The Catcher in the Rye Hardcover – July 16, 1951

"Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around - nobody big, I mean - except me. And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff (...)"J. D. Salinger is an American novelist and best known for this very book, The Catcher in the Rye, which is considered a classic of USA's literature, being in Times list of 100 best books since 1923.This book tells a rather uninteresting story of this sixteen-year-old character Holden Caulfield and his wanders through New York for a couple days, after his expulsion from his boarding school, exposing the real face of teenager's life, in which the main character is also the narrator. What is perhaps more interesting is that he has such a depressed and lonely way of life that it is almost impossible not to have anything in common with this global character, who is supposed to represent the transition from childhood to adult life.When I started reading this book, I found out that I was addicted to it, even though it had no plot at all. It really doesn't, it's just a dude telling about his life. But it is Holden who you are actually reading. I have never read, in my whole life, such a descriptive and well-developed character. You actually feel that you are reading a teenager's book who has failed in about four schools, not an intellectual like J. D. Salinger. That's probably why the book is so addictive: it's a clean and straightforward writing, which makes it feel real, a very real account. I do have a lot against writers and philosophers who are claimed to be wonderful and swell, but they can't write clearly such as Salinger does. This book may be read by anyone - in fact, it is aimed to teenagers and I do recommend them to read - and anyone who reads this book will understand what it is talking about. Some of them may not like, but they will surely get the least of it.Holden Caulfield is this teenager that wanders around New York and lives a very teenager life - don't forget this book was written in the 50's - and finds himself in the transition from child to adulthood; facing problems like an adult - and that's probably why Salinger set him alone in NY - but still with a mind of a kid. While he tries to evolve, starts to find out that everybody looks fake and lousy, but he turns out to be a complete hypocrite, which is probably the main purpose of the book.The title deserves five stars just for itself. Although you read the book until about the middle without getting where the author is trying to get you to, when Holden hears a little boy singing this song about a catcher in the rye - which he actually misspelled -, everything starts making sense. Holden flies through the book trying to find a shoulder to lean on, someone that will hold him while he's passing through his puberty, sexual life and depressing times of adolescence; and that's what he searches, even unaware of what's actually happening.While he's not getting anything that's valuable from his current relationships - which are represented by his Pencey school and his friends in there -, he goes way back to the innocence of childhood and brings back his old memories and relationships in attempt to survive the hard times that is entering the adulthood. But when he actually gets to those memories, he is not a kid anymore and his mind has changed. In this quest of finding "a catcher in the rye", Holden even unburies his dead brother Allie and contacts people who are still in their innocent times - such as his sister - and people who are really in the adulthood, like his old teachers.This transition is easily seen in every sense. From trying to drink being a minor to a massive change of his views on the world, contrasted by what he remembered things to be and what they really are right now. I highly recommend this book to anyone. This is surely one of the best - if not the best - novels I have ever read in my entire life. Although aimed to teenagers, this story is surely universal.100/100

Great book always a top read. Don’t know how many times I have read it.

Picking up a book from over seventy years ago, you would assume it is pretty difficult. Instead, the book put a strong emphasis on the slang of the time and depicted the characters in a straightforward manner. The main character had interesting perspectives that enriched the story and I enjoyed it overall.

Re-reading the classics and this remains a poignant view of the space between being a child and an adult, and pushing against the norms of society

I'm not really quite sure what all the fuss is about this book...I certainly found the narrative engaging, and I really enjoyed the authenticity with which Holden seemed to speak and express himself, but, while I identified with much of the way he felt and (re)acted, and the internal monologues were simply dead-on perfect, I never really connected with anything until I was nearly 90% finished. Perhaps had I read this when I was younger it would have affected me more, but now, as I try to find or create a connection, I'm just left... Well. I'm just left.It was Mr. Antolini's note to Holden that finally grabbed my attention."It is the mark of an immature man that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while it is the mark of a mature man that he wants to live humbly for one."I was told I was too immature recently, and it just killed me. "Boy, it really did."I tried to figure it out and tried to understand how I gave that off. Without truly knowing what I was doing, I think I realized that I had given up on the option of living humbly (or living at all) for any cause at all long ago. Whether it be something, someone, or just myself. At some point I was finally able to see something in front of me and felt like I understood what it was to live for something. Not just, as I've often thought in the past, to be the catcher in the rye for anyone who strayed too close to the edge but to be the catcher for a specific reason... and to equally allow the possibility that I also, at times, might need a catcher myself. I wish I had the gift of speech and introspection such that I could have so succinctly put my thoughts, feelings, and actions into words.This epiphany... or at least the motivation for it... evaporated quite quickly, and I, missing the point, fell back into searching for something for which I could nobly die.To see Holden cry for and over his little sister for whom he obviously held a great respect and had the utmost love, come to the conclusion that he should not tell anyone anything was quite rather depressing. I waver, but is it worse to live in fear of missing someone and, therefore, remain isolated or is it worse to allow yourself to catch and be caught and, inevitably, miss those who caught you and are now gone? Did he "really like" people who were dead precisely because the only thing left to do was miss them? Knowing there was no hope of actually being open with those that he'd lost and, therefore, no risk in missing them more seems like the perfect depressing escape. One with which, in the past, I likely would have agreed completely. I still struggle with that question today, and I honestly don't know the answer, but I am glad this book turned out the way it did giving me another pretty clear perspective into one potential answer to one of life's most important questions.For Holden to have kept Mr. Antolini's paper (especially in a way that seemed meaningful to him) and still arrive at his final conclusion was a bit jarring. Especially in light of the final scenes when he *should* have been able to see the cause right in front of his face, even if he couldn't realize that he himself was cause enough.Sooo... I had to try pretty hard to pull something out of this that seemed to really matter to me, but I think I got it. Or at least I got something. Overall, enjoyable, but nothing particularly amazing. At least I can now say that I've read it.