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The Catcher in the Rye | 
 enlarge | Author: J.d. Salinger
Publisher: Back Bay Books
Category: Book
List Price: $13.99
Buy New: $6.59
You Save: $7.40 (53%)
New (55) Used (74) Collectible (8) from $6.58
Avg. Customer Rating:  2761 reviews
Sales Rank: 257
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.2 x 0.9
ISBN: 0316769177
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780316769174
ASIN: 0316769177
Publication Date: January 30, 2001
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com
Since his debut in 1951 as The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield has been synonymous with "cynical adolescent." Holden narrates the story of a couple of days in his sixteen-year-old life, just after he's been expelled from prep school, in a slang that sounds edgy even today and keeps this novel on banned book lists. It begins,
"If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth. In the first place, that stuff bores me, and in the second place, my parents would have about two hemorrhages apiece if I told anything pretty personal about them." His constant wry observations about what he encounters, from teachers to phonies (the two of course are not mutually exclusive) capture the essence of the eternal teenage experience of alienation.
Product Description
Since his debut in 1951 as The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield has been synonymous with "cynical adolescent." Holden narrates the story of a couple of days in his sixteen-year-old life, just after he's been expelled from prep school, in a slang that sounds edgy even today and keeps this novel on banned book lists. It begins, "If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth. In the first place, that stuff bores me, and in the second place, my parents would have about two hemorrhages apiece if I told anything pretty personal about them." His constant wry observations about what he encounters, from teachers to phonies (the two of course are not mutually exclusive) capture the essence of the eternal teenage experience of alienation.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 2756 more reviews...
A classic book for young minds August 17, 2008
This book is one of those books that every kid at age 15 should read. It may seem to have subjects that kids shouldn't be exposed to but let's not kid ourselves. Children these days just seem smarter and capable of more and more each day. If they are exposed to such adult topics as adult social interaction, violence, alcohol and broken homes in the world of superbly crafted literature it would do nothing but broaden their understanding of reality and the world around them a hundred times over. They are going to seek out or happen across these topics as the world is getting smaller and smaller so why not allow it under favorable conditions? This book represents a very meaninful moment in my childhood: a day that I grew up a little.
 Where do the Ducks Go? August 11, 2008
In the beginning, I admit I did not like Holden Caulfield. I felt I couldn't relate to him. After the first 15 chapters that changed. I realized that, boy oh boy, I am way too much like Holden Caulfield. So much that I almost want to post a list of how we are alike, but that is not the point of reviews and I doubt it would be interesting reading. There are few eye-opening moments in Catcher in the Rye. The line that most sticks in my head is this, " The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one." I will be honest, lines don't really stick in my head and this one doesn't either, but its meaning does.
I can understand why this book is a classic. There is so much that I don't think I fully grasp everything yet; it is one of those books I think should be reread every so often. I wouldn't have read this book if not for Nerdfighters' Blurbing Book Club, so I thank author John Green for picking it.
Holden May Be Many Things...But Boring Isn't One of Them August 8, 2008
I've read Catcher several times and though it doesn't stand out in my mind as a favorite novel, every time I read it I rediscover how much I enjoy it. I give Catcher five stars because Holden's character holds my interest until the very end. Salinger gives him a complexity that makes him neither saint nor sinner. The reader isn't necessarily going to like Holden, but he isn't someone you'd want to hate either. I think anyone who enjoys people-watching will find Catcher offers plenty to keep the reader entertained with its parade of characters and never dull rantings of Holden at his darkest time.
 Dare you to fina a book with more "and all" expression August 5, 2008
My god, probably the most boring, inconsequential book I ever read. Thank god it's a short one though. Spare yourself the trouble and read what wiki has to say about it, you won't take away anything else from this piece of ****. The book makes fun of "Phony" people, well, I say the "Phony" people are all those who recommend this book. They only do it so they don't feel so bad they were the only ones that read it, kind of like the emperor's clothes.
Having said that, I dare you to find a book that says "... and all", "...kills me" and "depressed" more times than this one.
Try walking in his shoes August 4, 2008
Note:The reviewer is an EFL learner.
I've just finished reading "The Catcher in the Rye. I think it's both interesting and sad. I checked the book reviews for "Catcher in the Rye" on Amazon and was surprised to find that there were quite some people did not appreciate "Holden" at all and many of them asked him to "Grow up," or "Get a life!"
I like Holden, and I feel sympathy for him. I assume he had reasons to have become what he was like. Most of us had troubled mind with a lot of crazy notions going on when we were young. I mean, come on, when we were younger, hadn't we doubted all those "sit and listen" and wondered if it worth all the struggling being a decent adolescent? And I guess that is one thing "phony" of most adults. They think they know what is right for you. And they seem to accuse you of being immature or ungrateful when you do not follow their "guidance" or "assignmenth. Gratefulness and maturity and something like that are, in most cases, acquired and maybe learned. So I think it's just so true and real of Salingerfs portray of a sixteen Holden Caulfield, sad and angry.
The adult world/ real world was too complicated for Holden. There were a lot in the real world he did not understand. ---Why did Allie have to die? Why should he care about life? Why did Mr. Antonlini do it? And that was probably why Holden wanted to be nothing but gthe catcher in the ryeh. He liked children, they are not complicated and malicious and all. Holden found it easy to get along with them and understand them.
Why did Holden want so much to protect children? Why did he talk about sex yet dare not to try it? I have to say the revelation is in the book. Think about the immediate overreaction of Holden when he was woken up by Mr. Antonlinifs petting on his head. Salinger understated another chapter of Holdenfs life with "That kind of stufffs happened to me about twenty times since I was a kid. I canft stand it."
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