|
|
The Catcher in the Rye (Paperback)
by J. D. Salinger
| Category:
Fiction |
| Market price: ¥ 98.00
MSL price:
¥ 88.00
[ Shop incentives ]
|
| Stock:
In Stock |
MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| If you want us to help you with the right titles you're looking for, or to make reading recommendations based on your needs, please contact our consultants. |
Detail |
Author |
Description |
Excerpt |
Reviews |
|
|
|
Author: J. D. Salinger
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Pub. in: May, 1991
ISBN: 0316769487
Pages: 224
Measurements: 6.8 x 4.3 x 0.6 inches
Origin of product: USA
Order code: BA00426
Other information:
|
|
Rate this product:
|
|
- MSL Picks -
J.D. Salinger's greatest work of art The Catcher in the Rye expresses the decade of stress not only going on within Holden but also within life.
Holden a young student journeys back to New York after flunking out of Pency Prep in Agerstown Pennsylvania. Throughout the novel Holden hides himself from the world, the pressures of growing up, and having to deal with "real issues." One of the most famous quotes is from Holden's old teacher Mr. Spencer "Life is a game, boy. Life is a game that one plays according to the rules." This is ironic because Holden does take life very seriously, he just doesn't express this. The book has all sorts of themes, symbols, and characters. It also explores the mind of a child through the dialoged and situations Holden has to face.
The Catcher in the Rye touches on many human thoughts, emotions and feelings, and it has a bit of everything; drama, comedy, adventure, suspense and action. It's one of those books you'll want to finish to see what happens, but at the same time you won't want it to end!
At the time of the book's publication it was shocking and, indeed, was banned in many jurisdictions. This may seem strange by the standards of today but we need to remember that America is a different country from that of the 1950s. Caulfield's language, his drinking, smoking and relations with women may seem very tame today. In the 1950s, however, The Catcher in the Rye was a very edgy novel. So, yes it has lost some of its "street creed" as time has passed but the traumas and travails of the young Caulfield still resonate. Caulfield is gradually moving into an adult world but, underneath, seems to long for the stability of youth. A youth where he can act as a catcher in the rye to the very young. A protector of the innocent.
The Catcher in the Rye is a as controversial as it is popular (over 2,500 reviewers gave it a collective 4-star rating). While most people recommend the book as a true American classic of adolescent confusion and terror, others dismissed it as a "supremely overrated piece of garbage," to quote a nay-saying reviewer. One of the reasons why these readers failed in really understanding the importance of this book, we suspect, is that they failed to capture Salinger's exceptional sense of symbolism. They failed to see this book as a work of metaphors. Holden is the catcher in the rye, and he wants to save innocent children from falling over the cliff at the end of the rye field into a world of hatred. The title expresses the theme of the book, innocence must be saved. Salinger makes you see the world as it really is, although his viewpoint is very cynical, I agree with it for the most part. Salinger vividly expresses this theme throughout his book through symbolism, imagery, and other literary devices.
We can't recommend this book enough to everyone.
Target readers:
General readers
|
|
- Better with -
Better with
The Bell Jar (P.S.)
:
|
|
Customers who bought this product also bought:
 |
The Bell Jar (P.S.) (Paperback)
by Sylvia Plath
A sad, honest, and best-told tale of a woman's descent into madness. An American literary masterpiece! |
 |
To Kill a Mockingbird (Paperback)
by Haper Lee
Richly rewarding, Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of racial injustice is one classic that will continue to speak to new generations. |
 |
Animal Farm (Paperback)
by George Orwell, Russell Baker
Thought-provoking and a sheer delight to read, this classic of political satire is one of the best allegorical novels we ever know. |
 |
Of Mice and Men (Penguin Great Books of the 20th Century) (Paperback)
by John Steinbeck
A classic of hope and compassion that simply leaves you speechless and in tears at the end. Real life stuff not to miss. |
 |
The Lord of The Flies (Paperback)
by William Golding, E. L. Epstein
A startling classic is this perennially bestselling portrait of human nature. |
|
|
Based on Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature:
"If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth. In the first place, that stuff bores me, and in the second place, my parents would have about two hemorrhages apiece if I told anything pretty personal about them." The beginning of The Catcher in the Rye
Published in 1951. this influential and widely acclaimed story details the two days in the life of 16-year-old Holden Caulfield after he has been expelled from prep school. Confused and disillusioned, he searches for truth and rails against the "phoniness" of the adult world. He ends up exhausted and emotionally ill, in a psychiatrist's office. After he recovers from his breakdown, Holden relates his experiences to the reader.
|
| View all 8 comments |
Sean (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-08 00:00>
A cult classic, Catcher in the Rye has captured the imagination of countless adolescents, school teachers, and even one Mark David Chapman, the assassin of John Lennon. It has also been reviled, refuted, and banished from school reading lists since its publication in 1951. So what's the big deal?
It's understandable that by 1950s standards this book may have been controversial, given its profanity and sexual underpinnings, although that is mild by today's standards. However, these give the book an edge, and an extra dimension that helps catapult this book to the top of the list of classics. Salinger presents the story of an adolescent, Holden Caulfield, and his alienation from the world he lives in. Although there is little action, Salinger convincingly paints a portrait of a tortured individual struggling with irreversible changes in his life as he grows into an adult.
Although Holden is a privileged teenager from Manhattan, his life is anything but privileged. Although he convinces himself that the world around him is full of "phonies", his total self-isolation serves as a protective barrier against the world whom he loathes. As he falls deeper into the abyss of self-pity and loneliness, it becomes apparent that a root cause of his present state of mind may be the death of his younger brother, Allie.
Holden looks longingly back at his childhood, and is determined to preserve the innocence of his younger sister, Phoebe, the only one whom he truly cares about. Indeed, his dream job would be a "catcher in the rye", one who catches children as they play in a rye field before they fall over the precipice. Symbolically, this is the precipice that separates childhood from adulthood, and the one that Holden is refusing to confront. For once he descends into adulthood, he knows that his childhood is gone forever, and his memories of Allie will become distant.
There is a good reason this novel has become a staple of high school literature classes. Although it is an easy read, it is also deep and profound. And nearly all of us could relate to at least some aspects of the story. |
Bob (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-08 00:00>
Holden Caulfield is one of those fictional characters whose 24 hours of this book metaphorically describes people of similar character - teenagers with terrible angst.
Whether you raised one or were one - or both - you know Holden.
Being a teenager is bad enough. Being a teenager who is kicked out of boarding school is worse. Being a teenager kicked out of school just when his brother dies is worse yet. Being a kicked-out, brotherless teenager who keeps getting into fights with the few people who like him - beloved teacher and sister - is the pits.
Just when you think he cannot get any lower, he stoops. And, all in the middle of the city where no one can be a child - NYC.
Holden Caulfield is leaving the innocence of childhood to become a man - or morphing to become what he calls a phony. And, with impressionable eyes, his observations are accurate. Unlike children, adults do not "let it all hang out." There is restraint. The restraint fails to deliver the "full truth." The failure to deliver our true feelings, to refrain from saying our opinions, to stop from depositing out $.02 - that is what makes us phonies.
And, he hates it. He wants to be the catcher in the rye when he grows up. The catcher is a mysterious person in the middle of a field which abuts a dangerous cliff - where he can prevent the children from crossing to the cliffside and falling to their demise. From losing their innocence. From losing their childhood. From becoming phonies.
In a great way, we jealously feel the same and are beholden to Holden's fervor to retain his childhood - something many of us lost years, decades, eons ago. |
Jonathon Lourie (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-08 00:00>
Many reviewers find this a coming of age book for adolescent males. I can see this point but I think this statement fails to indicate the multiple levels on which this amazing book plays. The book follows the journey of the confused and disillusioned 16 year old Holden Caulfield from his expulsion from prep school to his journey home. Along the way Holden meets a variety of characters which Holden discusses in his sarcastic worldly tone, which only serves to illustrate how innocent and confused Holden (and every adolescent) truly is. Through the eyes of Holden, who is caught between his childhood and manhood, J. D. Salinger captures the moment in an adolescent boy's life to which almost every boy or man can relate. But the purpose of this review is not to praise a book which has been praised up and down but to recommend a book which can capture a teenage boy's imagination and interest where other books may fail. Where as many "teen books" can be boring or deal with topics on a level which is to the say the least "boring" to an adolescent (and why not, they are written by adults), Catcher in the Rye is not preachy, stilted or artificial but hits its mark by conveying thoughts that any teenage boy will recognize and may be surprised to find that he is not alone in these thoughts. How J.D. Salinger reached back in time to pull this off is amazing. One word of warning. The book has racy parts but this does not affect this recommendation. Trying to stimulate reading in a teenage boy? Skip the science fiction and fantasy and try some reality. |
Goldberg (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-08 00:00>
J.D. Salinger captures teenage alienation, loneliness, and fear of coming adulthood in this superb novel of adolescence. Narrator Holden Caulfield is 16, and he's just flunked out of another prep school. Returning to his sure-to-be-disappointed parents in New York City, Holden spends the weekend in hotels and drinking in nightclubs. Holden is immature, he often lies, and he's psychologically troubled over his brother's death. But he's also cool - a likeable, kind-hearted dude who's always honest with the reader. And it's to the reader that Holden describes his fears of sex, intimacy, and belonging, not to mention his skepticism towards the status-mad adult world. Such feelings resonate with today's teens (and non-teens) as well as they did back in 1951. Just ask my niece, who recently said about Holden, "He was awesome!" |
View all 8 comments |
|
|
|
|
