Reviews tagging 'Death'

Над пропастью во ржи by J.D. Salinger

89 reviews

pau_line's review against another edition

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fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.25

"Ich hätte beinahe geheult, so verflucht glücklich war ich, falls das jemanden inreressiert" -> Nein Holdeny niemandes interessierts.
Weil boah dieses Buuch nh...ich weiß ja nicht, ob mein intellektuelles Niveau einfsch nicht an das Buch heranreicht oder was das Problem ist, aber wArUm IsT dAs eIn KlAsSiKeR!?

Ich fands furchtbar, also wirklich. Und das lag zu 95% an Holden Caulfield. 
Die Erzählperspektive an sich udn auch den Schreibstil fand ich ja gar nicht schlecht, aber die Hauptfigur war ein Albtraum auf 2 Beinen für mich.
Meiner Meinung nach kann er sich definitiv hinter Faust und Harry Haller einreihen, udn das will was heißen...
Holden ist ein verwöhnter, selbstzentrierter, weißer junger Mann, der alles und jeden hasst, lustlos durchs Leben geht und alle anderen als Nichtsnutze, als dumm und hässlich beschreibt.
Müsste man eine Liste erstellen mit Dingen, die Holden hasst, wäre es leichter aufzuzählen, was er nicht hasst.
Holden hat keinerlei Antrieb und sein Leben läuft schlecht. Trotzdem kann er es nicht lassen, alles und jeden um ihn herum zu kritisieren.
Er kümmert sich überhaupt nicht um sein Umfeld, allein schon, dass er gefühlt 100 Leute nachts aus dem Schlaf reißt, nur weil ihm langweilig ist?!
In gewissen Belangen (sehr wenigen) konnte ich ihn ja verstehen, trotzden hab ich selten so wenig Mitgefühl udn Sympathie für einen Protagonisten empfunden.

Und was bitte ist jetzt die Moral von der Geschichte? Was soll dieses Ende? 
Insgesamt
Alles war absolut random, die Handlung merkwürdig, Holden war wie ausführlich geschildert einfach schlimm.
Der Typ ist 16?! Er sauft und raucht dauerhaft!? Was ist los mit dem!??!?🥲😭

Immerhin kann ich jetzt mitreden, falls irgendwer mal irgendwann dieses Buch besprechen will, aber hätte man sich meines Erachtens wirklich sparen können

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berratrixie's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

the extremely slow pacing of some parts in the book make it a slog to get through, but the catcher in the rye is overall still an intriguing story with lots of memorable and emotionally impactful highlights.

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emisbooks's review against another edition

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emotional reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

i enjoyed this book. i didn't find it incredible, but it wasn't terrible. 

the language/writing style is very 1950's. i enjoyed the writing style but also found the constant repetition of the words goddamn, old, phony, and lousy quite frustrating. however i realise this is likely a stylistic choice as holden is a teenage boy with a seemingly limited vocabulary. 

i found holden's character annoying, but that's kind of the point. he thinks hes maturer than he is and often makes stupid decisions that get him in a complete mess which was quite interesting to read. he's just a stupid teenage boy trying to conquer a big city with no real plan. 

this book didn't have much of a plot and was far more character driven which i don't mind. the story is mostly just holden experiencing new york, pondering on his past and observing the world. it's also very fast paced with short chapters. 

i didn't like how women were portrayed in this book. whilst it was published in the 50s and holden is a teenage boy, i felt like the women only served as meaningless plot devices that were either sex obsessed or "phony." 

i found the last scene with his sister on the carousel very sweet, even if i did find the way holden describes her strange at times, considering she's 10 years old.


overall: solid 3.5 stars. good character driven story. writing style is part infuriating and part interesting. i'd recommend if you need a quick literary fiction read. 

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rory_john14's review against another edition

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slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5


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mskingbean69's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5


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hannah_cogo's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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maddalenacesco's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

teenage misanthropist who grew up in a silver-spoon gated community.

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atlasobi's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

"Certain things they should stay the way they are. You ought to be able to stick them in one of those big glass cases and just leave them alone. I know that's impossible, but it's too bad anyway."

i can see why some people wouldn't like this book, but honestly i think i love it for those same reasons. the catcher in the rye is an angsty coming of age novel about holden caulfield, a teenager struggling with depression & growing up in the 1950s. holden's smart but unable to apply himself, he feels alone and struggles connecting with other people, and he's desperately clinging to his childhood as everything, even he himself, is changing. yeah he's whiny and depressed and lonesome (rip bozo), but who wasn't at 16 lmao
so glad at the reveal that he gets admitted to a mental hospital for a while tho like... you need help kid!
couldn't in good conscience recommend this to just anyone bc i know how much some people hate it lol but it's definitely worth a try imo !!

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wrensandroses's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25


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zeraphyr's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

It started with a bit of a slouch (it wasn't to easy to adjust to 1940's New York slang at first), but I quickly found myself drawn to Salingers way of weaving the complex struggles of adolescence into the narrative through Holden's own conflicted perspective. And boy does he have a very strong perspective. 

While Holden is certainly a very... idiosyncratic character (he's a bit of a dick, quick to pass judgment on others whilst falling short of identifying the same flaws in himself sometimes), he's also a character that's very true to the adolescent struggle of failing to fit in. To find a purpose in a world that places a lot of restrictions upon people while growing up. And how in trying to rebel against the confines of adulthood and this sense of alienation from ourselves, we can get lost just as well as when we're giving in.

There's a lot of other interesting themes and often dark topics (like sexual assault and trauma) that get brought up, but this one resonated with me the most. 

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