Rating: 3 out of 4 stars
Author: J. D. Salinger
Written: 1945
I don’t know what I was expecting of this book, but this certainly wasn’t it. That isn’t to say it was a bad thing, just that I realized that I had no idea what this book was about.
One thing about this book that I really liked was Holden, the narrator. I think this is a great coming of age story, which is why I can understand it is read by so many teenagers rather then adults. While I do not mind much of the YA literature, I think this story does a better job of truly capturing what goes on inside the mind of many teens. You could really “hear” the immaturity of Holden. I don’t care how mature someone in high school is, there are never as mature as they think, which I think is something in today’s YA books with these teens who sound like 50 and 60 year old men and women. It simply seems a bit unrealistic to me. Anyway, I think Holden was a perfect teenager in his thoughts and actions.
Throughout the story you can really sense Holden struggling with being a bit of an outsider and wanting to branch out on his own. His age, of course, hinders this and he becomes frustrated. He seems to really just be looking for a friend and his place in the world. I was able to really feel his pain and frustration. I can relate to that. it is hard wanting to grow up but not being able to because of limitations.
The strange thing about this novel is that out of everything that happened it was only a 3 or 4 day span of time! It seemed like it was weeks. The only reason that I gave this book a 3 out of 4 rating is that while I enjoyed it, I could have easily put this book down and and never picked it up again. Even though I did finish it, I did not feel compelled to. I often had to force myself to read more then 5 pages at a time, even though I enjoyed those few pages. I don’t know, it was weird.
All in all, it was a pretty good book. I enjoyed it and can see why this is considered a classic read.
Have you read this before? If so, what did you think of it? I’d love to know :-)!!
My Beloved Little Books 
I read this earlier in summer; my old English teacher said that everyone should read it before they’re sixteen, so I took his advice! He also said that it could ‘change your life’, but I don’t think that epiphanal moment happened to me… I really enjoyed it, but I didn’t find it particularly spectacular.
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I agree. I really liked it, but don’t see it being life changing. Nothing was really resolved for him. He just simply returned home and they were sending him to another school, nothing big happened in the end. I had hoped that he would gain more maturity, which I am sure he probably did, but I don’t think there was anything life changing about the book.
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This might actually be my least favorite book in the history of books. But I’ve found that lots of people feel strongly about this book, either way. One of my best friends LOVES this book, and threatens to send it to me every year for Christmas. Maybe I’d feel differently if I re-read it.
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Haha that’s funny about your friend. What was it about the book that you didn’t like?
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I just never thought that Holden was that poignant a character. He exhibited so many traits of people that I dislike in real life, that I took an instant disliking to him. I also have always thought the book was highly overrated. I didn’t walk away any better for having read it.
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I can see that. Even the other characters of the novel found him tedious.
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