The Catcher in the Rye

I read this in my teens and even though I don't have very much to say about it, here is the main thing about this review. I want it to be positive - but when I read it in my teens I thought "hey! this is a great book!" I recently read it around some time last year for a second time and all I could think was "why the? Why did I think this was any good?"

Characters:

My favourite character (as is everyone's) was Holden. Holden is a troubled young man that basically embodies every teenager ever. He is socially awkward and speaks in weird slang that only became popular much later - and then went out of fashion again with the return of Standard English. I feel like Holden's character is on the whole, too easily relatable - there's no real character challenge there that makes you sympathise. It's all empathy and after a while, it gets boring and slightly monotonous. I did like the character - but not as much as I would've thought. 

Themes:

My favourite theme was alienation. Now, Salinger did this theme extremely well (which is also probably why this book got a positive review out of me). Holden is constantly alienating people from him and there is a serious social awkwardness that I find Holden blows out of proportion - and this is almost always associated with teen angst. It's a brilliantly designed theme and I feel that there is a third dimension to this novel because of this theme. 

Storyline:

Well, the storyline isn't much to look at. The entire book take place over the course of a year from when Holden gets booted from prestigious schools to when he ends up in a TB care home and looks back on his life whilst telling us this story. The entire story being a flashback, I found, was just a little predictable. But, saying that, this was probably because I read Less Than Zero and even though it is based on The Catcher in the Rye - I found Ellis's novel a lot more convincing. 

Verdict:

I give this book 7/9

2/3 for characters: I was never a big fan of Holden - I thought sometimes he was just a bit of an ass. But mostly - he is the embodiment of teenage angst. 

100% for themes: This was done at its best. 

2/3 for storyline: Sometimes a bit monotonous and lengthy - I felt the storyline was slightly underwhelming.