._  Somehow, _Henderson the Rain King_ just seemed to jive better with me.


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## Senserial (Aug 21, 2013)

One of my favourite classic books that I re-read.


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## philistine (Aug 21, 2013)

It was pretty good.


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## Burroughs (Jan 5, 2015)

I first read the book a few years ago, it's fantastic. I think it is the quickest I have ever read a book. The whole novel just seemed to flow from one page to another.


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## Deafmute (Jan 5, 2015)

never heard of it...


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## Jenwales (May 14, 2015)

Been thinking of read it but thought it would be a miserable depressing book. Might read it next. Can't believe you haven't heard of it, maybe it's outside your genre.


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## cinderblock (May 21, 2015)

Mike C said:


> That's what all the stupid people say.
> 
> What you probably meant to say - assuming you're anything more than semi-literate - is that it's one of the most boring books you've ever read. But then again, if you read one of the most influential books of the 20th century and all you came away with is 'boring', the fault is with you, not the book. It's ok to dislike it. It's even ok to hate it, but for your sole judgement to be 'boring' suggests that maybe it just didn't have enough pretty pictures for you.



Geezus, really? You're gonna insult someone's intelligence on an internet forum on the basis of how they expressed themselves? 

I am appalled nobody is standing up for Lote-Tree. Utterly dumbfounded.


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## Terry D (May 21, 2015)

cinderblock said:


> Geezus, really? You're gonna insult someone's intelligence on an internet forum on the basis of how they expressed themselves?
> 
> I am appalled nobody is standing up for Lote-Tree. Utterly dumbfounded.



The conversation you quoted is 8 years old. The members involved have long since departed these forums.


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## Kevin (May 21, 2015)

^^^ geez... that was a long time ago... ages, by wf standards. All those virtuals are virtually 'dead' as in not around anymore. That post is a relic of dark ages which ended years ago, and since (or marking) we've had successive regimes, the latest quite benevolent, yet protective. That little triangle with the exclamation icon at the bottom of each post would these days, be hit immediately and appropriate action taken.    sorry if anyone (still around) from then reads this but I mean in general, they're all gone. Only the nice ones remain. *smootch*


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## J Anfinson (May 21, 2015)

The moderation standard in those days was quite poor. Personal attacks don't fly these days.


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## passtheremote (Jun 12, 2015)

First time I read this book I really didn't see what the whole hype was. A few years later I re-read it and actually enjoyed it, I think its one of them books that you can read multi times, and still find something new in it. 

We can all but dream to write something as good as that


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## dither (Jun 14, 2015)

Wow!
What a thread.
I might just put this one on my "must read list".
As if i ever had a "must read list".

Shall look into this one, and dither, probably.


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## pink lemonade (Jul 3, 2015)

This is my favorite book of all time, and still very relevant today.  Words can't describe.  I sometimes feel like Holden Caulfield (not nearly the same though).


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## Phil Istine (Jul 3, 2015)

I suppose I will have to get around to reading it sometime - in an ever lengthening list of books to read.  Of course I have heard of it but have no idea what it's about.
I'm a late starter.


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## dither (Jul 4, 2015)

Well, i got the book from my local library, am about halfway through and really enjoying it. The subject-matter might not be to every-one's taste but his writing is awesome.

I'm at chapter 23 and it just hit home bigtime.

Strange ending, and then, maybe not so strange.
Might just give it a second reading.


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## Mesafalcon (Sep 28, 2015)

I should re-read Catcher. Although I have no time to even finish books I am half way through.

*Sigh*


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