Why Holden Caulfield wanted to catch a body coming through the rye

The Catcher in the Rye

The Catcher in the Rye is the story of Holden Caulfield, who narrates the story from a mental hospital, from the day he was expelled from Pencey Prep. It spans over two days as a flashback. This book, originally written for adults, is also popular with teenagers who recognize the same themes of alienation, rebellion, teenage angst and confusion. Famous for confronting issues like identity, connection belonging. Notorious for its profanity (eg. swearing)...

FUNNESS:                 X X X O O / X X X X O

GRIPPINGNESS:  X X X O O / X X X X O

READABLITY:     X X O O O (UNDER AGE 12)

                                         X X X X X  (OVER AGE 12) (because the book contains material for slightly older readers)

READ IT FOR:

1.Holden Caulfield

Holden may seem like a coarse, rude and inconsiderate person on the outside, but as the narration goes on you get little glimpses of the gentle, sensitive, beautiful inside, the true Holden who tries to find sense, and good in the world, but sadly failing except in his little sister Phoebe.

he loves little children, finding in them the innocence he craves. That's the reason for his dream of saving the kids from falling over a cliff  - perhaps the cliff of adulthood, phoniness and the loss of innocence?

2.Jane Gallagher

he’s Holden’s love interest and the way he talks about her makes you really want to know her. You get the feeling that she’s the only girl Holden will ever love… and he’s never even properly kissed her on the lips. She is a stark contrast to Sally Hayes, and all the rest of the fluttering fickle girls around Holden, she almost seems the most real…. Even though we never meet her in the book. Oh bother…

3.The complete believability of it all!

It sounded completely in character. The vocabulary, the tone, the pace, the italics, the swearing…

Holden would repeat a phrase over and over again in a passage, like when talking about his ‘kid-sister’ Phoebe he would say ‘I swear to God you’d like her.’

It's incredibly well written. Incredibly. I've read many good books, but none with the same style as Catcher. The tone, the pacing, the vocab... Read it, will you!!!

"Are you sure, Terribly Sorry?"

4. If you're one of those rebellious frustrated types and need someone in the same situation... even if he's in a book

It was the perfect book. I read it and I was like, "Holden? You too?" It felt great to find someone who understood so perfectly. You have to read it to find out.

5. What he writes is SO TRUE.

Check out this excerpt about holding hands with girls ( about Jane Gallagher) :

"I don't want you to get the idea that she was a goddam icicle or something, just because we never necked or horsed around much. She wasn't. I held hands with her all the time, for instance. That doesn't sound like much, I realize, but she was terrific to hold hands with. Most girls if you hold hands with them, their goddam hand dies on you, or else they think they have to keep moving their hand all the time, as if they were afraid they'd bore you or something. Jane was different. We'd get into a goddam movie or something, and right away we'd start holding hands, and we wouldn't quit till the movie was over. And without changing the position or making a big deal out of it. You never even worried with Jane, whether your hand was sweaty or not. All you knew was, you were happy. You really were."

aw!!! And it's definitely what I can relate to (fine, ok, I admit that I'm one of those girls who think they have to move their hand a bit to keep you interested. Ahem.)

So please. Read it. You'll get what I'm talking about once you do.

oh my. A batman themed remake of The Catcher in the Rye... whatever next..