The Catcher in the Rye

NaddiaAoC · Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2003 4:11 am Post subject: The Catcher in the Rye

Has anyone else read this? I just finished it. I decided that since I have such an aversion towards fiction and have read so little of it I should probably force myself to read at least a few of the classics. So I started with this one.

Wow, I loved this book! I have never gotten so absorbed in a story as I did with this one. There was something about the main character that I could strongly relate to, maybe it was his curiosity about people and his honesty. Even the way the book is written, with improper grammar and common phrases and slang, exhibits a raw honesty. The character's thoughts are expressed in such an interesting, and often humorous, manner. I found myself laughing aloud in many places.

Only the ending I thought was lacking. I felt sad when the book was finished. It didn't feel finished. It seemed as if it should keep going on and on. It almost felt as if I was listening to a friend tell me all about his experiences in life and his views of things and then all of a sudden he's gone and cuts off all contact. I need a sequel, but I'm guessing that the author is probably dead by now.

Cheryl

Edited by: Chris OConnor at: 9/30/05 10:30 am

Chris OConnor · Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2003 8:54 am Post subject: Re: The Catcher in the Rye

I've never read it, but it is a classic. You mentioned reading "1984" and I think I'd rather do that one first. I responded in that thread about being interested in joining you and Tim in reading and discussing it. After we complete it maybe we can do this book next.

Chris

Edited by: Chris OConnor at: 9/30/05 10:29 am

pctacitus · Posted: Thu May 15, 2003 11:57 am Post subject: Re: The Catcher in the Rye

I read this about three years ago for an English class. I must agree with my teacher at the time that it is for people struggling to grow into adulthood through the trials and tribulations of youth. As such, I was seriously underwhelmed. This is a work that is best for adolescents, not adults.

Scott Baio · Posted: Fri May 30, 2003 7:38 am Post subject: Book Ending

I too found a strong relation to Holden. It seems the J.D. was able to create many of the same concerns in Holden, as in most every adolesent. I was suprised to find a book of such age ( 1950 ish i think) that so strongly resembled some problems that i have faced in my own life. Holden may possibly be a representation of a young Salinger.

As to the ending, i found that Salinger left the ending as vague as the rest of the book. I believe this allows the book to transend the bounderies of time, and ensures that this book will be read and enjoyed for decades to come.

Rock On
JP Bretzik

Daniel Figueroa · Posted: Fri May 30, 2003 7:41 am Post subject: ducks

After reading this passage, I think that the lake symbolizes Holden's life, and the ducks represent Holden himself. Using this analogy, Holden's life "froze over" when he got kicked out of Pencey Prep. He is confused about where to go and what to do. So when he is asking the taxi driver where the ducks go when the lake freezes over, I believe he is actually wondering where he should go, now that there is no place for him to live.

EvilTeuf · Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2004 1:00 am Post subject: Re: ducks

Catcher could also be viewed as a book about the theme of life's sheer contrariness. It's certainly true that Holden is a character of many contradictions existing simultaneously.

ADO15 · Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2004 11:29 pm Post subject: Re: ducks

How strange! I've just re-read this book after over 20 years.

When I was an adolescent, I was right there withHolden - an alienated existentialist. It really spoke to me.

It's still a great read, but it niggles now - it's kinda hyperrealist, and the sectin at the school drags to the point where I nearly put the book down again. But I persevered, then got annoyed by the absurd timings in the story - totally impossible, if you add it up.

I agree with the point about the ending being a little underthought, and seeming like a bare draft, but that's something that shows up in Salinger's other book, Franny & Zooey(?)

And I had totally missed the analogy of the ducks first time round, but that is utterly true - but the ducks find liberation where he doesn't.

Pensive Painter · Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2004 11:08 am Post subject: Re: ducks

I didn't get the part about the ducks either.

anuttama · Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2004 12:27 am Post subject: Re: ducks

Hi all,
This is my first post to this wonderful forum. I first read Catcher in the Rye at age 13 (I'm 18 now). It really resonated with me then. I've read it a number of times after that, each time wishing that the book didnt end where it does. I totally missed the symbolism of the ducks however.
The last time I read it, however, it vaguely irritated me for reasons I can't quite articulate.
However this book is a real classic and will strike a chord with adolescents for years to come.
Anuttama

pctacitus · Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2004 1:11 am Post subject: Re: The Catcher in the Rye

I read this book during the spring of my senior year of high school. Our English teacher assigned it and of the works we read that semester (the others being: Brave New World, Things Fall Apart, A Doll's House, A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Candide) I found it to be the worst of the bunch.

I can understand how people could like the story about a young teenager who is lost, troubled and trying to find himself so he can mature. I can even understand how at a time in my life this work could have been quite good, but I think I was too old internally for this work to have any appeal.

Keith and Company · Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2005 9:40 am Post subject: Re: The Catcher in the Rye

I read it 25 years ago in high school. From what i remember, it spoke well to adolescents. You're not alone, you're not a freak, other people have the same concerns, wonders, fears... you're no more a mutant than that lemon sitting on your left.

I don't think i'd read it again,now. Then it was practically a story about me (except, i knew where ducks went, i was in public school, and a trip to the museum meant arrowheads behind glass, not mannequins of indians you could look down the dress of). Now, i'd probably spend toomuch time formulating responses to his problems.

Much like how i can't watch sitcoms any more where a half hour of fanciful mayhem and extreme social humiliation could have been avoided by use of a 10-second phone call or a short note.

I heartily recommend it for anyone in High School, either a student or teacher.

bohemian_girl · Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2008 10:18 am Post subject:

I recently read this book. I had very high expectations which weren't completely met but I didn't dislike it either. I'm 21 years of age and I think that if I had read this book in my mid teens I would have loved it and got into the angst of Holden more than I did now.

It is amazing to think that this book was written so long ago. A lot of the things addressed are still relevant to teenagers growing up on the outer today. The whole thing about him hating 'phonies' resonated with me. But I have to admit that I kept waiting for something to happen. I don't know if that's the best way to describe it but I found a lot of it uneventful. Just his thoughts for the most part and not a lot more. I never picked up on the duck analogy but it certainly does make sense.

BabyBlues · Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2008 9:16 pm Post subject: Catcher in the Classroom

I have taught Catcher for 11 years and I love it. However, I can also tell you that my students usually either are completely enamored with it or they abhor it.

I love it as a psychological debate. Is Holden really unbalanced or is he a normal teenager who has undergone severe stress (i.e. loss of younger brotherto lukemia, an older brother who could be a model and friend moving to California, the complete inattention of his parents, alienation, getting expelled from multiple schools, health issues, etc)? The diversity of the students’ responses to this debate is really amazing.

While I do enjoy the novel, I also can understand some people's reservations. The book is in essence a conversation with a teenager. Holden is telling his story to someone, presumably a therapist of some sort, and as typical of a teenager he has digressions, seemingly unnecessary details, exaggerations, sweeping generalizations and a healthy (and some argue unhealthy) dose of cynicism.

My books · Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 2:38 pm Post subject:

I read Catcher at least 10 years ago in my early twenties and I can totally see the classic quality of the writing and the authors message, but I couldn't identify with the main character's self absorbtion and the way he hides from and deceives people.

My book discussion group in Dallas recently read Girls For Breakfast by David Yoo and they compared it to Catcher in the Rye. The self absorbed, self loathing teenager is all there in a story about the lone asian american boy in an upscale New England community. Again, I didn't like the lead character (get over yourself already!) and found myself complaining that there is no Catcher in the Rye for girls... Embarassed


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