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Interviews | November 19, 2009

Dave: IMG Finding John Irving: The Powells.com Interview

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[Editor's note: The following is a reprint of our 2005 interview with John Irving, whose new novel, Last Night in Twisted River, has just come out... Continue »

The Catcher in the Rye

by J D Salinger

The Catcher in the Rye Cover

ISBN13: 9780316769488
ISBN10: 0316769487
Condition: Standard
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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Ever since it was first published in 1951, this novel has been the coming-of-age story against which all others are judged. Read and cherished by generations, the story of Holden Caulfield is truly one of America's literary treasures.

Review:

"Repetitive, indecent, often very funny, it is wonderfully sustained by the author, who achieves all those ancient effects to be got from a hero who is in some ways inferior, and in some ways superior, to the reader....Why, then, with all this to admire, do I find something phoney in the book itself?....[T]he adult view of adolescence, insinuated by skillful faking, is agreeable to predictable public taste....[It] is what the consumer needs....The boy's attitudes to religion, authority, art, sex and so on are what smart people would like other people to have, but cannot have themselves, because of their superior understanding." Frank Kermode, Review from Spectator, 05/30/1958

Synopsis:

Holden, knowing he is to be expelled from school, decides to leave early. He spends three days in New York City and tells the story of what he did and suffered there.
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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 13 comments:
Sid Campo, November 4, 2009 (view all comments by Sid Campo)
I finally got to reading this waste of time after "having" to read it in high school. It was BY FAR the WORST book that I have ever read. JD Salinger is the worst writer of all time. I have read books by total amateurs that are light years ahead of this piece of excrement. The book was a total pain in the neck to read and had no literal value whatsoever. I detested this book. The Catcher in the Rye is not even worthy of being used to start a fire in your chimney... It's just a phony and pretentious book that people like to pretend that they adored...
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sanfranwitch, October 14, 2009 (view all comments by sanfranwitch)
I can understand why others might have liked this novel. I understand that it started a whole new style of writing. However, I found it dull and highly predictable. I could not like any of the characters or be drawn into the main characters story, I just didn't care what happened to him. A sign of a good book in my opinion is one that can get the reader to care about a character no matter if it is hate or like.
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brookerochelle, September 6, 2009 (view all comments by brookerochelle)
The Catcher in the Rye was good. It was very good, but it was unlike any other book I've ever read. It was a completely unique experience for me because, while the book was wonderful, I hated the protagonist. Holden was annoying and I couldn't stand him. However, that's what made the book good. Holden was real. I'm sure there's someone out there exactly like Holden and that's what made the book so amazingly good.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780316769488
Author:
Salinger, J. D.
Publisher:
Little Brown and Company
Author:
Salinger, J. D.
Location:
Boston
Subject:
General
Subject:
Fiction
Subject:
Classics
Subject:
Novels and novellas
Subject:
American fiction (fictional works by one author)
Subject:
New York
Subject:
Salinger, j. d. (jerome david), 1919-
Subject:
Runaway teenagers
Subject:
Caulfield, Holden
Subject:
Bildungsromane.
Subject:
New York (N.Y.) Fiction.
Edition Description:
1st LB Books mass market paperback ed.
Series Volume:
v. 17S1E
Publication Date:
January 1991
Binding:
Mass Market Paperbound
Language:
English
Pages:
224
Dimensions:
6.78x4.34x.60 in. .25 lbs.
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