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(as of Jan 20, 2025 11:54:11 UTC – Details)
Anyone who has read J.D. Salinger’s New Yorker stories–particularly A Perfect Day for Bananafish, Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut, The Laughing Man, and For Esme With Love and Squalor–will not be surprised by the fact that his first novel is full of children. The hero-narrator of The Catcher in the Rye is an ancient child of sixteen, a native New Yorker named Holden Caulfield.
Through circumstances that tend to preclude adult, secondhand description, he leaves his prep school in Pennsylvania and goes underground in New York City for three days. The boy himself is at once too simple and too complex for us to make any final comment about him or his story. Perhaps the safest thing we can say about Holden is that he was born in the world not just strongly attracted to beauty but, almost, hopelessly impaled on it.
There are many voices in this novel: children’s voices, adult voices, underground voices-but Holden’s voice is the most eloquent of all. Transcending his own vernacular, yet remaining marvelously faithful to it, he issues a perfectly articulated cry of mixed pain and pleasure. However, like most lovers and clowns and poets of the higher orders, he keeps most of the pain to, and for, himself. The pleasure he gives away, or sets aside, with all his heart. It is there for the reader who can handle it to keep.
ASIN : 0316769177
Publisher : Back Bay Books; Reissue edition (January 30, 2001)
Language : English
Paperback : 288 pages
ISBN-10 : 0275965074
ISBN-13 : 978-0316769174
Reading age : 15+ years, from customers
Lexile measure : 790L
Item Weight : 2.31 pounds
Dimensions : 5.25 x 0.95 x 10.05 inches
Customers say
Customers find the book easy to read and addictive. They describe the story as timeless and brilliant. The narrative style is relatable, evocative, and symbolic. However, some readers found the story uninteresting and depressing. There are mixed opinions on the writing quality – some find it straightforward and easy to read, while others consider it poorly written or rough. Opinions vary on the insight provided by the book.
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