The Catcher in the Rye

The First Joke

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I was just wondering if any of you have read The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. I read it a few months ago, and I loved it. Has anyone else read the book? Loved it? Hated it? I thought this would be an interesting book to discuss.
 
I read The Catcher In Ther Rye last year in school. :)
I thought it was okay but it's not something I would pick to read on my own.
really? i loved it. i picked it up because it was cheap. i think the voice of the story is really honest and ahead of it's time. yeah, there is a lot of grown-up stuff in there, but isn't that how life is for some people? j.d. salinger did a good job of capturing it.
 
Wow, The Catcher in the Rye is one of my favourite books of all time!! I read it about 8 years ago over a period of about 24 hours and I was absolutely blown away.

Grace, if I told you the plot you probably wouldn't be interested, but all I can say is that it is an intellectual and psychological whirlwind-a book roughly about loss of innocence, social problems ("phoniness" especially), and alienation told through the eyes of Holden Caulfield a cynical, sarcastic, and emotionally strung out high school student. I should mention though, that there is prolific swearing throughout the book, so if you find that offensive, you may not want to pick it up at this time. But the ideas and insights in the book really resonate with me on many levels.

Almost as interesting and intriguing as the book itself is the author. Salinger is one of the most reclusive men I have ever heard of. He pretty much abhors fame and attention. There have also been numerous attempts to bring his book to the cinema (including by Steven Spielberg) but he has always vehemently refused. He also hasn't published anything in many many years, but is said to have worked on numerous short stories and at least a couple of novels which will most likely be released upon his death. Furthermore, he is intensely spiritual and has bounced around from so many different religious fads (and cults) in his earlier life, but not much has been known about him recently because he remains in seclusion. (You can check out the wikipedia article if you're interested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J.D._Salinger. It's extremely well documented.)
 
Oops! For some reason I was thinking we were talking about To Kill a Mockingbird :eek: (they both have 6 slyllables in the title; give me a break).
So yeah! I love The Catcher in the Rye! When we read it in school though, I was one of the few that did. Most people didn't like Holden, but I think he's great. :rolleyes:
 
it was so good. so was to kill a mockingbird... but to each her own... there is a ton of swearing but the story is that this kid gets kicked out of school and takes off for new york and does a lot of crazy things and the whole book takes place in only a couple of days...
 
Catcher in the Rye is a fabulous book, but to truly understand it, you think, you would have had to grown up in the era in which Holden is writing, which is 1950's if I am not mistaken. The morality and mindset of those days if very much needed in order to understand Holden's angst, to my mind. The same is true to some extent, I think, of Salinger's other terrific novel, Franny and Zooey.

Holden's problem is his inability to grow up, don't you think? He is reluctant to face adulthood, and while he is onthe verge of it -- isn't he a jr or sr in high school? He will continually cling to the things he sees as reminiscent of the purity or "un-phoniness" of childhood. He has equated childhod with guilelessness, which isn't necessarily so to begin with, and so he clings to it -- his brother Ally who died as a child remains his hero, because Ally never grew old enough to turn phony ... but what would Holden have felt about him if he had grown up? Once Ally got old enough to lie or act artificial, would the golden dream in which Holden wrapped him have been ruptured? What will he feel toward his beloved little sister when she grows up?

holden has problems ...
 
Catcher in the Rye is a fabulous book, but to truly understand it, you think, you would have had to grown up in the era in which Holden is writing, which is 1950's if I am not mistaken. The morality and mindset of those days if very much needed in order to understand Holden's angst, to my mind. The same is true to some extent, I think, of Salinger's other terrific novel, Franny and Zooey.

Holden's problem is his inability to grow up, don't you think? He is reluctant to face adulthood, and while he is onthe verge of it -- isn't he a jr or sr in high school? He will continually cling to the things he sees as reminiscent of the purity or "un-phoniness" of childhood. He has equated childhod with guilelessness, which isn't necessarily so to begin with, and so he clings to it -- his brother Ally who died as a child remains his hero, because Ally never grew old enough to turn phony ... but what would Holden have felt about him if he had grown up? Once Ally got old enough to lie or act artificial, would the golden dream in which Holden wrapped him have been ruptured? What will he feel toward his beloved little sister when she grows up?

holden has problems ...
the book was first published in 1947, i think and holden was a junior. fantastic book. gotta love phoebe... and sunny, too.
 
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