The Catcher in the Rye

This is the kind of book that people of all ages remember their whole lives. It's indescribable how the story can sweep you off into Holden's life, the angst he feels, and the time in which he lived. Truly a great work that is worth reading if you have not and worth reading again if you have.

At the risk of offending all the fans--this book should not have been banned because of the cursing or the sexual references. It should have been banned because it is uninteresting and tortuous to read. The sentences and the dialogue are so annoying they make me want to punch Holden Caulfield myself. I understand that was what the author was going for, but it doesn't make it any more palatable. I also understand that the novel was groundbreaking in its time. Regardless, I lost interest about 70 pages into the book and moved on. This is no classic.

Wow! Kind of fun to read, but a classic? I don't think so.

I'm teaching this book to my 10th graders, after making an inquest and asking all of my friends and acquaintances what book really changed their lives in high school. I was a bit squeamish because it has curse words galore, and because some of the subject matter may be deemed inappropriate for polite conversation, but the kids are really responding to Holden's cynical, alienated internal dialogue, and it's really uplifting to see them identifying with a fictional character as if he were a real person.

"The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger follows Holden Caufield on his two-day journey after being expelled from Pencey, a private all-boys school, for "not applying himself". Holden spends his journey in bars, hotels, and bus stations wasting away time. Being written in the early 50's, his risque cursing and sexual conversations only attribute to his troubled mind. In a world of phonies, Holden wants nothing more than the truth.
After his brother's traumatic death at age 13, Holden Caufield wants to simply preserve his childhood and innocence. He tells his sister Phoebe, "...I have to catch everybody as they start to go over the hill...I'd just be the catcher in the rye." He wants to protect himself and other children from the phony and lost world of adults. Unfortunately, Holden is trapt in the adult world and must experience situations beyond his years. Although he feels his innocence is lost, he still believes in the innocence of youth, as shown by his sister riding on the carousel.