Thread: Has Catcher in the Rye deeply affected anyone of you?

I wasn't that fond of the book. He was just another whiny teenager who brought everything upon himself. It would have been different had he been in a situation out of his control. But he had control of every situation. He just chose not to do anything about it.

Catcher in the Rye was one of those few books that the school assigns that actually leaves me with something amazing. It's not even that the plot is great. The plot is so mundane and even boring. But it was Holden's character. I dunno, I could just really relate to him. Maybe it's because I'm a teenager, but when I was reading that book, I found myself saying, "I've been saying that for years too!"

Amazing character. He's so troubled and so misunderstood. I think we all have that Holden phase in our lives when we grow up and we realize that the world isn't all rainbows and butterflies. That people die and kill and have evil thoughts.

Great book

It is a good read but I wouldn't call it great literature nor could I say that it has deeply affected me.

Good book, but didn't effect me on a deep emotional level.

Ask the Dust, however, flirts with similar themes, and I was moved within an inch of tears at moments during that one.

I despise that book, so I won't comment on whether I thought the writing was good.

I also despised Holden as a character. What an angsty little prat. And that's coming from me as an angsty little prat myself when I read it. The book didn't move me at all, and I only read it because it was assigned for class. And don't try that bullshit "read it now for pleasure" line on me. There were books I read for class that I absolutely loved. I judge a book on its merits, not my situation.

Read it in high school and thought it was boring.

Read it in college and thought it was boring.

Read it for myself a few years later, and still thought it was boring.

But I'm not a huge fan of "literary masterpieces". I've read quite a few of them, and the only one that I remotely enjoyed was Orwell's 1984.

We read almost nothing worth reading in high school English (aside from Shakespeare, but those are theater). Steinbeck's Grapes was ok, but only in retrospect. I hated it at the time. Then there was Charles fucking Dickens and Charlotte Bronte...they could have had us read For Whom The Bell Tolls. Instead we got Tale of Two Cities and Black Boy. SMFH.

I really enjoyed Catcher because of the writing but now can hardly remember anything about it. I think HC's ( was it Holden Caulfield?)brother had been killed which depressed him and this encouraged resentment for others, happier than himself. His troubles were endangering him turning into a misfit. Was it set over three days? A prostitute, and a pimp hitting HC in the stomach. But it's so long since I read it, I'm not sure now.