Title of Book: the Catcher in the RyeAuthor: J.D. Salinger
# of Pages: 277
Star Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Why This Book has Value:
Holden Caulfield is in his final week at Pencey Prep, a boarding school that he has failed out of. It turns out Holden has been kicked out of several schools; he just doesn’t seem to do his work (that's not to say that he couldn’t do the work). The Catcher in the Rye, a novel by J.D. Salinger, is written in the first person with Holden explaining events in his recent past when he was 16 years old. Written in a very casual style, it is filled with Holden’s thoughts which digress from one point to the next through a meandering progression filled with common phrases such as “anyway,” “then all of a sudden,” and frequent use of the word “goddam.” Holden smokes cigarette after cigarette as he thinks about the people he knows and casts negative judgement on many of them. He doesn’t like people that are phonies, but he admits he is a compulsive liar. He drinks every chance he gets. The book follows Holden through his last day at Pencey and a short stay in New York while he hides out from telling his parents that he once again was kicked out of school.
Why is Holden so troubled? For one, his little brother Allie has died. This death occurred three years before in 1946, and Holden glorifies the person that Allie was; “he was the most intelligent member in the family. He was also the nicest, in lots of ways. He never got mad at anybody” (p.50). Dealing with death, especially the death of a brother or sister, has got to be really tough, and knowing that Holden was struggling this helped me to understand why he acted the way he did. This type of mourning is a universal human experience that many people can relate to, no matter what time period the book is written in.
He also saw another death, that of a boy named James Castle at a prior boarding school. James jumped out a window wearing Holden’s turtleneck because he was being abusively bullied. This book was set in 1949, but bullying and suicide are real world issues that are just as common, maybe even more common, in our world today. Holden doesn’t like peer pressure and bullies, and it comes up more than once in the novel; “they had this goddam secret fraternity that I was too yellow not to join. There was this one pimply, boring guy, Robert Ackley, that wanted to get in. He kept trying to join, and they wouldn’t let him. Just because he was boring and pimply” (p. 217-218). Holden’s thoughts and reactions to the bullying could be those of a current 16 year old today, and reading Holden’s chain of thoughts surrounding those issues could help someone to deal with similar issues in their own life.
Holden knows he’s depressed, saying versions of “I guess it was because I was feeling so damn depressed and lonesome” throughout the book. Teenage depression and alienation is also a common problem in our world today. Holden shows signs of someone who is seriously depressed and may need help, and his depression is probably why he cannot succeed in school. He also abuses alcohol and cigarettes, and does some pretty risky things, all of which are signs of someone needing help. Those who are struggling with depression and alienation may find a connection to Holden that helps them deal with their own issues.
The style The Catcher in the Rye was written in was offensive to many people because of the profanity and sexual references throughout the book. It has stayed on the list of most banned books for decades because of this abrasive style. There have been other books written about teenagers since then that have lots of profanity or much more intense sexual references, but this book was the first of its kind. After reading through the book, though, it isn’t classified as a classic book just because of OR in spite of its edgy style. It is a well written book with a complex character that we readers get to know in a very in-depth sort of way.
Why is Holden so troubled? For one, his little brother Allie has died. This death occurred three years before in 1946, and Holden glorifies the person that Allie was; “he was the most intelligent member in the family. He was also the nicest, in lots of ways. He never got mad at anybody” (p.50). Dealing with death, especially the death of a brother or sister, has got to be really tough, and knowing that Holden was struggling this helped me to understand why he acted the way he did. This type of mourning is a universal human experience that many people can relate to, no matter what time period the book is written in.
He also saw another death, that of a boy named James Castle at a prior boarding school. James jumped out a window wearing Holden’s turtleneck because he was being abusively bullied. This book was set in 1949, but bullying and suicide are real world issues that are just as common, maybe even more common, in our world today. Holden doesn’t like peer pressure and bullies, and it comes up more than once in the novel; “they had this goddam secret fraternity that I was too yellow not to join. There was this one pimply, boring guy, Robert Ackley, that wanted to get in. He kept trying to join, and they wouldn’t let him. Just because he was boring and pimply” (p. 217-218). Holden’s thoughts and reactions to the bullying could be those of a current 16 year old today, and reading Holden’s chain of thoughts surrounding those issues could help someone to deal with similar issues in their own life.
Holden knows he’s depressed, saying versions of “I guess it was because I was feeling so damn depressed and lonesome” throughout the book. Teenage depression and alienation is also a common problem in our world today. Holden shows signs of someone who is seriously depressed and may need help, and his depression is probably why he cannot succeed in school. He also abuses alcohol and cigarettes, and does some pretty risky things, all of which are signs of someone needing help. Those who are struggling with depression and alienation may find a connection to Holden that helps them deal with their own issues.
The style The Catcher in the Rye was written in was offensive to many people because of the profanity and sexual references throughout the book. It has stayed on the list of most banned books for decades because of this abrasive style. There have been other books written about teenagers since then that have lots of profanity or much more intense sexual references, but this book was the first of its kind. After reading through the book, though, it isn’t classified as a classic book just because of OR in spite of its edgy style. It is a well written book with a complex character that we readers get to know in a very in-depth sort of way.
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