2 out of 5 stars
When I was in high school all those years ago, we had 3
English teachers who taught 3 separate Literature classes. When it came to the required
reading list, each teacher had a different curriculum to avoid us all reading
the same books. Because of that, The Catcher in the Rye was never a part of my
required reading so I decided all these years later to give it a go. I kind of feel
bad for the other class. I can honestly say I did not like this book, at all.
The story is basically about a teenager, Holden Caulfield, who is fighting
adulthood and has never really gotten over the death of his brother. I guess it
would be considered a coming of age story, except he never really evolves. He
pretty much hates anything and everyone and refers to most everybody as phonies.
Of course he is the biggest phony himself, which some seem to think is the
point of the book. Perhaps it is, but I have a hard time with that since Holden
himself never seems to realize it. Maybe it’s not necessary that he does. I
just think that if that is indeed the point, him realizing it would have made a
bigger impact. Regardless, the most interesting thing about this book for me is
that you either absolutely loved it or you completely hated it. There is no in-between really. I’m glad there
are people who adore this book and feel so strongly about it. It’s never a bad thing
to be taken by a book, but unfortunately I’m going to have to go into the hated
it column. The reason I’m giving it 2 stars is because of the strong feelings
it seems to bring out on either side.
Available on Amazon at the link below:
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