Review of The Book Catcher in The Rye

The novel Catcher in the Rye written by J.D Salinger, is a that was written in the 1950s that has many themes of relevance to modern day teenagers. Some brief history about the author is that he was born January 1, 1919 and a major inspiration for the creation of this book were the sights and sounds of when he served in WW2. The book itself underlines the brutal truth about the world mixed with some humor and a contrasting amount of depression that overlaps these ideas one after another. Although this book has a lot of controversy surrounding its name, I believe this to be a good book because of its brutal reality of the adult world and its connection it has with teenagers.

The spotlight of this of this book is named Holden Caulfield and he is a teenager that is educationally and emotionally challenged. He is also is an underachiever that doesn’t have a mindset for the future . The book begins as it addresses you as the reader and gives you insight on the events that ensued over a three day period from last December. Holden’s story begins at a infamous prestiges boarding school filled with phonies or fakes which Holden despises. What struck me the most in this was the way the author created a very brash atmosphere from the start of the book with the main character Holten being seen as insolent, lazy, and absent minded about his future.

As I was reading the book I realized that almost all of the story was just one long flash back of the three day period which completely threw me of but there were occasional references to the present which sent me back on track. One thing in my opinion that sets this novel apart from other would be the use of profanity. The use of profanity gives it that extra edge to the reader which in turn makes the character more relatable and makes them more realistic.

Many important things can be taken from this book as far as the reflection from depression to the social pressure that is presented when push comes to shove. The book was really good for the most part as it touched on a lot relatable topics that are very important in this day in age. I was really intrigued by how well the author wrote the book from a literal stand point and how it kept me engaged and wanting to know what would happen next in the story with Holden. The book itself I would rate a 7 out of 10 and the themes of importance a ten. I would say that this book should be recommended to a US literature class because of how much it relates to them and how important realizing that your future shouldn’t be rushed and you should be living in the present.   

Works Cited

1. Bloom, H. (Ed.). (2009). J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye. Infobase Publishing.
2. French, W. (1988). The Catcher in the Rye: Innocence under pressure. Twayne Publishers.
3. Hamilton, I. (2007). The catcher in the rye: The voice of alienation. Peter Lang.
4. Johnson, C. (2010). Understanding The Catcher in the Rye: A student casebook to issues, sources, and historical documents. Greenwood Publishing Group.
5. Lenz, M. (Ed.). (2007). The catcher in the rye: New essays. Peter Lang.
6. Lundquist, J. (2011). J.D. Salinger. Infobase Publishing.
7. Pruchnic, J. (Ed.). (2009). A companion to The Catcher in the Rye. Wiley-Blackwell.
8. Salinger, J. D. (1951). The Catcher in the Rye. Little, Brown and Company.
9. Steiner, W. (2013). J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye: A cultural history. Routledge.
10. Bloom, H. (Ed.). (2000). Modern critical interpretations: The Catcher in the Rye. Chelsea House.