The Catcher in the Rye

“‘I don't want to scare you,' he said,”

I'll say it right away- this is the kind of book you either love or hate. I, for one, really enjoyed this novel. As you all probably know by now, I absolutely adore non-traditional main characters. Yes, I love every deadly and dangerous female protagonist who comes my way, but the most memorable, my most favorite, characters are those that break the mold.

And Holden shatters it.

He's whiny. He's bratty. And his world is crumbling down. And it's oddly beautiful, the way he tries to deny what's happening to him. After all, how can one possibly be strong in the face of their own destruction? Holden destroyed himself. It honestly made me think of that song by Kelly Clarkson, “Beautiful Disaster”. (Look it up, it's quite good live)

I liked the plot, which really surprised me. I'm usually not much of a fan for contemporary (and by that I mean I rarely give 5 stars to contemporary novels, sorry lovers of contemporary novels), but I enjoyed this one. It only took place in the span of a weekend, but it felt like much longer.

I found the other characters pleasant as well. Granted, not pleasant in the sense of nice and friendly, but pleasant in the sense of unique and memorable. I especially liked Mr. Antolini, and the things he said were rather profound and true.

Some of my friends who also read this book for school are going to come on here in a bit and bash the book, but I, for one, really enjoyed it. And I hope you do too. So just ignore their reviews, especially Alex.

“‘but I can very clearly see you dying nobly, one way or another, for some highly unworthy cause.'”