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Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

Над пропастью во ржи by J.D. Salinger

48 reviews

sincerelyadah's review against another edition

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

4.5

At the beginning, I had a hard time “getting into” it, but as I read on, it became more and more interesting. Here’s a little review of it. (edit i’d give it more of a 4.5)

I feel like I have a lot of empathy for Holden. It’s really clear that he’s deeply depressed to the point that everything in the world depresses him even more. He’s hyper aware of how much and how often people pretend, or are being “phony.” And I think that is why most depressed him—at least as far as I can tell.

Holden also was probably abused or harassed (sexually) on at least a few occasions. When the whole thing happens with his old english teacher, he mentions how that kind of stuff has happened plenty of times before. And at the end, he seems to be with a psychoanalyst. I’m not sure what that means, but it all points to him being very traumatized. This further leads me to empathize with him.


Another thing I think the book really shows is how deeply Holden desires real connection. I think this is why seeing people be shallow and fake is so depressing. He wants so bad to have relationships that are real with people who are real. Especially romantically—
him with the prostitute definitely shows that.
I definitely understand that desire so another reason I empathize with him.

Moving away from the actual plot and characters towards the style, I want to mention the way Salinger writes. It’s not necessarily mind blowing, many have written books in the form of a letter, like Perks of Being a Wallflower. However, that doesn’t mean it’s not an enjoyable style. I really love the mystery, that we don’t know who he’s writing to, it adds something to the story as a whole.

And lastly, the ending. IM CONFUSED. Ill have to read some kind of explanation because even though I have my thoughts and theories, I don’t know if they’re right. If anyone does, please LMKKK

Anyway, that’s my review. I liked the book a lot. I wouldn’t say it’s absolute favorite but it’s definitely up there!
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mushureads44's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

3.25

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lipka's review against another edition

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reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

(Maybe one day I can finally put into words how this book makes me feel.)
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alexvb's review against another edition

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2.5

The last 3 or so chapters are the only genuinely interesting part of this book. The rest of it is absolutely insufferable, Holden is insufferable - he is supposed to be what 16 years old and yet he talks and acts like a 12 year old boy who just hit puberty - and it's very obvious very early on why he acts this way, and what stuff going on with him. But it takes him the entire book to realise *yawn*.

I can completely understand why any boy (sorry to be generalising) aged 12 - 14 would eat this book up like it's the best book ever written. But any older and I'd be questioning your comprehension, maturity, and awareness skills.
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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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risemini's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny reflective sad 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

4.75

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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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katharina_s's review against another edition

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funny reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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mikala's review against another edition

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dark reflective 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

3.0

i liked that this book was easy to follow as it just focuses on holdens thoughts and opinions. that being said, nothing really happens in this book. the parts of holdens life that slowly unravel and give you an idea of why he’s so depressed are interesting, but you can only listen to a privileged white man whine so much to be honest.
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ladybergart's review against another edition

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

3.25

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