The catcher in the rye book review...J.D Salinger 

My first impressions....

With its simple cover and interesting title, I didn’t really know what to expect from the catcher in the rye. Id briefly given up my search for books about crime and cold, callus love affairs and after reading The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath I decided to continue looking for books about rebels in post modern settings. I came across the title of the catcher in the rye on Amazon and for some reason was instantly drawn to it, I briefly read the plot description and new it was my type of book. From the fact it had no blurb and such a plain and interesting title I new it would be a book of the unexpected...one where alot of things had to be read between the lines. 

What I thought at the end...

The end again surprised me, the whole book had a very simplistic tone but in its simplicity it made it easier to emphasise with, more human and more downright funny. It is definitely a book for young people between the ages of maybe 17-20 years, the time in your life where you’re no longer a child but not yet a grown adult, That sensation of limbo that carries until you finally find out where you fit in with the world and who you are. Being lost and ghostlike, rebellion from conformity you’ve always known and adult decision making were the main themes in the tale.

Favourite characters...

Holden Caulfield was the main character and speaker and voice throughout all the text! It was intentionally a first person narrative, but this made it more personal and easier to emphasise with his thoughts, ideas and disposition. He is a very adventurous person, I normal teenage boy...With normal teenage boy thoughts. But there were many things about his characters that weren’t conforming of the time; he was a very inspirational character to me. His strong opinions and thoughts were very humorous. He has the edge and spontaneous character of a free spirited rebel but the genuinely and humanity of a true gentlemen. It is true when they say perfect boys can only be found in books!

Best quotes...

These quotes made me laugh the most, held onto me because of the simple effectiveness and depth and the most humane: 

·       “You can never find a place that’s nice and peaceful, because there isn’t any. You may think there is, but once you get there, when you’re not looking, somebody’ll sneak up and write ‘fuck you’ right under your nose”

·         “heres what he said: “the mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one”

·         “What I mean is, lots of time you don’t know what interests you most till you start talking about something that doesn’t interest you most”

·         “just because somebody’s dead, you don’t just stop liking them, for god’s sake-especially if they were about a thousand times nicer than people you know that are alive and all”

·         “It’s supposed to be physical and spiritual and artistic and all. But what I mean is, you can’t do it with everybody-every girl you neck with and make it come out that way”

·         “Guys that never read books. Guys that are very boring-but I have to be careful about that. I mean calling guys bores. I don’t understand boring guys. I really don’t”

·         “Just because they’re crazy about themself, they think you’re crazy about them too and you’re just dying to do them a favour. It’s sort of funny in a way”