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If you think it's a pointless book, you aren't the sort of person it was planned to benefit anyway
To be perfectly honest, I do not 100% understand all of the negative reviews this book is receiving. Yes, the book contains moderate language (that everyone has heard before and if educated properly would know not to imitate) and reference to drinking and sex (again, education would stop this being an issue as it's a part of life most people are aware of anyway) and Holden as a character is very controversial. However, those of you saying Holden is not an immensely interesting and complex character clearly do not understand it. The purpose of the novel is not meant to be a selfish immature teenager ranting, and I don't think it is that at all. From my understanding of Holden, the message the writer was trying to put forward and my overall interpretation, Holden is an incredibly interesting character and his outlook on life had me hooked from the beginning. The storyline may not contain vampires or superheroes or constant action but from a psychological perspective and even just from the perspective of someone who is willing to look further into the story and characters, the book is far from boring as many have been referring to it as. If you find it boring and find Holden uninteresting then your view is very 2D. The character is complex and much can be learnt from him, not necessarily in the form of imitation but rather viewing him as a character and his outlook and using it to reflect on your own behaviours. If all characters in books were perfect role models then there would be no need for anyone's mind to be stretched and developed further to truly delve into and understand the characters being created. It isn't realistic to have a perfect role model, but having an anti-hero like Holden allows us to learn and reflect. I think the novel is perfect for people of any age as long as their emotional and mental capacity to understand and interpret a novel such as this is of a high maturity. I believe there are some 13 year olds that are more mature and capable of understanding and benefiting from this novel than some grown adults, this is proven by the adult review section here. Give this book a chance and don't stick to what you see on the surface. Delve deep into the messages and the characters and truly learn from this amazing, classic piece of literature.
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An interesting look into a disturbed mind
I found this a fun, rather easy book to read. It is made clear that the narrator has some sort of mental illness and is now undergoing treatment. He has a clear lack of respect for authority or education. There is plenty profanity, constant use of the phrase sonuvab**** and the words a**, s**t, and f***. There is also alcohol abuse without consequences, and the main character almost has sex with prostitute. I really enjoyed reading his views of the world, constantly saying people are phonies, which some parents might not agree with.
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ONLY FOR AGES 15 AND UP!
A good book. Has good Vocabulary for 11 plus. However Too much Swearing and S**. ONLY FOR 15 +.
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one of my favorite books
I love this book so much, it's one of my favorites. There is a lot of swearing and the main character does smoke, but overall amazing writing. Great for mature young teens and above.
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Amazing!!This title contains:
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An American Classic?
This is a novel that has been read all over American high school classrooms, beyond. It is a book that is analyzed and picked apart by these readers and their teachers, as well as sitting upon the banned books list elsewhere and for good reasoning.The content within the novel is highly immoral, especially when considering its time period. The novel tells the story of an emotionally disturbed teenaged boy and his weekend experience following his expulsion at Pencey Prep- the private high school he attended. He has been expelled from three schools now due to lack of grades nd commitment to his school work. This is only one of the many examples this teenager, Holden Caulfield, shows through out this novel on how much he really cares about the world. He doesn't. Holden has no true interests as it seems and is overall, almost dead in the heart. It is easy to see that Holden wants something much more for his life, except that he doesn't realize that it is up to him to change it. He feels that all of his problems fall onto the world. It is the world's fault for taking away his innocence. In part, this is true. However, Holden fails to see or accept the fact that it is himself that is in control of his life.Besides Holden's lack of caring and interest, Holden shows impulsive behavior, mostly with drinking. He drinks and smokes a lot through out the novel. While a mature reader can see this isn't acceptable behavior, a younger, more influential one may not. Holden also has his deal of prostitutes, which I should point out he never has sex with, occasional acts of violence, drinking from other members, and heavy loads of foul language. Contrary to what this website's review on the novel says, 'f*ck' has only appeared a couple times in a single chapter, at the end of the novel. Holden himself does not ever mutter the words, but rather sees is scratched and written on a wall. Seeing this is what outrages him. However, this should be the least of a parent's concerns when it comes to allowing your child to read the novel.From my own personal experience, as a high school student, I did not enjoy this novel. I have a lot of friends who adored it and loved it, and I know many people do. I, however, was rather disappointed. I feel all high school students should read the novel, as it is very relatable and Holden deals with some of the same issues as we do today. However, I would not say it is a very good novel. I personally found Holden's negative personality to be rather annoying. There also appears to have no true plot. While character driven stories are great, this one isn't well driven. I was left unsatisfied at the end with many questions left that will forever go unanswered. The only other reason why I would suggest reading it, is because it is considered an American classic.
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Great literature
I absolutely love this book! there is quite a bit of mature content in it though. There is almost near constant use of 'goddam' as Holden expresses his hate of anger towards things. There is the occasional use of 'f**k' also used by Holden. I think that if fine literature appeals to you, you should definitely read this book.
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You need to understand.
I can see that many reviews are negative and i can see why you think this book isnt worth while. I'd like to explain why most of you are wrong about this being 'AWFUL' or even 'THE WORST BOOK EVER' you see most of you think Holden is some oDdball teenager and anyone like that isnt worth your time, but unfortunately this is how teenagers are. So i kid you not, most of the parents on this site think this book is just awful and you don't think your pure children should read such garbage. Well i sure am laughing at you because most of your children either are so similar to Holden that its disturbing, or their friends and people they go to school with are. It is something most of you need to grasp, along with the fact that you can't control every aspect of there life and what is around them. We are growing and learning new things and developing new opinions day by day. You need to UNDERSTAND.
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yee
good easy to read a lil inapropro but kids should already know that stuff
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One of the best books ever written
In other reviews, parents are insulting the writing and the story. This is just a representation of adults' inability to understand teen voice. In a time where the population did not understand teenager, J.D Salinger captured an adolescent perfectly. There is profanity and sexual references, but this is how teenagers think. Parents that give low reviews, please open your mind enough to appreciate the masterpiece that is the Catcher in the Rye.
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Deep ideas hidden in teenage-esque teenager.
I've noticed this book receiving a lot of hate from people on CSM. In some ways I hate it also. Yes, it has constant mild profanity (near the end of the book the F-word is used around 7 times when Holden talks about some graffiti), but he mildly swears so frequently that you realize the words have no meaning, in this book at least. Perhaps the biggest thing I can understand hating is the middle portion of the book, which is filled with vague sexual references, (nothing ever gets too graphic, it's just very annoying) and such. But the ending was good enough that you can forget all about the middle, if you make it through it. The reason it's all there though, is to paint a picture about a single teen and the world he, that specific teen sees through his eyes only. The farther I got in the book the more I felt like I understood him, as if I could anticipate what he would do next. This book is fantastic in that aspect. Also, the simple wording and repetitive vocab usage is also deliberate. Most likely, J.D. Salinger could have written better then all the people criticizing his writing. The reason he writes this way is to show Holden's perspective. If you have ever read Flowers for Algernon you can see this technique present at the beginning of the story. The author uses simple and misspelled words to show Charlies lack of intellect, but through his journal entry's, you also see his humble and kind personality and ideas about the world. Sometimes, if not frequently, having a good writing style does not mean writing like a 18th century author or vocab happy poet. Catcher in the Rye certainly has it's flaws, and the main character is certainly immoral and not somebody you want to be, but so are a lot of today's celebrities and great 'role models.' Whatever you say about this book, J.D. Salinger knew what he was doing, and perhaps his accurate depiction of some teens is not something we like to read about. But really, every character can't be a Harry Potter or Percy Jackson.
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Not your average story book
What people tend to forget is that Holden Caulfield in not supposed to be a likable person. If somebody says that they feel like Holden and them are similar in nature, then he would regard you as a phony, since that is just his attitude to life; every person is a phony except for me. People looking for a book that has a strong story line will not find joy in this book. Lots of people say that book is hypocritical in the way that if someone gives it a good review, then they could be regarded as a phony, in Caulfields eyes, and see it as a reason to dislike the book, but that is just why it is such a well received novel; it manages to criticize and question everything, even if it doesn't flat out say it.
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dissapointing
the novel wasn't the type i would really like. it's pace was very slow with its pace and had no particular plot.the protagonist of the story was very vulgar .novel just inculcated a wrong sense in children . i did not liked the story a all ad failed to develop interest in the story. by jaspreet kaur mind tree school , tenth- a
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The Greatest Teen Book ever Written
The Catcher In The Rye is not only one of my favorite novels of all time, it is without a doubt one of the greatest novels of all time. I can relate to Holden Caulfield in so many ways, and the author does a great job at doing that. He is too intellectual and scared for this world, just like me, and is trying to find his place in our cruel world. Any teen can relate to this. Yes, there is constant, and I mean CONSTANT swearing, but this is incredibly realistic, being a teenager myself. And yes, there are some sexual references here and there, but just about any teen boy is curious about sex, including me and all my friends. The symbolism and overall narrative is extremely witty and smart, and Holden's view on the world is very interesting. This book, however, is very mature, dealing with sex, death, suicide, etc. If you laugh at toilet humor, this isn't for you. However, if you are mature enough, this book won't disappoint you. I guarantee it.
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Very very intresting book.Most books written in a sort of boring world from a first person point of view bore me, not this one.It truly captures many of the strange emotions that come with being of that age.It also shows the role loss can play on a whole family. What it did in its time was something truly special and unique. In my opinion it is timeless despite what others may think.Parents should undoubtabley let their kids read it, i n some cases to help them no they are not alone in others for perspective.Despite the profanity.
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Horible
I hated it, it's so nasty and I diffidently do not recommend it to any one I know. DO NOT force your English class to read this book.
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Overall, An Okay Book
So let me start off by saying that once I had finished this book, I felt overwhelmed by the fact that such an outdated teenage life could be filled with so much troubles. I enjoyed the little humor there was and how Salinger painted a vivid picture of Holden's life, but I have to say there was a LOT of swearing as well as a lot of drinking. I know most of the audience out there must be 13+ but I was looking for a read and came across this book.So i'm not saying that this book is terrible. It was nice, but overall I'd only give it three stars because it really lacked a sole focus.
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awesome book
There are inappropriate references for younger readers but I think teens can handle it. I loved the book and would recommend it!
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Catcher In The Rye- A Child's Point of View
I'm 12 years old myself, and I'm currently reading this book. It's extremely interesting, and I don't see how people might think it innapropriate. I've passed the part of which I cannot mention, I realize it isn't exactly for children.. But an 11yr old is well beyond capable of reading something of this level. Some people cannot comprehend (mainly adults) that children don't realize what's out there in the world, they also don't realize that children can surpass the of a normal level of smartness for their age. No matter what the case is, like the old saying, you can't judge a book by its cover!
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CATCHER IN THE RYE IS TRASH
The only good thing was that I could roll it up and blaze with it
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Go To
Lisa: Perhaps there is no moral to this story.
Homer: Exactly! It's just a bunch of stuff that happened. Marge: But it certainly was a memorable few days. Homer: Amen to that!
In some stories, you have no way of knowing what's going to happen, largely because it comes out of nowhere. And the next plot event also comes out of nowhere. And so on - without being set up or having any sort of logical lead-up from previous events. The characters primarily exist to react to whatever the writer throws their way. When this happens, it's a Random Events Plot.
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Randomness is something that happens every day in Real Life. Many things happen for a reason, but a lot of them don't. Well, fine, every event has a cause, but often those reasons will be so small or irrelevant that they appear random. Despite the occurrence of random things in real life, their portrayal is not always appreciated in fictional works. Audiences automatically search for reasons for someone's behaviour. If things just happen without any logical explanation or build up, events can come across as a product of bad writing or being absurd for the sake of being absurd.
Comedies do this all the time, as the Rule of Funny means that they don't have to make sense. Video games often do it as well, thanks to the Rule of Fun. When non-comedic works of fiction do this, however, it can be quite jarring. How well they pull it off and how enjoyable they manage to be often has to do with the execution of the story. If it's good, then the story may be random, but at least it's the fun kind of random, rather than the confusing, annoying kind of random. Artsy works can showcase random scenes to show we live in a World of Symbolism. It's up to the audience to find the hidden meanings. This can also often occur in adaptation - for instance, if the original work was a bunch of small episodic stories, and the adaptation decides to simply string a bunch of them together (occasionally with a loose theme or framing device) rather than write a new plot or beef up one of the small stories.
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Exploitation works or low level art (pulp novels, Exploitation Film,..) just randomly add cheap thrills like violence, shock, sex, action, gags, Product Placement,.. because the creators want to make a quick buck without bothering too much about the story. Most of the time the audience will notice and refuse to suspend their disbelief. But when in the right mood or with the right audience they will enjoy these random scenes because they provide them with the cheap thrills they would like to encounter in the story. Or they enjoy the 'Anything goes' atmosphere.
In Poetics, Aristotle denounced the 'episodic' as the worst of all plots, where there is neither probability nor necessity in the sequence of events, so bungling it has been around a while.
See Also: Chandler's Law, Halfway Plot Switch, Narrative Filigree, 'Shaggy Dog' Story. Might occur when the story has a Pinball Protagonist.
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Non-comedic Examples
Comedic Examples
IndexSymbolism, Imagery, Allegory
Holden may use words like “bastard” and “ass,” but he has to draw the line somewhere—and he draws that line at writing 'fuck you' on the walls of elementary schools and museum tombs. These places particularly bother him, because they remind him of his own relatively comfortable and happy childhood. In Holden's world, everything has been corrupted by vulgarities. Even his own death, he says, couldn't be sacred or peaceful, since someone would probably write a 'fuck you' on his very tombstone.
We argue in Holden's 'Character Analysis' that it's no wonder that he sees sex as dirty and degrading, when all the portrayals he's seen of sex are in fact dirty and degrading. This is one such portrayal; Holden imagines a 'perverty bum' sneaking into Phoebe's school at night to write the message on the wall (25.16).
Hate to break it to you, Holden, but it's way more likely that a student at the school vandalized the wall. But Holden can’t see that. In his world, children are innocent and adults corrupt. While this keeps everything nice and simple in Holden's mind, it also makes it impossible for him to really understand the process of growing-up. While he does realize that trying to rub out all the 'fuck you's in the world would be impossible (“you couldn’t rub out even half the ‘Fuck You’ signs in the world” [25.18]), he doesn't make the important connection that it would be futile anyway. Kids grow up—and sometimes they even write “fuck you” when they’re still in elementary school.
Given his class, he finds it much harder to adapt.Posted onIn the true spirit of equality, we celebrate the other half of the population this month! Russian gentleman Aleksandr Petrovich is sent to a prison camp in Siberia. This lovely story about how toys.Posted onFreedom is among the highest goods and society has made great steps forward in this respect. However, this was not always the case, as we will show with 10 gems from our catalogue. Free urdu audio books mp3 harry potter.
The Catcher in the Rye is a 1951 novel by American author J. D. Salinger. Despite some controversial themes and language, the novel and its protagonist Holden Caulfield have become favorites among teen and young adult readers. In the decades since its publication, The Catcher in the Ryehas become one of the most popular 'coming of age' novels. Below, we’ll explain the meaning of the title and review some of the famous quotations and important vocabulary from the novel.
Overview
A key theme of the novel is Holden’s distrust of adults and the seeming fakeness of adult life, which he refers to as 'phony.' The novel deals heavily with the loss of the innocence of childhood and having to grow up. Holden wrestles with his want to remain an innocent child, which conflicts with his adult urges that cause him do things like unsuccessfully seeking out a prostitute.
The Catcher in the Rye is often studied in American literature classes, and many readers have related to Holden’s disillusioned, rather cynical outlook. However, the book has also been quite controversial, with some even seeking to ban the teaching of the book in schools.
The Meaning of the Title: The Catcher in the Rye
The title of The Catcher in the Rye is a reference to 'Comin' Thro the Rye,' a Robert Burns poem and a symbol for the main character's longing to preserve the innocence of childhood.
The first reference in the text to 'catcher in the rye' is in Chapter 16. Holden overhears:
'If a body catch a body coming through the rye.'
Holden describes the scene (and the singer):
'The kid was swell. He was walking in the street, instead of on the sidewalk, but right next to the curb. He was making out like he was walking a very straight line, the way kids do, and the whole time he kept singing and humming.'
The episode makes him feel less depressed. But why? Is it his realization that the child is innocent—somehow pure, not 'phony' like his parents and other adults?
Then, in Chapter 22, Holden tells Phoebe:
'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—I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd really like to be. I know it's crazy.'
Holden's interpretation of the poem centers around the loss of innocence (adults and society corrupt and ruin children), and his instinctual desire to protect children (his sister in particular). Holden sees himself as 'the catcher in the rye.' Throughout the novel, he's confronted with the realities of growing up—of violence, sexuality, and corruption (or 'phoniness'), and he doesn't want any part of it.
Holden is (in some ways) incredibly naive and innocent about worldly realities. He doesn't want to accept the world as it is, but he also feels powerless, unable to effect change. The growing-up process is almost like a runaway train, moving so fast and furiously in a direction that's beyond his control (or, even, really his comprehension). He can't do anything to stop or stall it, and he realizes that his wish to save the children is 'crazy'—perhaps even unrealistic and impossible. Through the course of the novel, Holden is forced to come to terms with the reality of growing up—something that he struggles to accept.
The Catcher in the Rye: Key Quotes
The Catcher in the Rye: Vocabulary
Holden speaks to the reader in the first person, using the common slang of the fifties, which gives the book a more authentic feel. This instrument belongs to a library that is not installed in windows. Much of the language Holden uses is considered crass or vulgar but it fits the personality of the character. However, some of the terms and phrases Holden uses are not commonly used today. Understanding the words Holden uses will give you a greater understanding of the prose.
Chapters 1-5
grippe: influenza
chiffonier: a bureau with a mirror attached
Performing multiple. Fast and furious 6 free. Flying helicopter chase. Features of Fast & Furious Takedown Android:. Driving speed and enthusiasm.
falsetto: an unnaturally high-pitched voice
hound's-tooth: a pattern of jagged checks, usually black-and-white, on fabric
halitosis: chronic bad breath
phony: a fake or insincere person
Chapters 6-10
Canasta: a variation on the card game gin rummy
incognito: in the act of concealing one's identity
jitterbug: a very active dance style popular in the 1940s
Chapters 11-15
galoshes: waterproof boots
nonchalant: unconcerned, casual, indifferent
rubberneck: to look at or stare, to gawk, especially at something unpleasant
bourgeois: middle-class, conventional
Chapters 16-20
blasé: indifferent or bored, unimpressed
conceited: having a high opinion of oneself, arrogant
louse: a contemptible person; it is also the singular term for lice
Chapters 21-26
digression: a deviation from a central theme in speaking or writing
cockeyed: askew, cross-eyed
pharaoh: ancient Egyptian king
bawl: to cry
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