The Catcher in the Rye

[Sharop]

Has anyone here read this book? I'm reading it right now, and am really enjoying it. If anyone here is looking for something new to read, I'd recommend "The Catcher in the Rye."

It's quite a controversial book, though - it's been banned numerous times, and Mark Chapman, who killed John Lennon, was obssessed with the book. He started reading it right after he killed him and apparently the book was part of his reason for killing John - the protagonist, Holden Caulfield, hated "phonies" and Mark Chapman decided John was one of them.

It's not a particularly happy book, although it can be funny. The narrator, Holden Caulfield, is quite bitter and cynical, and he seems to dislike the adult world a good deal. To give a few details of the plot: the book begins with Holden in some kind of psychiatric hospital or sanitarium where he tells the reader of the events of a few days in December 1949. He was expelled from his school, Pencey Prep, for failing four of his five subjects (he passed English) and was not allowed to return after the school broke up for the Christmas break. Although there were a few days to go until the term ended, Holden decided to leave early after some bad experiences and spent a few days in New York.

Here are some quotes: (there's quite a lot of strong language in the book, although there's not much in the quotes I posted. What little there is, I've placed asterisks in the words.)

The introduction:

If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of c**p, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth. In the first place, that stuff bores me, and in the second place, my parents would have about two hemorrhages apiece if I told anything pretty personal about them. They're quite touchy about anything like that, especially my father. They're nice and all - I'm not saying that - but they're also touchy as hell. Besides, I'm not going to give you my whole go**am autohbiography or anything. I'll just tell you about this madman stuff that happened to me around last Christmas just before I got pretty run-down and had to come out here and take it easy.

From chapter three:

I'm the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life. It's awful. If I'm on my way to the store to buy a magazine, even, and somebody asks me where I'm going, I'm liable to say I'm going to the opera.

A third:

What I really felt like, though, was committing suicide. I felt like jumping out the window. I probably would've done it, too, if I'd been sure somebody'd cover me up as soon as I landed. I didn't want a bunch of stupid rubbernecks looking at me when I was all gory.

Finally, a fourth:

What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff - I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I'd do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd really like to be. I know it's crazy.

[Rene]

catcher and the rye is my all time favorite book! i love how everyone is soo phony to him

[stella]

For a bunch of quotes from the book, go to:

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Catcher_in_the_Rye

My favorite quote has to be:

"The trouble with girls is, if they like a boy, no matter how big a bastard he is, they'll say he has an inferiority complex, and if they don't like him, no matter how nice a guy he is, or how big an inferiority complex he has, they'll say he's conceited. Even smart girls do it."

[Titania]

it's been awhile since i read it, but i remember really enjoying it in early high school.

my favorite part was with holden's little sister (pheobe?)

[TJL]

Glad to know that Catcher In The Rye is still being issued to High School students across America.

[Number 9 Dream]

This book is excellent...definitely one of my favorites! I should read it again

[Kristen]

This is one of my fave books. I haven't read it in years, but I remember when I read it in hs, I kept thinking, "Yeah, me too!" I think a lot of teenagers can relate to Holden.

[Sharop]

It's nice to see there are some fans. I must admit, although I've known that it was in our house for a while, I put off reading it for a long time, because I'm a John Lennon fan, and I was sure I'd be able to think of nothing but him being killed if I ever tried to read it. Thankfully, though, I've found I can forget about that whilst reading the book.

[TheGreatPretender]

It was a good book. I had to read the ending again to understand what happened to Holden. I was kind of irritated with his character.

[crystals]

I read the book once. I got it out from the library last summer. It was kind of interesting. I almost didn't read the book because of what Mark David Chapman did after he read the book. Robert Bardo who shot Rebecca Schaeffer had a copy of Catcher in the Rye, too at the time of his arrest. So, I kind of first associated the book with murder cases I had heard about and that put me off the book at first, but then I read it and the book was better than I expected it to be.

[MsOrange]

i've never read it

[Nighthawk76]

A great book!