Catcher In The Rye Review by Serge Mass

Catcher In The Rye by: J.D. Salinger

Review by: Sergei Mass of SLA

Catcher In the Rye is by far one of the best books I have read in a while. It has some very exhilarating life experiences that the main character Holden Caulfield. The book also has some pretty important life lessons that recur throughout the bulk of the novel.

The first thing that comes to people’s mind when they hear the name “Catcher In The Rye”, they probably think of “foul language” or “complete waste of time” or even just “boring”. Well, that was me before I picked up this book... Until I started to reading the book.

The book starts out with the boy Holden telling his story about how he ended up at Pencey Prep which is in Pennsylvania ( PA stand up!). He is failing all of his classes and he is not doing completely well in school. He has been asked to leave the school and to move out because it is a boarding school. From there he gets into a fight with his jock roommate that is going to go out with an old friend of Holden. Holden is a weak kid so he loses. Then he starts packing his stuff to leave the school then he hears that one of his old teachers are sick and he stops by to talk about what’s going with life and everything. Then Holden leaves for New York. He goes to a hotel and decides to stay there for a few nights because his parents are not home. It was a bad idea for Holden to stay at that hotel. He discovers that his neighbors across the hall are putting in work. So Holden goes into a slump of loneliness and does what all lonely men do and go to a club to find someone. He ends up meeting a hooker. He takes the hooker and pays her and spills his heart out to her. She leaves and the Pimp comes back and beats Holden. He did not bother trying to fight back. Now I don’t want you to know too much. You need to read the book!

Throughout the story the Author throws out a few key lessons in the story which I like and I think are helpful. One is worry about yourself before worrying about others. Now in the story Holden is a skitsofrantic and he is always worrying and having all of these connections to his dead brother and multiple girls that he loved at once. He is one of those people that thinks about others before himself. Now that is not a bad thing at all, but if you do it too much it can bend and change you. If you have not noticed, Holden is in a mental institution when he is writing this because he worries about others.

The other thing I picked up from this book is to worry about the present, not the past. Holden is writing about this years after any of this stuff happened and if you live in the past and not the present, you will get NOWHERE in life.

I honestly had a great time reading this book. It was a very twisted chain of events that happened to a school student. The high level of intellectuality of the Author is definitely at an all time high. This book is not your everyday novel of a kids life. This is deep shit. I really liked how the author used the time era as an advantage in this novel. It really set the mood and made it interesting to read. The whole 1950’s Manhattan set the book because I can picture most of this stuff in my head and I love New York.

Another thing I liked about the book is that Holden is a complete nut. It really gave a broad spectrum on the book and it shed light on the deeper parts of life, but in a crazy person’s mind. The little things that an author does in a story changes everything really.

I would really recommend this book to anyone. The reason I said it is for everyone is that this book is a mix of everything. Even if you don’t like it in the beginning, you will end up liking this in the end. The other reason it is for anyone is because the lessons that are taught are very good life lessons that will help you get far in life. The last reason I recommend this book is because I really enjoyed it. Even though I am not a book kind of guy, I really liked it and i’m picky. If I liked it, i’m sure you would like it too. Now pick up this book today and start reading.

Creative Piece: This piece of art signifies the title of the book “Catcher In The Rye”. In the story Holden identifies himself as the catcher in the rye, to save kids from their innocence. He has to stop them from falling off the cliff of rye and into growing up.