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__**The Catcher in the Rye**__

"... I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around - nobody big, I mean - except me.  And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff.  What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff - I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them.  That's all I do all day.  I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all.  I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd really like to be." ~J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, by the character Holden Caulfield.



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Jerome David "J. D." Salinger was born January 1, 1919 in New York. Salinger is a World War II veteran, he returned from the service in 1946. Once he came back he started to write for 'The New Yorker'. After his writing job at 'The New Yorker,' he started writing The Catcher in the Rye. The Catcher in the Rye was published July 16, 1951. It became an instant success, and got critical recognition, and major media coverage. Mr. Salinger has been living in Cornish, New Hampshire since 1951. He has become very withdrawn and has refused to be interviewed since 1980. The newest work by J. D. Salinger, "Hapworth, 1924" is scheduled to be published in January of 2009 by Orchises Press, a small publishing company.



**__Plot Synopsis.__** The narrator of this story is young Holden Caulfield. the story takes place in New York, New York in the 1950's. Holden is only 16 and tells the story as if happened right after the fall term in Pency Prep, his old boarding school, and right before Christmas break. Holden is telling the story from an unclear location, all that is known of that location is that he is in some sort of mental hospital.

The story starts out on a lowly saturday after Holden finds out he is being expelled from Pency Prep because of his bad grades and poor attitude towards school and the students and teachers in the school. He is failing four out of five of his classes. He begins to walk to his old history professors house, called Spencer, to talk to him and say good bye. He goes to say good bye to the one teacher he liked, but when Spencer starts to lecture him on his work ethic and his attitude, Holden becomes annoyed and goes back to his dorm. He is about to say his good byes to Pency Prep when his roommate Stradlater comes in and begins to talk about his date, this discussion deepens and he finds out his roommate is now dating an ex-girlfriend of his that he still has feelings for. Stradlater and Holden gets in to a fist fight and after Holden gets a bloody nose he decides he's had enough of Pency Prep for his lifetime.

Holden Caulfield then decides to leave Pency Prep that night. This is three days earlier then his parents expect him home. After a few minutes of thinking his actions through he makes the decision to leave that night and stay in a hotel for a few days with out talking to his parents or to anyone else. Young Holdens choices lead him down a path of self discovery, learning about the importance of family ties and trusting your self. He also encounters a lot of problems such as prostitution, underage smoking and drinking, and the urge to feel grown up and self important.

**__Criticism.__**

The Catcher in the Rye had its goods, and its bads. On on had, it was very very good at showing what the mind of a troubled teenager was thinking. Almost all teenagers at one point in their life or another have felt sad, angry, alone, or frustrated with the world. Having something that the main audience can relate too is very important because they need to find a way to connect. In Holden's story it showed the need to feel grown up through sex, drugs, alcohol, smoking, and having the mouth of a sailor. This is a good way to show the connection of Holdens life to everyday teenagers, but is also shows the negatives of any teenage life. This book way written straight out of his head, which shows what he is truly thinking, with no editing, but with out editing his foul language some people got offended with such language.

**__Literary Information__**

Salinger had a very creative writing style. He liked to write like he was actually a teenage boy speaking. There was alot of swear words and obscene things said, but it really got the mind set of the character across. The Catcher in the Rye is a first person novel written in pretense through the eyes of Holden Caulfield, in the late 1940's.

__** My Thoughts. **__

My thoughts on this book was that it was phenominal! I would definatently recommend this book to anyone who enjoys growing up novels, and teenage issues. I think this book was placed on the "Outstanding Books for the College Bound" list because it was very contraversal, and showed a very distraught mind of a young boy who is trying to discover himself. this book is so outstanding because it really makes you think about the main character, Holden Caulfield. This character becomes so developed and universal in the eyes of almost all the readers. I say univeral because it seems like anyone can relate to him, and understand what he is saying.

If you liked this book you might also be interested in the following; To Kill a mocking Bird  [|to kill a mockingbird] Of Mice and Men  [|of Mice and Men] Catch-22  [|Catch-22]