Book Review—Catcher in the Rye

Hello lovely bookish friends! Welcome to the That Weird Writer... Blog. Today's post is a book review of a classic—Catcher in the Rye.

I finished this book about a week ago, and it wasn't my favorite. Classic books are a hit or miss for me, and I think it's that way for a lot of readers. I appreciate what this book tried to do, but I think it lacked in execution. I can appreciate it, without loving it, and that's how I feel about Catcher in the Rye.

Catcher in the Rye follows Holden Caulfield who has gotten kicked out of four schools. At the beginning of the story, he's getting kicked out of Pency Prep.

My first impression of Holden was that I liked him. Even after reading the whole book, I still like him and what J. D. Salinger decided to do with his character. His personally isn't lacking. He's very unique and I love that the story is told in first-person point-of-view. I liked seeing into his thoughts and feelings. The way he described and talked about things during the story was so different, and I overall liked him.

His only flaw, in my opinion, was that his character was a little scattered. There were points in the story where the author seemed like he didn‘t know what he wanted the character to do, or what direction he wanted the story to go in, and as the reader, that made me not trust the author. There were instances where J. D. Salinger did that on purpose, and I do think that was a part of Holden’s character, but it wasn't my favorite thing about him.

I like to have a sense of where the story is headed. I like to be able to take a guess at the outcome. Not only were there no predictions, but there were no things to predict because nothing happened!

This story is defiantly driven by its characters and its themes because next to nothing happens. There isn't really a plot, and I think that is why I disliked it.

I really like stories in the contemporary genre. I like stories that are modern and timeless, and deal with lots of themes and conflicts. I like stories that have great characters. If I don't like the characters, or at least find them interesting and can appreciate them, I probably won't like the story.

I always thought plot was the thing I'm least picky about. I thought as long as there's a solid and semi-unique plot that I can enjoy a story, but man was I wrong.

This book has made me realize just how much conflict and ambition and stakes I like the stories I read to have. This realization has also made me look at my writing and ask myself if there is enough of a plot and a captivating story line in my own work, which is the only thing I got out of the plot of this book.

In Catcher in the Rye, Holden leaves Pency early to go home to his family, but he doesn't want his family to know he got expelled again, so he travels around New York and contacts a lot of old friends.

I think this could have been interesting if we actually got to know some of the other characters and they had genuine connections with Holden. There was a girl named Jane mentioned throughout the story. She seemed very important to Holden, but we never got to meet her, and I think that was a huge missed opportunity. There was also a scene between Holden and another girl, and he was suggesting they run away, which I think sounds like a great plot for a story, but they don’t end up running away.

The ending scene of the book is by far my favorite. It's between Holden and his little sister on a carousel. He watches her go around and around, and I really liked this scene because it was so innocent.

This is a part of the story where the theme—which is that Holden doesn't want to grow up. He wants to stay young and innocent and not go out into the world that he thinks is phony and cruel—hits home.

Sadly, by this time I was confused and had no idea what the theme was, so I Googled it.

This made me sigh with some disappointment. The theme lacked clarity. Most stories have some lesson or idea that they want the reader to take away. I'm usually pretty good at spotting these themes, but with this book, I just didn't get it.

I looked it up after I finished reading it, and looking back, I wish I would have figured it out when I was reading the story. I can see parts of the theme in the story. I just wish there was a lot more of it and that it was more apparent to the audience.

The whole story felt a little flat to me. I understand it was written in the 1950's, and maybe it connected more with the people back then than it does now. But classics are supposed to be classics because their lessons and tales are timeless, and I just didn't feel like that with this book.

What are your thoughts on Catcher in the Rye? Do you like it? Do you not?

It's been a pleasure writing for you, and until next time—stay weird and stay writing. - Lexi