The 7th time I read this book, I did so in Alaska. It's 4:13 a.m., I need to sleep but my brain is buzzing too much. Everything has changed in my life, and I turn to this book every year in October or November as a source of comfort, something that is the same, and not changing. I understand Holden because I know he misses Allie as much as I miss someone I miss very much and very dearly. Seeing his grief put into words takes a bit of my own away each time, because finally, SOMEONE understands, even if that someone is fictional. I, too, want to be a Catcher. Not in the Rye. One for words. A Catcher of Words. I would like to think I could save myself, and the rest of us, from going off whatever cliff we may go off of, but I'm unsure. Some might argue Holden doesn't have it that bad, that he complains too much. But I argue that while yes, complaining is annoying sometimes, he is so trapped by the weight and walls of grief that he simply can't see a way out of it. He is deeply hurting teenager trying to do whatever he can to take some of it outside himself. Maybe that's why I like this book so much. I'll keep rereading it every year as long as I'm alive.

I chose to read this book mostly because it is referenced so much in modern popular culture. Many modern authors will list it as one of their major influences and even some television shows will use it for their benefit (none more so than the recent Netflix success Bojack Horseman). As with most books that exist, this seems to be a book that polarises opinion. Either people adore it or they despise it, there seems to be very few opinions that do not meet either of these two extremes. As for me, I find that your love or hatred of this book depends entirely on whether or not you can identify with the main character. Holden Caulfield is cynical, jaded and pessimistic. He sees very little positives in his life and constantly talks down the people that he meets during this brief insight into his life. He is depressive and negative, self-derogatory and petulant, bordering on ignorant at times. I for one can truly identify with Holden. I think we have all had that phase in our lives where things have been at a low and we simply cannot see the positives in what is around us. This is essentially a book about nothing. Nothing major happens, there are no surprise twists and there isn't even really an ending to speak of. Yet somehow I found this book to be enthralling, captivating and difficult to put down. I found the writing style to be engaging and can fully understand how it could be seen as an influence on many modern day writers. Of course this book is most famous for how constantly it lands on "Banned book" lists and many people think that it must be because of something scandalous that occurs within the narrative, however the true reason for this is the narrative itself. Caulfield (i.e. Salinger) swears constantly and talks openly about subjects that were, for the time, risque. All in all I would say that this is one of those books that everybody should at least attempt to read, if for no other reason than to try to understand why it has become such an influence upon the literature and media that we enjoy today. I can also understand if someone were to say to me that they disliked the story or simply could not see all the fuss behind it. I enjoyed it and I would read it again, whilst also recommending it to my friends.

The Catcher in the Rye is an incredible book. It realy is. Is is killing me. But you realy have to be in the mood for it. Boy, you realy have. The novel is a difficult one to review for me. I understand what it is trying to do, but to understand the message completely, I have to read it a second, maybe a third time. The most important aspects of the book, are defenetly Holden Caulefield and his narration, as demonstrated above. His character is so relateable and human, wheater you like him or not. And his style of narration makes the topics he talkes about, like the phonieness of the people arround him, as relevant as 69 years ago. I don't understand the people who are bashing the book for its lack of story. The novel cleary doesn't want to have convince with a clever plot, it's all about the characters and Holdens view on things and these aspects are executed perfectly. But I guess people these times are so used to amazing stories with even better twists that a book which is focused on a single character is simply too boring for them. Allthough I understand in which direction the book is going and what intentions are behind the lack of story and the strong focus on Caulfield, I still struggle with the overall message. Maybe it's because English is not my first language, which makes it difficult for me to get immersed in the book. For this, I have to re-read the book a second, maybe even a third time, which I usually won't do. This time thou, I'm looking forward to it.

I love old books which count as "the classics" but this one is by far the most boring and uninteresting one I have read. The main character is annoying and just not much happens in general. It's alright to get an insight in the time frame of New York, but that is pretty much all one gets. I can't understand why this book counts as one of the "have to read" books.

i still don't know what to think of this book, how to connect all these pieces of information the protagonist told the reader, but I think that's the point. the book only tells the story about a few days of a teenager's life and how he is depressed and lonesome but, with the right people, happy and how he doesnt know his way in life...it was much more entertaining than it sounds!

Gelesen in der Originalversion Abgebrochen nach 100 Seiten. Sprachlich absolut nervig, unsympathische Hauptfigur und die Handlung langweilt mich. Zur Zeit habe ich leider absolut keinen Nerv für solch eine Lektüre. Vielleicht gebe ich dem Buch irgendwann in deutscher moderner Übersetzung nochmal eine Chance, sollte mir es zufällig in einem öffentlichen Bücherschrank oder ähnliches in die Hände fallen. Ich habe gehört die Neuübersetzung soll sprachlich besser zu lesen sein.

Am Anfang des Buches ist es schwierig dessen tieferen Sinn zu erkennen, dadurch wirkt die Handlung sehr belanglos und schon fast „unnötig“. Ich persönlich konnte erst auf den letzten Seiten wirklich verstehen was J.D. Salingers Botschaft an die Lesenden ist. Es gibt viele Bücher über die Probleme des Erwachsenwerdens (und viele davon habe ich gelesen) aber ich habe das Gefühl, dass keines davon den wirklichen Schmerz des Erwachsenwerdens und das Auflösen der kindlichen Illusion so treffend beschreibt wie „The Catcher in the Rye“

Viel weniger schlimm als ich gedacht und gehört hab, actually sehr entertaining wenn mans nicht persönlich nimmt (und welche 16-jährige white rich boys aus NYC sollte man schon ernst nehmen). Bonuspunkte fürs pretty cover das echt nur Titel & Author hat, KEINEN SCHNICKSCHNACK, pretty illustration & great colors, very cutesy, very musted, very talented, 100% demure

Interessantes Buch was hauptsächlich die Gedanken von Houlden verfolgt. Die Handlung ist eher eine Odysee durch New York. Unfassbar gut geschrieben, die Gedanken sind krass ausformuliert. Der Dude is‘ richtig pissed und ich kann es teilweise verstehen warum. Letzten Endes nicht ganz zu greifen weil es schon sehr Deep geht, obwohl es eine einfache Sprache nutzt, regt es heftig zum nachdenken an. Alleine die Interpretation von Catcher in the rye …. Könnte man Stunden darüber philosophieren.

Ok, I had to read this for a college class. Right now, I'm not sure I get it if that makes sense. It's basically a story of a teenage kid at a boarding school who gets kicked out and spends a few days in New York catching up with friends, getting drunk and smoking before he meets his sister and ends up going home instead of running away. Edited to add I read it again a few months later, and I changed my review to 4 stars. I get it now and I think its one of those books you have to read a few times to completely understand Holden and his story,

"Good books don't give up all secrets at once." - Stephen King I think this quote sums up my expectations for a great reading quiet well. However, after reading endless praising recommendations about Salingers novel I decided to give it a try. To be honest "The Catcher in the Rye" gave me a hard time. These 234 pages took me over two and a half weeks to finish it. While I enjoyed the concept of this book, how Salinger forces his audience to face the bare truth about lost innocence, children wishing to grow up too fast and precious time adults waste on worthless things, the protagonist Holden Caufield just annoyed me right from the start till the very unsatisfying end. After dropping out of prep-school he wanders clueless through whole New York, piting himself and whines about how shitty things are in life. Holden with his spoiled rich-kid attitude and first world problems just frustrates me reading. "Amazing!", "Brilliant!","a life-changing novel!" people said. I'm happy for you all and actually I didn't hate the story, but I'm still waiting for my Wowww-moment. Maybe I give J.D. Salinger a second chance in the future. my fav quote: "I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around - nobody big, I mean - except me. And I'm standing on the edge of some ivory cliff. 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 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." (chapter 22)

Habe mir das Buch immer ganz anders vorgestellt. Nachdem ich mich aber davon gelöst hatte, muss ich echt sagen, dass es ein recht gute Buch ist. Es war mir nur nicht ganz klar worauf es am Ende hinauslaufen wird. Das ist ja an sich auch nicht schlechtes, wenn man das nicht gleich weiß. Es ist aber vor allem keine leichte Lektüre, die einen mal so nebenbei aufheitert.

Gelesen in der Originalversion Abgebrochen nach 100 Seiten. Sprachlich absolut nervig, unsympathische Hauptfigur und die Handlung langweilt mich. Zur Zeit habe ich leider absolut keinen Nerv für solch eine Lektüre. Vielleicht gebe ich dem Buch irgendwann in deutscher moderner Übersetzung nochmal eine Chance, sollte mir es zufällig in einem öffentlichen Bücherschrank oder ähnliches in die Hände fallen. Ich habe gehört die Neuübersetzung soll sprachlich besser zu lesen sein.

Review: „The catcher in the rye“ by J.D.Salinger German title: „Der Fänger im Roggen“ Genre: coming - of - age, literary fiction, classic First publication: 1951 Werbung, selbstgekauft Inhalt und Meinung ohne Spoiler Selbst wenn ich wollte, könnte ich Euch nichts spoilern, denn das Buch hatte keine Handlung. Ich weiß gar nicht wie ich euch sagen soll, worum es geht. Am treffendsten wäre es wohl zu sagen, dass das Buch den internen Dialog von unserem Ich Erzähler und Protagonisten Holden Caulfield mit sich selbst beinhaltet. Holden ist zum wiederholten Male von einer Elite Schule geflogen und macht sich auf den Weg nach Hause, nach New York, ohne jedoch seiner Familie davon zu erzählen. Holden ist minderjährig, die Themen Trinken, Rauchen und sich Prostituierte bestellen spielen eine zu große Rolle für sein Alter (jedes Alter um ehrlich zu sein, aber gut). Das spätere Setting im New York der 1950er Jahre hat mir gut gefallen, es kam atmosphärisch absolut rüber. Auch die Einblicke in Holdens persönliche Trauer und seine Ängste, niemandem wichtig zu sein, haben mich sehr bewegt. Der Charakter ist von einer tiefen Einsamkeit umgeben und damit lässt sich auch einiges von seinem merkwürdigen Verhalten erklären. Ich denke das Buch wäre weniger missverständlich und provokant, wenn der Protagonist einige Jahre älter gewesen wäre. Der Schreibstil war größtenteils vulgär, klassenorientiert und der Zeit geschuldet schon extrem sexistisch. Wie so oft hinterlässt ein Klassiker einen faden Beigeschmack bei mir. Das Ende war überraschend, ich hätte etwas anderes erwartet. Rating 3/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I read a review once, that said you either understand Holden Caulfield, or you don't. What I have to say after finishing this book is - I don't. I absolutely don't get a thing this boy was thinking. First of all, everybody, and I mean everybody this boy knew was phony in his opinion. That was his favourite word anyway. Phony. Everything and everybody was phony. And second, everything was depressing him. It got me quite depressed, too. It was horrible. I don't even know why I'm giving this book two stars and not better one. I rarely read a book that I liked less than this one. Holden is this kind of person that thinks so high about himself, while everybody else is s**t. He annoyed the hell out of me. Every little thing he did annoyed me. There was this conversation he had with his sister Phoebe, where she asked him to tell him one thing that he really liked. He couldn't think of a single thing. And that's what is what I thought about him, while I read the book. He is so damn stressed out about everything and gets depressed about everything and doesn't enjoy anything. I don't know how this boy gets through life, but to be real honest - I don't even want to know. I'm just so glad that I finally finished this book and that I can throw it into the next corner and never look at it again. That's the way I feel about this book right now.

Ich habe selten einen so unglaublich unsympathischen Protagonisten wie Holden erlebt. Klar, das ist irgendwo auch der Sinn und Zweck der Geschichte, aber irgendwann ging es mir nur noch auf die Nerven. Er ist altklug und kindisch, narzisstisch und doch mehr als alles andere geplagt von Selbsthass, auch wenn alle, außer ihm selbst an seinen Problemen schuld sind. Leider auch sehr präsent im Buch ist Sexismus, bedingt natürlich durch die Zeit der Entstehung der Geschichte, aber es war trotzdem sehr störend, dem Protagonisten dabei zuzuhören, alle Frauen, die er trifft, auf Aussehen und Stereotype zu reduzieren. Das ganze Buch war ein ständiges Auf und Ab und Hin und Her und zwischenzeitlich musste ich mich wirklich zwingen, weiterzulesen. Handlung hat das Buch nämlich kaum, was an sich auch in Ordnung ist, das bloße Chaos allerdings, das sich im Laufe der Geschichte anhäuft, ist für den Leser schwer zu begreifen und auch generell nicht so wirklich sinnvoll. Was das Buch aber authentisch vermittelt, ist die Atmosphäre und Stimmung der Zeit, in der er spielt. Wenn sonst schon nicht viel, dann habe ich jetzt wenigstens ein recht detailliertes, wenn auch durcheinandergewürfeltes Bild von New York in den 1950ern. Warum das Buch allerdings immer noch als Schullektüre geschätzt wird, verstehe ich wirklich überhaupt nicht.

Ein depressiver Junge, der die Welt hasst. Unglaublich belanglos geschrieben und ohne wirkliche Erkenntnisse, Moral oder auch nur ein richtiges Ende. Gut, das macht den Roman irgendwie auch realistisch, weil er vermutlich das Leben jedes zweiten auf diesem Planeten beschreibt, auf die eine oder andere Weise, aber das erklärt, warum man etwas so irrelevantes aufschreiben sollte.