The Catcher In The Rye Review
Genre📚
Fiction: Drama
Quick Summary📝
Holden Caulfield has just been expelled from yet another high school. He decides to run away from home, at the young age of seventeen, getting lost in New York. The book follows his journey of reflection as he runs into old friends, new ones, and trouble.
Review🤔
If you were to ask me what The Catcher in the Rye is about, I genuinely wouldn’t have a good answer. I mean, sure there’s the “summary” I wrote above, but that's such a broad view of the novel. The best way to see this story is as a stream of consciousness; it's very unconventional.
To start with the positives:
The book is hilarious. Holden, the main narrator, managed to get all the laughs out of me by being just downright evil. He has a special ability: whenever he opens his mouth to any other person, it is almost always a straight lie that comes out. I found this super amusing. As a teen, naturally his mind has this extreme level of judgment toward everyone and anything. Holden will constantly give a stranger a compliment or comment on enjoying something, but then turn around and tell me (the reader) about how it's the most dreadful thing in the world. And because he was my only view into this world, I felt I was getting this sort of twisted perspective of what was actually happening; a kind of unreliable narrator.
By being unreliable, Salidner describes teenage angst in a way I haven’t seen many authors do. The way it’s written in the second-person, you really feel that the story is an actual teenager sitting down and telling you about their day. Like most teens, Holden's thoughts sidetrack into dozens of other ideas, and you can quite literally see them spill onto the page; his ideas filling entire paragraphs with impulsive desires. As I said, this is a stream of consciousness.
I think all of this comes together to make the book very relatable. Specifically to young adults.
Even though Holden is hypocritical, lazy, and manipulative, I think there are a lot of teens who will see parts of themselves in him; specifically the idea of being stuck between childhood and adulthood: wanting to be independent and grow, but also having a level of skepticism towards adults and seeing them as fake. It displays the journey of maturity relatively well, and I think this will resonate with many young readers.
As for negatives, I found one main issue: the book is sort of about nothing. I saw the “adventure” Holden goes on in New York, to be rather uninteresting. Salinder doesn’t write any insane drama or suspenseful action; there is no quest Holden receives from a stranger or any sort of imminent danger coming towards him. The main journey of the days Holden spends in New York is about finding himself. And in a way, I can admire this type of story; no physical or external conflicts, all the drama being inside the protagonist’s head. But still, I could have gone for a bit more tension in the real world, and I think many readers are going to find it hard to look past this.
Overall, I like this book; a unique work compared to most "classic literature." I say that because I think if I was forced to read The Catcher In The Rye in middle school, it would actually be enjoyable. I feel most of these other “acclaimed novels” are so distant from today's youth. But not this one, it definitely hits close to home.
Who is this for?🤷♂️🤷♀️
Teens
Young adults
People interested in “the classics”
Top 3 Quotes💬
“It's funny. All you have to do is say something nobody understands and they'll do practically anything you want them to.”
“When you're not looking, somebody'll sneak up and write "Fuck you" right under your nose.”
“I can’t explain what I mean. And even if I could, I’m not sure I’d feel like it.”
Reading Difficulty Level📊
Super straightforward, anyone can read this.
Book vs. Audiobook📖/🎧
For some reason, this book is only available in a physical copy. You would think one of the most acclaimed classic works of literature would have at least one audible narration, but I guess not.
Final Score out of 10⭐️
7/10 - Good, but know what you are getting yourself into with this one.
