Reviews with content warning for Pedophilia - Над пропастью во ржи

Based on the years of people telling me this book was terrible or it sucked, I believe it's because they didn't wrap their mind around the fact that this book is supposed to show you some form of empathy.

We're shown 3 days of 16 year-old Holden's life, and the text is trying to make you feel empathetic towards him, who is struggling with the loss of his innocence. Almost everyone can relate to that.

Salinger has a unique prose when it comes to Holden's perspective and how Holden sees the world. I think that those who dislike The Catcher in the Rye either couldn't grasp the idea of putting themselves in someone else's shoes when they read through it, or were expecting a completely different type of writing (like I said, Salinger's writing style is meant to be distant from the reader, it's what makes Holden relatable).

Holden Caufield has been treated so poorly by the 'adult world' that he is making terrible decisions to get the attentions of people who couldn't care less about his well-being. I think that's where the message gets blurred, and what leads to those poor reviews of the text.

Overall I think that The Catcher in the Rye is a wonderfully written novel, coming from a 19 year-old who never read it in high school (where/when most people read this book). If you're in the mood to reflect on a fictional character's life instead of worrying about the action that is happening, this would be a perfect read for you.

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aylin05's review against another edition

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adventurous reflective sad fast-paced

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

2.75

For this being a book i read for a school research paper i thoroughly enjoyed it. while at times i was a little bored hearing about random people Holden knew and brought up, i think that in retrospect everything made sense. at first i didn’t understand or even like Holden, but that honestly changed by the end of the book, which was super sweet. this book deals a lot with growing up and the difficult/ scary transition between childhood and adulthood and a lot of Holden just trying to find his place in the world. I’d definitely recommend.

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krystaltyong's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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gabriel_dingle's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

I had to force myself to finish this. None of the characters are rather likeable and the plot was not interesting enough to keep me reading. I do not understand the hype around this novel, and it’s no wonder this is the only novel Salinger is really known for if his writing is similar in his other novels.

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raccooonhands'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

5.0

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grereads's review against another edition

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adventurous slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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vireadsslowly's review against another edition

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reflective sad medium-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

3.75

Somewhere between 3.75 and 4 stars

Holden is just such an unenjoyable character than halfway through the book I start hating how phony it is (little joke there)

I get he's supposed to be depressed and all but damn like

he's clearly depressed never got over his brother dying and has had pedophilic encounters multiple times in his life which yes no wonder he's how he is

it's just not written in an enjoyable way and ik people will argue depression isn't enjoyable but whatever

It was a nice enough read in that I like when the character is the focus but it ultimately feels like it goes nowhere especially the ending

like oh boy Holden got institutionalized big whoop

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