The Catcher in the Rye Reviews

journal entry

today i am 15 years old. everything is all bullshit, as usual. i can't believe how fucked everything is around me. like i'm surrounded by zombies. i can't talk to any of my so-called friends, i can't talk to jamie, i can't talk to my parents. who would bother listening anyway. i cannot wait to leave orange county! this place makes me fucking sick. everyone is a hypocrite. everything is so goddamn bright and shiny and sunny and meaningless. FUCK, life is so full of crap.

there is one good thing in my life though. just read this book Catcher in the Rye. blown away! i don't know how a book written decades ago could say exactly what i would say. it is like the author was reading my thoughts and put it all down in this book. things i didn't even realize i felt were right there on the page! I LOVED IT. i think this is my favorite novel of all time. which is not saying a whole lot because there is a ton of pretentious bullshit out there and i bet mrs. durham will force us to read it all. man i hate that bitch.

journal entry

today i am 20 years old. life is great as usual. just enjoyed my wednesday morning wake-and-bake session with j-p, the sun is shining, the san diego weather is beautiful, and tonight i'm off to rob & gregg's to destroy them at bullshit. love that game! gregg says that joelle will be there (yes!) but she'll probably bring that prick pete with her. one of these days i'm going to lose it and kick his ass. "i'm in a band"...fuck you, pete! i will never spin your records.

all i have on the agenda today is to go to the gym and then off to keracik's american lit class. it is not a bad class, although it is nowhere close to gender studies with halberstam. or davidoff's survey of modern postmodernism last semester. now that was a class! it blew my mind. so many things to think about. the reading in american lit has been okay. but we've been assigned to read Catcher in the Rye and it is terrible. can't believe i ever liked this book. caulfield is a whiny little bitch. the book has no depth. there is literally nothing going on with the narrative, style, theme, characterization, it is just one rote cliché after another. he thinks he is such a rebel-without-a-cause but in reality he is just another tired representation of rootless, stereotypical masculinity and gender essentialism. completely inane and without meaning. i think my essay will use some acker-style postmodernist techniques to show how simplistic this trite "classic" truly is. i'm going to deconstruct the shit out of this novel, baby!

journal entry

today i am 25 years old. another gray, drizzly san francisco morning. i wish christopher would wake up, i really need to talk to him after all that shit last night. notes on my pillow, really?? time to grow up dude, i will never "complete you". well actually i'm glad he's still asleep, my throat is too sore to get into it right now with him. plus Food Not Bombs is happening this morning and i have to get the kitchen ready. john is probably hard at work already, typical over-achieving behavior. i bet the wisconsin kids are still crashing on our living room floor. it's time for them to leave! they've seen The Vindictives at every single Epicenter or Gilman show now and it is time for them to hit the road. or learn to take a shower. this apartment is not the world's crashpad!

i woke up early this morning and thumbed through A Catcher in the Rye. i remember hating this book in college for some reason. probably wasn't po-mo enough for me. or "challenging". feh. what a pretentious idiot i was. this is a beautiful book. it changed my life as a kid, i'm not sure how i would have survived orange county without it. just re-reading parts of it brought back all that old angst about all the fucked-up shit in the world that kids have to deal with. i'm not sure there is another book as insightful or as meaningful. or funny! that part with the clipping-of-the-toenails is hilarious. ackley is such a douche. this book is the foundation of every zine that i have ever loved. a perfect novel. it is so...."human", i guess.

journal entry

today i am 30 years old. man my head hurts...so hungover! my birthday party last night was awesome. even got to spend some time on the turntables (thanks kraddy for actually relinquishing a tiny bit of control for once). i must have made out with a half-dozen people. sadly, no real action. i think last night's party will be the last big party i will ever throw. things have got to change. no more partying like the world is about to end, i still have my entire life ahead of me! tomorrow i am going to go into AIG and hand in my notice. i am not an entertainment insurance underwriter, that is not me. fuck them. if erika can get me that job working with homeless kids at Hospitality House, than i am set. although moving from the biggest room in the flat to the water heater closet will be no fun. i'm 30 years old now for chrissakes! still, i've got to do something meaningful with my life. it cannot all be about booze, drugs, hooking up, and paying everyone's rent when they're broke. things have got to change.

i cracked open A Catcher in the Rye yesterday before the party and read some of my favorite parts. what an inspiration! seriously, that is a classic novel. it is packed with meaning. i'm twice caulfield's age but i still somehow connect with him in a very direct way. my life is going to change and the attitude expressed in that book is at the heart of that change. i love you, holden caulfied. it's not too late for me to learn from you, to find some meaning in life.

journal entry

today i am 35 years old. another intense, sad, but deeply fulfilling week has passed. every day something meaningful happens, something so emotional and real. sometimes i find myself just losing it in a fetal position because of the things i've seen. working with people who are drug addicted or who have been abused or who are dying is HEAVY. but it is also beautiful. it's hard to believe i am dealing with all of that and supporting my folks too. thank God i have good friends to talk to about these things. anyway. so now marcy wants to have a kid. i just don't know how i feel about that. this is such a fucked up world, do we really want to bring new life into it? i dunno. it seems....selfish, somehow. she should just quit her job with the d.a.'s office and get back to her roots in the public defender's office instead. does she think that having a child with me will bring more meaning into her life? my life has meaning enough already. and i really am not sure i can handle that responsibility on top of everything else.

i skimmed A Catcher in the Rye yesterday, after an awkward talk with marcy about having a baby. it was not an inspiring read. caulfield is so full of misplaced angst! i'm not sure i even understand him anymore. why is he so pissed off? he's seen nothing of the world and what the world can actually do to people. i want to like him, i want to re-capture that feeling of affection i had for him, but now his contempt and his anger just seem so meaningless, so naive. he really does not have it so bad. there is so much worse out there. i don't know how i would handle a kid like that. i hate to say it, but i constantly rolled my eyes when reading it. oh the emotional self-absorption of youth! just you wait, caulfield. it sure gets a hell of a lot more complicated once you grow up.

journal entry

today i am 40 years old. when did i become a boss? it is like i woke up one day, mysteriously transformed into an old man. am i really a "leader"? what does that even mean? sometimes i feel like i am just faking it all and someone is going to figure it out and blow the whistle on me. last week i made a huge play on the Council, i had all my ducks in a row, and all the votes came in just as i had planned. everyone has their own agenda and the way to get things done is simply to recognize and engage with that disappointing fact. some folks got up and started clapping and then the whole room joined in, even council members who voted against my motion - feh, phonies. the experience was sort of amazing but it also made me feel very odd, almost disconnected from myself. is this who i am now, a public policy figure, a community advocate, a mayoral appointee? ugh, i can't stand the mayor. i don't feel like me. there is accomplishment there, and some satisfaction... but i am missing something, something visceral, something real. sweet Jesus, is this what a mid-life crisis feels like? it is a weird feeling, like i know everything that i need to know about the world, about the people around me, how everything connects, but yet i still feel like i know so little about life. oh, such angst, mark. surely you've outgrown this?

i've started re-reading A Catcher in the Rye. it's so strange, during different parts, i felt like crying. a wonderful and moving novel. i feel like i really understand holden, like he is my guide, my son, my brother, my friend... myself. i think of him and i know that change in the world and changing myself can still happen. it just has to happen. that's life after all, right?

Terminé de leer el Catcher in The Rye, uno de los títulos más amados de Estados Unidos por básicamente ocasionar el asesinato de John Lennon. Ustedes sólo lo conocerán por ese episodio de South Park que se burla del libro por ser aburrido con problemas de primer mundo. Esas son precisamente las impresiones que obtuve: unas setenta mil palabras sobre el día a día de un perdedor con problemas de primer mundo.

Hablar de la trama sería una pérdida de tiempo porque no existe; es un insight por completo de la mente de Holden Caulfield y como de irreverente es su vida. Si no lo lees con el contexto adecuado pensarás que es una mierda dado a que el appeal se basa en ir en contra de toda clase de mentalidad boyscout que tanto detestamos el autor y yo. También es sobre demostrar cuán vacua es la vida de los adolescentes tras la segunda guerra mundial y en la que Estados Unidos empezaba a dar señales de su creciente cinismo, ejemplificado en la figura de Holden. El protagonista es un mocoso lleno de self-loathing, demostrado en que la narración es en primera persona para que cada estructura sintáctica o gramatical sea como un tour de su vida. Cada párrafo se escribió con cuanta maroma mental o error compositivo puedas pensar. Contra todo pronóstico, sirve para que sepamos que Holden es un desastre. Rl texto pues sirve para recalcar que está frustrado psicológicamente.

Siempre pierde el tiempo hablando de un evento relevante en el presente para saltar a situaciones pasadas que no tenían que ver y volver a un inicio. En cada anécdota se la pasa quejándose remarcando a aquellos a su alrededor como “phonies” por ser falsos en su imagen de perfección. Es una crítica a las pretensiones que poseyeran aquellos que exceden en ciertas áreas más aparentan más de lo que son. Hipócritamente, Holden termina por  sumergirse en auto-desprecio al igual que los supuestos "phonies" al mentir sobre su vida, haciéndola más fantástica o cool de lo que es, cayendo en esa falsedad que tanto parlotea. En buena medida por su vida problemática, en gran medida por su propia culpa.

Ya se habrán dado cuenta que es imposible no hablar del libro sin dejar de detallar a Holden, puesto que es lo único interesante. La caracterización está a la par de personajes como Shinji Ikari, otro adolescente lleno de problemas emocionales. Holden expresa su perspectiva de lo que sea que le rodea sin tapujos o sin percatarse que la está cagando por su estilo de vida. Si pudiera resumírselos fácil, sería como ver a Oreki llamando autista a Chitanda en lugar de seguir paso por paso las investigaciones, y que estén en un mundo lleno de marginados y decadencia cultural. Es un tópico relacionable con una amplia audiencia pues está dirigido a los inadaptados que se creen rebeldes cuando lidian con dilemas internos en vez de externos. Como dijo Quagmire, pensar que Holden es un gran crítico es sinónimo de ser como él (un llorica).

Y eso es lo único bueno que puedo decir al respecto; es relacionable para los marginados, tiene cierto self-awareness y una caracterización muy vivida e inmersiva. Esto ocurre a expensas de una trama o desarrollo de personaje, por supuesto. Los personajes no cambian o pasan por un inconveniente que ate sus objetivos. Ese es otro problema, es como FLCL, no hay objetivos o motivaciones en sí, aunque al menos FLCL lograba tener progreso y una conclusión con los personajes cambiando por la química. En el Catcher in The Rye no existe tal cambio o conclusión, Holden sigue igual con una única distinción siendo las locuras que vivió tras fugarse y ser golpeado por una prostituta y mierdas de ese calibre.

Por si acaso son inteligentes, ya pueden darse una idea de por qué los personajes valen menos que la trama. Puedes hacerlos lo más complicado que desees, con dignas lecturas psiquiátricas y eso significa nada si no tienen un camino que puedan seguir o algo de evolución para que las cosas progresen. ¿De qué me sirve que Holden se la pase criticando sus alrededores si es que no hará algo al respecto? Es una pérdida de tiempo y potencial desperdiciado.

Al sacarle algo de jugo extra, Holden trata cosas las adaptaciones y el cine igual a porquerías.  Detesta a los adultos porque están muertos en vida o algo así, cree que la niñez es lo mejor por la inocencia usando una alegoria de que resume el titulo de la obra y en efecto es tan patético que culpa a los demás de sus errores o tiene el grado de atención de un pez dorado. Eso refuerza mi punto; es como un checklist de aquello que él avista en un momento dado y por ende necesita tirarle flores, en el caso de lo que sea pro-rebelión, y palos a lo conservador. ¿No les parece de plano extraño que nunca empiece a cuestionarse a sí mismo? Es como si lo demás sea relevante en lugar de él o como pueda lidiar con su familia o novia, o los bullies y amigos.

Es demasiado auto-absorbente, no hay estructura narrativa o siquiera un final, es quedarse como Holden, atrapado en la mediocridad. Como cereza en el pastel, eso lo hace relativamente mejor a Kyon o Oreki—son más o menos el mismo cuento—por ser menos empalagoso, pero carece de las relaciones que los primeros poseen. Por ello, véanlo como un proto Oregairu, SNAFU, Hyouka o Haruhi Suzumiya. 

Prosa: 10/10

Descripciones 2/2 (detallistas)

Longitud 1/2 (va describiendo a como debe)

Redacción 2/2 (maravillosa)

Manejo del tiempo y la narración 2/2 (tanto a nivel estructural como psicológico)

Diálogos 2/2 (naturales)

Trama: 4/10 

Base 1/2 (Slice of Life)

Ritmo 0/2 (no hay progreso de ningún tipo)

Complejidad 1/2 (mucho Slice of Life en medio de los temas, pero hay)

plausibilidad 2/2 (es mundano, no hay más plausibilidad que eso)

Conclusión 0/2 (no hay)

Personajes: 5/10

Presencia: 1/2 (salvo Holden, es completamente pasiva y genérica)

Personalidad 2/2 (todos)

Profundización 2/2 (Holden)

Desarrollo 0/2 (no hay)

Catarsis 0/2 (no hay)

Importancia: 6/10

Valor histórico 3/3 (clásico)

revisita 1/3 (más un pasatiempos que otra cosa)

Memorabilidad 2/4 (hay otros demasiado parecidos como para ser recordable)

Disfrute: 5/10

meh

Calificación: 5/10  

Why is this book considered iconic? Because it's the most life-changing experience a work can ever get. Why is that so?

Because it helps people having been sexually abused to get over it.

You definitely must read this book if you have any experience related to sexual abuse and are well aware of its consequences (whether you came through this problem yourself or not). You'll definitely like it-- and it's more than simply "like" it.

People disliking the book because of Holden's annoying character are missing the point. And I don't blame them, because they most certainly don't have the experience needed to get it.

The Catcher in the Rye is about a young student experiencing the direct consequences of sexual abuse. And the reason why the book is life-changing is because it teaches you that you're not the only one in this world to suffer and to hate the world, you're not the only one that don't ever want to hear about sex, and because it allows you to see YOURSELF with the needed detachment to see how pathetic you are and how worse you can become if you don't get over it.

The only way someone could ever come with a book this TRUE is to have come through this type of problem once. That's why... Salinger's death strongly moved me.

Hope I've been helpful to people not understanding why is the book so famous, and made some of you want to read it.

C'è da andare in "brodo di giuggiole" a leggere questo libro. Se si pensa con la testa di un ventenne d'oggi, magari non sembra così trasgressivo (anche se non ci scommetterei). Ma i libri sono fatti per questo, per mettersi nella testa e nei panni di un epoca e di un personaggio. Ci sono mille modi per raccontare l'irrequietezza giovanile, ma quello di Salinger mi è sembrato il migliore.

This book is perfect *.*

I love so much

Having never read it until now, but always holding it in a place of respect and iconic status (due to the popularity of it's name-dropping in so many mediums and genres), I feel somewhat disappointed with the actual work.

Intriguing? Yes. Life-changing? Undoubtably. Enjoyable? Eh. I really felt as though I was forcing myself to finish the entire book, just in desperate hope of finding purpose for the story and meaning in its message. It was frustrating in that aspect. Add to that the constant profanity, it really was a chore to finish the entire book, despite its brief length.

What it lost in respect in those areas, it found endearment in others. A relate-able story with as much room for interpretation as to the author's meaning and purpose as you choose to employ ... a chipped-tooth tale with callow emotion and truth.

The masterpiece? The magnum opus? Whatever the hell you want to call this - it's got enough truth to drive some people insane. If you haven't read this, you're not a functioning member of society. But don't stop here, either - this is hardly the man's finest hour. Deeper, more beautiful words lie further into the Salinger collection...