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A review by konniecanread
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Read for a reading group.
I read this first when I was 15 and I hated it. I didn't resonate with Holden to any extent, I thought he was a pretentious asshole. Rereading it now, I still feel all those things, but can at least appreciate the subtext. Holden is a scarred, depressed, anxious kid with no support system at all, who pretends to be a pretentious asshole as a defense mechanism. His actions oscillate between trying to be a serious, dark adult (smoking, hiring prostitutes, going to bars and getting drunk) and trying desperately to retain his childhood innocence (interacting with old girlfriends, thinking fondly about his sister, going to museums he used to go when he was younger). The two meet in his whole "catcher in the rye" bit, where he uses the scars of his age to protect innocent kids.
The book was also one of the first to undermine the idea of a protagonist by making him a teenage asshole. While this is cool in and of itself, I think that point of view has been executed better since. When I first read this book, it was sold to me as "a book that resonates with all teenagers because they are all like this" - and, uh, no.
I am not traumatised, scarred, depressed, or anxious, so maybe the book just isn't meant for me.
I read this first when I was 15 and I hated it. I didn't resonate with Holden to any extent, I thought he was a pretentious asshole. Rereading it now, I still feel all those things, but can at least appreciate the subtext. Holden is a scarred, depressed, anxious kid with no support system at all, who pretends to be a pretentious asshole as a defense mechanism. His actions oscillate between trying to be a serious, dark adult (smoking, hiring prostitutes, going to bars and getting drunk) and trying desperately to retain his childhood innocence (interacting with old girlfriends, thinking fondly about his sister, going to museums he used to go when he was younger). The two meet in his whole "catcher in the rye" bit, where he uses the scars of his age to protect innocent kids.
The book was also one of the first to undermine the idea of a protagonist by making him a teenage asshole. While this is cool in and of itself, I think that point of view has been executed better since. When I first read this book, it was sold to me as "a book that resonates with all teenagers because they are all like this" - and, uh, no.
I am not traumatised, scarred, depressed, or anxious, so maybe the book just isn't meant for me.