The Catcher in the Rye
Last week I finally managed to finish what I’d begun around a month back – J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye. Need I say I was blown over!
I had heard a lot about the book, seen it quite a few times and sort of glanced through it on occasions. But I’d never really picked up the book and read it. Now that I’ve finally managed to do so, I can’t really say what I felt about it. I guess it’ll be quite some time before I can truly identify what my feelings were after reading it.
The first time I’d heard about the book was in my college quizzing circle, when someone had asked a question on it. I’d come to know then, that, Mark David Chapman, murderer of John Lennon, was carrying the book when he was arrested immediately after the murder. That he also had some records of the Beatles on his person was of little interest.
I just loved the book, for what it had and more because of what it didn’t have. Holden Caulfield seemed so much like one of us; I felt like reading my friend’s diary or something. Holden Caulfield seemed so familiar, so very identifiable that at times I almost felt as if he were telling my story. I believe there’s a Caulfield in each one of us. The boyish yet manly, paradoxically moody guy feels so life like. Salinger was almost 32 years old when the novel was published, yet the manner he’s written the story of a 16 year old makes one wonder if the work was composed in a burst of creative immaturity of age or a seasoned perplexity of genius. One can never be sure I guess.
The novel was banned in some countries because of its bold and offensive use of language; the word “goddamn” appears 255 times in the goddamn book but what I goddamn don’t see is what goddamn wrong is it to use the goddamn word “goddamn”, so many goddamn times. Ha!
It would be very interesting to see the book made into a movie. But I wonder who’d play the role of Caulfield. All those actors who I like are too old to play the character and Daniel Radcliffe can hardly get out of his Potter image to play anything else. But sadly, Salinger has refused to license the film rights to any producer or director. The author, who, before Catcher’s publication, had a series of disappointing encounters with Hollywood, said that the reason for his refusal to allow a film version of the novel is, “I would like to see it done, but Holden wouldn’t approve”. He was referring to Holden’s dismissal of Hollywood and the entire motion picture industry as “phony.”
I’ve been so much influenced by Caulfield’s manner of speech and way of talking that some of his vocabulary has seeped into my language. Now, I say “Boy!” all the time. I also say “horsing around” and “shooting the bull” a lot nowadays.
Reading the book, one gets to know some of the trademark Caulfieldisms like the following:
It killed me. That killed me. – Almost everything that he detests very much or liked very much killed him.
He didn’t give you a lot of horse manure about this and that. – Referring to a person not being a gas baggy show off.
Big deal. Very big deal. – Almost everything that he thinks of as insignificant but others think too important is referred to by this.
It was pretty funny, in a way. – And he never explains what the way is.
It really does. – He has a knack of emphasizing that he speaks the truth all the time, almost as if afraid that people think he’s lying.
…., if you want to know the truth. – Added to almost every sentence or whenever he feels like saying it.
He didn’t have too much dough. – He never refers to money as money. Always as dough. I wonder what he calls dough.
Boy, I rang the doorbell fast. Boy, did I get in that house fast. – Like I said before, he uses “Boy!” a lot.
I know that sounds mean to say, but I don’t mean it mean. – Ha! This is funny, not mean.
….I mean…. – He has a knack of explaining things till he becomes absolutely sure that the other person has got his idea.
He got a big bang out of it.- Referring to the joy people feel when they do something. Very crude in my opinion.
I was just horsing around. – Same as doing nothing, or something silly, or simply horsing around.
I’m not too crazy about stuff. – He almost is not too crazy about anything.
He started getting serious as hell. – I wonder if he thinks hell is very serious.
This is what I meant by he says “Boy!” a lot:
“Boy!” I said. I also say “Boy!” quite a lot. Partly because I have a lousy vocabulary and partly because I act quite young for my age sometimes. I was 16 then, and I’m 17 now, and sometimes I act like I’m about 13. It’s really ironical, because I’m six foot two and a half and I have gray hair. I really do. The one side of my head – the right side – is full of millions of gray hairs. And I’ve had them ever since I was a kid. And yet I still act sometimes like I was only about twelve.
It’s a phony. I could puke every time I hear it. – He detests phony people. I also do. And he feels like puking every time he meets someone phony. Actually, he feels like puking every other minute.
I wanted to get the hell out of there. I can’t stand that stuff. That’s something that drives me crazy. – Ha! That can be said for all things.
It was a very dirty trick. It certainly was a dirty trick. – When he feels he’s been wronged.
And this is his “Shooting the bull” crap:
So, I shot the bull for a while. The old bull. The funny thing is, though, I was sort of thinking of something else while I shot the bull. I’m lucky, though. I mean I could shoot the old bull to old Spencer and think about those ducks at the same time. It’s funny. All of a sudden, though, he interrupted me while I was shooting the bull.
He was the phoniest bastard I ever met in my life. – Like I said he finds many people around him phony. People who pretend to be something they are not, saying something actually thay care nothing about, making small talk etc.
No kidding. – He says that to his teacher. Can you imagine!
It’s awful. – Yeah, it really is.
I’m very yellow in such situations. – Now, this is a frank admission. That he’s not phony is substantiated by this line; his admission of being yellow.
And finally the novel’s last intriguing line:
“Don’t ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody.”
There’s a site that reads as http://www.salinger.org/index.php?title=MainPage. Check it out.
Oh! by the way, if you haven’t yet figured out what rye means, I guess it refers to a certain kind of a cereal or food plant (like wheat or something from which ale can be made). Holden Caulfield says to his sister that he wants to be a catcher in the rye stopping little children playing in the field from falling over the edge of a cliff. A nice career option, but honorary these days. 
Filed under: Books, Experiences, General, Quotes, The Dark Side, Uncategorized | 35 Comments
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indisch on Books swarup mohanty on Mayuri go… from Aru… punky pjs on Books suparna on South of the Border, West of t… indisch on South of the Border, West of t…
I took it from Jainy (Anubhav) during college days and took almost 6-7 months to finish it. Initially I did not have time but once when I started it, it felt strange. I don’t know how to put it in words.
It was not bad, but wasn’t good either. Each time I read a part I felt like my pschycology has been attacked.
The narrator seldom finds “goodness” in anybody and yet cannot tolerate f*** written on the wall.
Again, I don’t think I’ll be able to put what I felt but one thing is for sure. I just wanted to finish the book somehow. [Not because it was interesting, but because I couldn't bear with my pshycic fulctuations.
However, I really admire the author for writing a story in such a different manner. [Although I'd like to stay away from that particular style
]
@Bipin:
Yeah, I guess I felt the same way too… But I won’t be that sceptical with Holden. He doed find goodness in others – his sister, his dead brother, his friend’s mother etc. He even finds goodness in his roommate and teacher at times.
The book is kind of paradoxical, no doubt about that though.
The tirle Catcher in the Rye, refers to the job described in the song Catcher in the Rye that the main character, Holden Caulfield hears a boy singing in the street.
@Anonymous:
But I guess it refers to a dream by Caulfield. Will check it out though!
CITE THE FUCKING PAGE NUMBERS!
@Aliesha:
My dear Aliesha, the noble thought had crossed my mind but the seemingly noble idea would have had hardly any importance in view of the numerous publications of the book in question. Different publications of the said book might have different page numbers for the same piece of text. So, citing the page numbers would only be conducive to misleading the public about the facts and I’m sure you of all people definitely wouldn’t want that. So, with almost a reluctancy that would match your enthusiasm in spirit, I refrained from quoting the page numbers. Due apologies…
i think it refers to caulfield’s dream of seeing kids playing in the rye near an abyss or something of that kind, and caulfield wants to catch the boys before they fall. it reflects his hatred towards old people, who are all hypocrite, potentially pushing kids into abyss, all kind of abyss!!! thanks for the review, Bro.
@Wawan-eko-yulianto:
Yeah, u r right. Thanks for the comment.
The Catcher in The Rye is probably the most beautiful book in the world. If you didn’t like it, then you more than likely didn’t understand it. To understand it, you must think of J.D. Salinger as the catcher in the rye, saving children (teenagers) from the inner angst that one feels at this age by sharing the fact that they are not alone. There are a million Holden Caulfields. The fact that Holden does not like the word fuck is a statement on his charactor and his sincere love for his sister and all of the children, whom he felt empathy towards. In conclusion, J.D. Salinger wrote this book to save kids and “catch” them when they fall down.
P.S. Salinger once said that if there were to be a movie that he would have to play Holden
this is the one book that i have read in just one sitting. i adore, love, worship this book and its author. i would want to literally take this book with me to the grave in as much the same way that mark david chapman had this book with him when he offed john lennon. i know it’s corny but i would really, really want that.
this novel has levels of meaning that will surely go over the head of those who will be so quick to dismiss it as an angsty teenage book about some rye catcher.
i know it’s evil to say it but this book’s my bible.
and what a very nice assessment of the book, by the way.
@Pat:
Thanks for the comments. Ya, I couldn’t agree more with you. This indeed is a book that deserves entirely what it has got over the years. No amount of praise would be enough for this book.
The Catcher in the Rye is my favorite book…absolutely love it…I think its a great book…..i think it was written in 1951 but each time I read it I feel something new, maybe something I’d missed…. This was a very advanced book I would say for the 1950’s in terms of language at least… Salinger in my opinion, is a literary genius of the truest sense…no tough words that you have to look up in the dictionary just brilliant usage of simple words….most of what you have quoted here are my favorite lines …I love it….first read it for a book review in college…in love ever since
@Deepfriedbheja:
Same thoughts here. Before it’s time..
absolutely loved this book. read it for the first time a few years ago– loved it, definately, but didn’t quite understand it. just finished it for the second time and absolutely adore holden. completely understand him…
its hard for me to believe that this book is banned so many places. for ‘encouraging rebellion/ sex/ profanity”??.. or something PHONY like that. thats ridiculous, and goes to show how people misconstrue the book. anyone who would ban this book needs serious self reflection.. obviously did not understand it!
it is timeless and symbolic
@Emroot:
Things couldn’t have been put in a better way, in more appropriate words.
a movie? no no!
I hate this book. Sorry to everyone who likes it but I would torch it if I had the chance. Holden pissed me off to an unimaginable extent. What a judgemental prick.
IN CASE YOU DIDNT KNOW YOU SIKOSS HOLDEN IS IN A MOTHER FUCKING MENTAL INSTITUTION HEE ISSSS FUCKINGGG CRAZYYYYYYYYYYYY AND WAKE UP TO REALITY LOSERS HE IS A CHARACTER IN A BOOK NOT REAL !!!!!!!!!!!! TO ALL OF YOU WHO THINK THIS BOOK IS AMAZING AND THAT YOU CAN REALATE TO HOLDEN,YOU DIM WITSSS YOU NEED TO SEEK THERAPY HOW CAN YOU RELATE TO A INSANE PERSON, LET ME TELL YOUU ASSHOLES FUCKING HOLDEN DOSENT LIKE PEOPLE GROWNUPS BECAUSE STUPID HOLDEN THINKS THEY ARE PHONEY´S BUT THAT SHIT IS IRONIC BECAUSE HE IS THE ACTUAL PERSON WHO IS BEING A PHONEY AND HE CANT BEAR THE THOUGHT THAT OTHERS WILL FIND OUT HIS SECREAT SEE THROUGH HIM, THATS WHY HE HIDES BEHIND HIS KID SISTER, BECAUSE HE IS RIGHT IN ONE THING CHILDREN ARE INOCENT AND THEY DONT SEE THE BAD IN PEOPLE SOOOO HE THINKS HIS SECREAT IS SAFE WITH THEM, IF YOU ASK ME PROBABLY HE WOULD END UP GROWING AND BECOME A CHILD MALESTER, TO YOU STUPIDDD STUPIDDD PAT PROBABLY THATS WHERE YOUR GOING TO END UP YOU SIKOOO !!! HOW CAN YOU FUCING SAYY THAT ABOUT CHAPMAN THAT MAN WAS NOTHING MORE THEN A MURDER AND A SICK POOR BASTARED I FEEL SICK WHEN I SPEAK OF HIM BECAUSE HEEE ISSS THE BIGGESTTTT PHONEYYY EVERRRRRRRRRRR ANDDD ITS IRONIC ANDDD SOOOOO FUNNY THAT HE THINKS OTHER WISE WELL HAHAHAH YOU ATE PATHETIC JUST LIKE HIM PAT !!! INDICH YOU TOO BITCH GET A LIFE ANDDD STUPIDD HOLDEN WANTED TO BE ADULT HE THOUGHT HE WAS MATURE BUT WAS NOT ACCEPTED BY OTHERSS BECAUSE HE WAS A WEIRDO JUST LIKE YOU SICK PEOPLE THATS WHY HE THOUGHT EVERYONE ELSE WAS PHONEY BECAUSE HE WAS ANGRY , AND IF YOU CAN REALATE TO THIS INSANE CHARACTER GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR LIFE BECAUSE IT WILL GO STRAIGHT TO THE TOILETTTTTT
YOU PEOPLE MAKE ME SICKKKKKKK
YOU ARE THE FUCKING PHONEYS GETTT YOUR OWN LIFE AND STOP LIVING BY A CHARACTER OR TRYING TO BE SOMEONE ELSE !!!!!!!!!!
SE WHAT FREAKOOO THIS GUY WAS WANTED TO BE LENNON BUT BECAUSE NO ONE ACCPTED HIM AND OF COURSE HE COULDNT BE LENNON THATS WHY HE KILLED HIM, WHO IS THE REAL PHONEY ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????
YOU IDIOTSSS, IMBECILS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mark Chapman suffered delusional paranoid schizophrenia, and was receiving psychiatric help during 1979 and 1980. Feeling his very existence was being threatened, he had attempted suicide twice.
He became increasingly fixated on both Holden Caulfield (the fictional hero of J D Salinger’s “The Catcher In The Rye”) and John Lennon, the rock legend. He told his wife he was going to change his name to “Holden Caulfield”, but, at the same time, signed himself out of work as “John Lennon”.
listen, you are confusing feeling a little bit missunderstood and sometimes not standing anyone else with being a psycho murderer who was obsessed with lennon! yeah, holden was in a goddamn mental institution, but that DOES NOT mean he was crazy, he was only missunderstood!! you are being VERY close-minded, for instance, people used to think galileo galilei was insane because he thought the earth wasn’t the center of the universe right??but guess what?? he was absolutely right!! and PLEASE dont tell me you have never FELT even a little bit like Holden?? ok he’s a goddamn character hes not real of course, but most non-real characters are inspired in real people or at least real feelings and real circunstances! so please stop being such an ass hole insulting people who can identify a good book and give it some meaning and relate it to their own life!
what page is the qoute taken from….HELP!
This is what I meant by he says “Boy!” a lot:
“Boy!” I said. I also say “Boy!” quite a lot. Partly because I have a lousy vocabulary and partly because I act quite young for my age sometimes. I was 16 then, and I’m 17 now, and sometimes I act like I’m about 13. It’s really ironical, because I’m six foot two and a half and I have gray hair. I really do. The one side of my head – the right side – is full of millions of gray hairs. And I’ve had them ever since I was a kid. And yet I still act sometimes like I was only about twelve.
Hhmm… the page number varies from book to book depending on the publisher. But it appears in the first half of the book, if u want to know.
u can check it on page 9
This is what I meant by he says “Boy!” a lot:
“Boy!” I said. I also say “Boy!” quite a lot. Partly because I have a lousy vocabulary and partly because I act quite young for my age sometimes. I was 16 then, and I’m 17 now, and sometimes I act like I’m about 13. It’s really ironical, because I’m six foot two and a half and I have gray hair. I really do. The one side of my head – the right side – is full of millions of gray hairs. And I’ve had them ever since I was a kid. And yet I still act sometimes like I was only about twelve.
To Fuck You!!!!!
Before you say awful things, just like what you’ve said in your comment, look at yourself first. You insult people calling them sick and stupid yet you don’t even know how to spell right. For example “secreat” is spelled as S-E-C-R-E-T. And “realate” is R-E-L-A-T-E. You see, it only shows who’s really stupid here. Can’t blame you though. Maybe you really don’t understand the book that’s why you are so upset.
Anyway, nice review indisch. i have read it ages ago but im still familiar with its story. i know it by heart. Especially the lines they quoted: “The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one.”
By the way, have you read the comparative study about the greatest american novel? Between The Catcher in the Rye and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn?
I just finished the book last night. I think the reason why so many people HATE this book is because it’s very difficult to understand, and people can get the wrong idea about Holden. Sure, Holden isn’t the greatest guy out there, and I’m not saying the book is good because HE’S good (which he is NOT), but it’s beautiful in that we can see what he sees and experience his pain. It took me a very long time to actually understand the book, and once I did, I thought it was really amazing. Oh, and the whole thing with Holden wanting to be a cather in the rye is to save innocent children from falling into adulthood, which is what Holden himself is afraid of. I think a lot of this book is just his fear of changing and being robbed of HIS innocence (which he totally doesn’t have anymore). And yes, Holden IS a phony himself, but the beauty in that is he doesn`t even see or understand himself. He labels people as phony so that he doesn`t have to further try to analyze or understand people that he DOESN`T understand. Notice throughout the book, he often cries, but never puts an effort as to understand why he does so, or where his emotions stem from. Holden puts up a wall from the world and tries to hate everything, when a large part of him calls out to people, for example, he goes on about how annoying Sally is, but begs for her to run away from him. I calls for Sunny, but pushes her away. He considers calling Jane about 100 times, but never goes through with it. It goes to show that a part of Holden longs for love and care, but another part of him rejects the idea, and so, he`s ruined himself.
probably the best commentary there is!! really! i just finished the book and i was kind of sad when i did. happens to me a lot when i finish a book, i kind of feel like i own the story and the characters and i also feel like i know them and like i am one of them myself. i felt so much like Holden, its like if i was reading my own story or something. I also feel attached to the characters and when i finish the book i miss them and i am waiting to know what else happened to them. i know Holden himself is not pretty good, but i feel like hes the kind of person i would like to be around. stupid stupid sally!! it would have been a blast to run away with him i totaly would have!! i was upset because he NEVER calls Jane!! =( i think he cared too much about her
This was the worst book ever. Nothing else compares to its horridness. If thats even a word. Hes stupid, immature, and angry because hes too dumb to comprehend anything. Out of every phony ever, he is obviously the biggest.
cool book
In Response to BIPIN:
Well this book’s main character Holden Caufield is obviously deeply troubled by society and it’s current standings. How anyone could say this book contains some psychological fluctuations is beyond me… Holden is, as some may label him, a pessimist but he is also very sensitive, the reason for his depression lies in his perception of society, this is why he seldom finds any goodness in people(to him the corruptness in them overshadows/outweighs the good in them) and When he sees the word “Fuck” on the wall he is disturbed not just by the word but because of the location where he finds it. He takes it as something very awful because from his prespective, the place where he finds it is his little sisters elementary school, where small innocent children are found and the presence of this word in such a place is disgusting to him.
It is not the book’s psychology that contains fluctuations, I think the reason why you did not find this book appealing is simply because you failed to fully comprehend it’s content. Which may be due to the fact that your psychological views/perspectives might be in need of broadening. I think you may have overgeneralized about this book too quickly, by what you’ve written it seems your views may be too narrow to encompass the content found in this book.
i can relate to Holden so well. i do not think he is crazy and i don’t think i am either.
HOLDEN IS JUST A CHARACTER ALL LOSER KIDS WANNA BE. HES JUST A CHEER-UPPER FOR US THE SECOND PICK
read bill gates’… now dats more than horsin around
—ark
and whats so wrong about horsing around anyway?
Did I ever tell you that I absolutely adore this book?
I do. We can talk about Salinger’s kick ass witticisms when we chit chat next.
According to Holden, childhood is full of innocence and purity but adulthood seems to be full of bad things like insincerity or as Holden likes to call it, phoniness.
This is my all time favourite book because i’m the girl version of holden caulfield.
For some strange reason, I could not finish reading this book at all..
I went into some sort of depression also because of not being able to finish it..