Maida_B.Review

Jennifer Maida Book Review __Catcher in the__ By: J.D. Salinger

//“That’s all I’d do all day. I’d just be the catcher in the rye and all…”//

Written in 1951, [|J.D. Salinger] publishes __The Catcher in the Rye__, a novel about a teen named [|Holden Caulfield]. Written in first person, Holden describes his thoughts, opinions and indifferent attitude towards life, school, and people in general. His laid back attitude and imprudent personality causes him to be kicked out of Pency Prep; a private school to which he attends. Holden fails nearly every subject except English because of his natural born ability to write. Holden’s older brother D.B. is a Hollywood writer/ author. Allie, Holden’s younger brother who died of Leukemia wrote literature as well. Holden is sixteen years old during the storyline of the book. He narrates his experiences in other private schools, and talks about the phonies and crooks at Pency Prep. The story continues as Holden describes his late nights out, drunken stories, and talks about the curious thoughts he has on his mind. He wonders about where ducks go during the winter at [|Central Park] and thinks about his little sister Phoebe at home. The profanity and witty comments from Holden keep the story line interesting, funny and keep the reader pondering about the certain aspects of Holden’s life. __Catcher in the Rye__ has become an important novel in high school. Although the profanity is rough, along with sexual humor and teenage angst, high school students should absolutely read this book. It teaches readers some of the responsibilities of life and other morals, such as staying in school and applying ones self. __Catcher in the Rye__, was a great book in that it provided comical comments of Holden’s thoughts, and humorous opinions. Not only does it allow students to learn different morals of life, but it allows them to open their minds to see the different symbols that Salinger sneaks into his writing. As a high school student, I would recommend this book not only to people who are in high school, but to parents or other adults. __Catcher in the Rye__ is not only for teens who are currently growing up and experiencing the difficulties of responsibility and staying in school. Adult’s who are dealing with the same issues or dealing with their children should read this novel, because the idea of responsibility sticks out within the lines of the book. In the last few chapters, Salinger wrote about a carrousel, where Phoebe and Holden are near. Holden describes children trying to reach for a gold ring on the horse and almost falling off. Holden discusses a train of that that applies to adults as much as it does to teenagers. Holden thinks about how children need to learn to fall by themselves with out someone helping them or preventing them from falling. This thought, although surprising coming from Holden can show adults that kids, brothers etc need to experience their own mistakes in order to learn from them. Salinger writes an excellent book, showing morals, responsibility, deep within the symbolism of Holden’s story. This book Is highly recommended for high school students as well as their parents and other adults. Maida_B.Review