letiross's review
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Misogyny
Moderate: Homophobia, Child death, and Suicide
luckyone's review
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Mental illness, Cursing, Death, Grief, and Drug use
Moderate: Sexual content
meldelen's review against another edition
funny
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
He abordado este librito sin haberme informado mucho de la trama, simplemente sabiendo que es uno de los clásicos estadounidenses y que su autor gozó de mucho renombre por la publicación de este libro.
Dicho esto, no me ha parecido nada del otro mundo. Cuenta en primera persona las desventuras de Holden Cauldfield, un chaval de dieciséis años que acaba de ser expulsado de su enésima escuela de élite privada porque no le gusta dar un palo al agua. Temiendo volver a casa antes del miércoles - en que llegará la nota de su expulsión - decide matar el tiempo por Nueva York. Y ya está. Eso es la trama.
¿Decepcionados? Supongo que en su época este libro debió ser transgresor y sorprendente, pues Holden denuncia sin tapujos la hipocresía de las instituciones privadas, la falsedad de las hermandades de estudiantes y la vacuidad de la supuesta educación de élite que sus padres insisten en darle mientras él insiste en desperdiciarla. Holden no sólo está desmotivado, también está deprimido. Nada le gusta lo suficiente. Nada lo atrae ni vale la pena. Ni siquiera es capaz de estar con chicas o de conservar un amigo. No sabe lo que quiere. No se aguanta ni a sí mismo.
En defensa del librito diré que se lee muy rápido y que rara vez aburre, porque Holden tiene bastante chispa y no deja de ser un personaje entrañable en su patetismo, pero es que no pasa absolutamente nada en toda la novela. Se emborracha, se escapa, le dan una paliza, da vueltas, va a un bar, habla con alguien, vuelve al hotel, sale de nuevo... así ad infinitum.
No sé, puede que fuese la primera novela sobre un nini que se publicó, pero hoy día hay tantas que no destaca en absoluto. Ha envejecido mal. Es más, está totalmente superada.
Dicho esto, no me ha parecido nada del otro mundo. Cuenta en primera persona las desventuras de Holden Cauldfield, un chaval de dieciséis años que acaba de ser expulsado de su enésima escuela de élite privada porque no le gusta dar un palo al agua. Temiendo volver a casa antes del miércoles - en que llegará la nota de su expulsión - decide matar el tiempo por Nueva York. Y ya está. Eso es la trama.
¿Decepcionados? Supongo que en su época este libro debió ser transgresor y sorprendente, pues Holden denuncia sin tapujos la hipocresía de las instituciones privadas, la falsedad de las hermandades de estudiantes y la vacuidad de la supuesta educación de élite que sus padres insisten en darle mientras él insiste en desperdiciarla. Holden no sólo está desmotivado, también está deprimido. Nada le gusta lo suficiente. Nada lo atrae ni vale la pena. Ni siquiera es capaz de estar con chicas o de conservar un amigo. No sabe lo que quiere. No se aguanta ni a sí mismo.
En defensa del librito diré que se lee muy rápido y que rara vez aburre, porque Holden tiene bastante chispa y no deja de ser un personaje entrañable en su patetismo, pero es que no pasa absolutamente nada en toda la novela. Se emborracha, se escapa, le dan una paliza, da vueltas, va a un bar, habla con alguien, vuelve al hotel, sale de nuevo... así ad infinitum.
No sé, puede que fuese la primera novela sobre un nini que se publicó, pero hoy día hay tantas que no destaca en absoluto. Ha envejecido mal. Es más, está totalmente superada.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Alcohol, Bullying, Injury/injury detail, Mental illness, Medical trauma, and Panic attacks/disorders
veryelena's review
adventurous
emotional
relaxing
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
i could fix him
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness
Minor: Sexual assault and Misogyny
liz_e's review
challenging
dark
funny
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
The suicidal urges, the violent thoughts, the hate he’s internalized for himself— people around him— the world— the impulses, the urge to just make things worse. He’s miserable. There’s just this glimmer of hope and love that keeps him hanging on. And I understand why some people think all of these thoughts are unrealistic… but as someone living With depression… it’s the most realistic thing I’ve ever read. This book is so important to me. I only wish it didn’t come from the point of view of a terribly sexist kid. But it does. So it’s complicated. But it’s important.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Death, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Violence
Minor: Sexual content
mikaelaandherbooks's review against another edition
sad
medium-paced
2.0
This one just wasn't for me. I found it difficult to stay engaged in the story and felt sad for the main character.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, and Grief
Moderate: Sexual assault, Child death, and Homophobia
Minor: Suicide
ffrank's review
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Death, Misogyny, and Homophobia
75sol's review
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This book gets a lot of hate because the main character is incredibly unlikable, however I think that’s a vital part to this book. The catcher in the rye is a story about a mentally ill boy who has no access to any parental figure that even remotely cares about him. His parents his teachers: no one is really there for him which causes him to spiral and eventually have a breakdown. The catcher in the rye is a little time capsule of what life was like in the 60s for boys but also what it’s like for boys now and they’re afraid of being able to talk about what they’re going through mentally. I think it’s incredibly important everyone reads this book to understand what it’s like for people who are unable to talk about mental health struggles and what they may have seen when they were younger and had no one to talk to it about, and why certain people may act certain ways.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Mental illness and Abandonment
sara_berlin's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
In one word: overrated.
I can admit that it wasn’t as terrible as I thought at the start, but it’s definitely not a masterpiece or one of the best books ever. Honestly I considered dnfing it but I wanted to finish it so I could a) say I’ve read it and b) properly trash it.
If this was released today and critiqued as a piece of literature, I don’t think it would get good reviews. I will never understand how this is some people’s favorite book.
The actual process of reading it was not fun and not worth what little I got out of it. Sure, there’s some interesting (although in my opinion pretty basic) reflections, and Holden is a somewhat interesting character, but beyond that, there wasn’t much substance.
I feel like if it was at least fun to read I would’ve given it a pass for not have any like “lesson” or “deep meaning”, although I would still not consider it one of the best books of all time. I probably just have very high standards for classics, I mean something had to make it so popular and everlasting. but this was not that good. Honestly I only actually liked the last part, but the rest of the book was quite a bore. I dunno, I kind of get the point of it, but it wasn’t for me.
I can admit that it wasn’t as terrible as I thought at the start, but it’s definitely not a masterpiece or one of the best books ever. Honestly I considered dnfing it but I wanted to finish it so I could a) say I’ve read it and b) properly trash it.
If this was released today and critiqued as a piece of literature, I don’t think it would get good reviews. I will never understand how this is some people’s favorite book.
The actual process of reading it was not fun and not worth what little I got out of it. Sure, there’s some interesting (although in my opinion pretty basic) reflections, and Holden is a somewhat interesting character, but beyond that, there wasn’t much substance.
I feel like if it was at least fun to read I would’ve given it a pass for not have any like “lesson” or “deep meaning”, although I would still not consider it one of the best books of all time. I probably just have very high standards for classics, I mean something had to make it so popular and everlasting. but this was not that good. Honestly I only actually liked the last part, but the rest of the book was quite a bore. I dunno, I kind of get the point of it, but it wasn’t for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Suicide, and Alcohol
Moderate: Death, Cursing, Violence, Homophobia, Sexual harassment, and Sexual content
Minor: Pedophilia, Lesbophobia, and Child abuse
dlrosebyh's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
i hate holden but i love his gf
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Child death, Homophobia, and Sexual assault
Minor: Suicide