Until the last 4 pages, I hated this book, I felt it such a slog despite it being only 230 pages long. I think the rreason why this book is so liked is the same reason why I don’t like it- the ‘teenage agnst’ which plagues the book. I feel now, that despite being 16, I would of enjoyed this book more when I was 10-13, although I wouldn’t have understood the more adult themes. 

The main plot of this book is that a privilidged boy gets kicked out of his boarding school (his time at the boarding school was described using his favourite word in the first 50 pages… crumby- which I didn’t really get) and has to wait around for 3 days until he can go home for christmas- when the normal term time ends, so his parents don’t expect anything. During this time, he drinks a lot and visits some people from his past such as previous ex-girlfriends. He also tries to sleep with a sex worker but he gets too nervous and gets into trouble about it. The only parts I liked were hearing about him and his sister and when there are the symbolic moments- the catcher in the rye (the children are playing amongst the rye bales and in order to stop the children from falling off the cliff there is a catcher-  the catcher in the rye which is symbolically what Holden relates to) and near the end when he feels himself falling everytime he crosses the road (in which he says that he is closer to his cousin, who has died- perhaps showing how due to his sleep deprivation, he questions his mortality, subsequently after this moment he undergoes some character development and spends more time with his sister and becomes more sympathetic to her).


My favourite quotes
-last line ‘dont ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody’
- a quote by the psycoanalyst- Wilhelm Stekel
      ‘The mark of the immature man is thathe wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one’

Was initially very dismissive and judgemental because Holden comes off as this angsty and cynical kid which I found annoying, but upon further reading I came to really appreciate his character.

Particularly his honesty, that his goodness does kind of shine underneath and in a subtle way, like how he hated how people yelled “Digression” at the kids who were really nervous or really excited about their oral exam topics, or how he’d rub off all the “Fuck you” lines that were written on walls because some kids might see them and be confronted by it or ruminate about it. He’s not a terrible person, to me. He’s a depressed teenager and as is common with depressed teens, particularly depressed teen boys, it’s manifesting as angst and cynicism.

But, I really came to appreciate Holden’s character. I realised that how he is reminded me of how I was between the ages of 14 and 16. Edgy, angsty, cynical but very depressed. I kind of ‘got it’ after a while and enjoyed reading more.

I had to look past my initial prejudices of him being whiny though. Once done, it was a great book to me. 5/5 would read again and again.

I’m not one for classics but I decided to read this anyways. Holden is a very complex character and I do enjoy seeing his journey and development on how he copes with loneliness and growing up. I did find it boring to read sometimes cause he was so whiny yet extremely privileged which was kind of the point. I started liking more towards the end but it wasn’t terrible. Like most classics there’s misogyny, homophobia and racism which is kind of expected given the time period. But other than that it was a good book but nothing particularly special.

Spoilers Ahead!!

Firstly, I wanna say that I read this as a teenager - which may affect the way I view this book. Holden is a very unlikeable character who hates everything and there is a repeating theme of: walking around New York, I hate this, memory, walking around, etc. But I was so interested in what Holden thought about everything and how he would reveal more about his life and memories to the reader. Some people feel like the beginning was too slow and unbearable to read. However, of course it is not as good as the ending, but I enjoyed how there wasn’t a point he was reaching or a goal he had in mind. I think that points towards the message of the book as well.

The teacher whom he stays with at the end of the book points of that Holden is headed towards a falling trajectory. Holden has been looking for something to hold onto and he just can’t find it.

I wasn’t until Holden spent time with his younger sister (one of the only people he has high regard for) and saw her playing on the carousel. The entire book the reader sees how depressed he is and how he hates everything. All of a sudden, he feels immense happiness.

I’m going to be completely honest, I cried so much that chapter. Seeing someone depressed thrn their lives around made me so emotional. 

I am not depressed or anything, but I related to Holden’s point of view and gave me hope and motivation for my own future.

 thanks for reading :)

Just a weird teenage boy hating everything, being sexist, racist and homophobic at the same time. Definitely of its time.