The+Catcher+in+The+Rye

THE CATCHER IN THE RYE    BY: J.D. SALINGER   ABOUT THE AUTHOR   J.D. Salinger is an American novelist and short story author. His most famous work is __The Catcher in the Rye__, published in 1951. J.D. Salinger was born Jerome David Salinger, January 1st, 1919, to a Jewish importer of Kosher cheese and his Scotch-Irish wife. He grew up in an apartment in Manhattan, New York where he studied at prep schools, and eventually was sent to the Valley Forge Military Academy. In 1937, when he turned eighteen, he spent five months Europe. After, he began studies at Ursinus College and New York University. There he met Oona O'Neill. They wrote letters daily and Salinger instantly fell head over heels for her. Later he was heartbroken and shocked when she married Charles Chaplin. In 1939, Salinger took a class in short story writing at Columbia University; there he met the editor of the //Story Magazine//. Salinger was drafted into the infantry during World War II and was involved in the invasion of Normandy. During his time there he wrote stories in Paris and met Ernest Hemmingway, another writer. Many of his short stories depicted the life of a soldier and were inspired by his own experiences. After the war Salinger was hospitalized for stress and decided to write full-time. In 1945, Salinger married a French doctor named Sylvia and they were later divorced. In 1955, Salinger married Claire Douglas, a daughter of a British art critic, this marriage also ended in divorce. After the divorce from Claire Douglas, Salinger hid in his own private world and studied Zen Buddhism. Many of his early works and short stories appeared in magazines. His first published story was in //Story Magazine// in 1940, but many other magazines such as, //Saturday Evening Post//, //Esquire//, and the //New Yorker//, which later published almost all of his work. In 1948, another of his more famous work appeared titled, __A Perfect Day for Bananafish__, which introduced a new character named Seymour Glass. Salinger used the Glass family to expand on his writing publishing many books with Glass characters such as, __Franny and Zooey__, __Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters__, and __Seymour: an Introduction__. About twenty stories that were published in //Collier's//, //Saturday Evening Post//, //Esquire//, //Good Housekeeping//, //Cosmopolitan//, and the //New Yorker// between 1941 and 1948 showed up in a 1974 edition of __The Complete Uncollected Stories of J.D. Salinger__. His first novel, __The Catcher in the Rye__, immediately became a hit when it was published in 1951. To this day, the book sells about 250,000 copies annually. Since his novel, there have been many rumors that he will publish another novel, perhaps under a pen name. J.D. Salinger refuses to give interviews, even today. Joyce Maynard, a close friend to the author since the 1970s said that Salinger still writes but doesn't allow anyone to read his stories. Salinger married Colleen O'Neill in the late 1980s and they are still married. J.D. Salinger is now ninety years old.  Plot Synopsis   __The Catcher in the Rye__ focuses on the life of Holden Caulfield, a teenage rebel. Holden begins his story by getting kicked out of Pencey, a prestigious boarding school, for failing four of his five classes. His first visit is to his old teacher, Mr. Spencer, who tells him he can do better than his previous work. Holden, being the stubborn boy he is, refuses to try Pencey again; Holden had tried many different prep and boarding schools in the past and flunked out of all of them. Holden goes back to his dorm to pack and gets a very annoying surprise visit from his neighbor, Ackley. Holden also gets annoyed with his roommate, Stradlater, when he learns that Stradlater is dating Jane Gallagher, a girl Holden used to see. He was tired of his failures and decided to take a break from all the stress. Holden decides to leave for Christmas Vacation three days early and keep his expulsion quiet from his parents. When riding the train to New York, Holden meets the mother of a student at Pencey. Holden secretly thinks this student is a jerk and makes up lies about how the student is very shy, intelligent, and kind. When he gets off the train, he considers calling someone from the phone booth but, decides against it. Instead, Holden gets into a cab and asks the driver where the ducks go in the winter and what happens to the fish. The questions annoy the driver and Holden is taken to the Edmont Hotel where he checks in for the night. While at the Edmont Hotel, Holden goes down to the Lavender Room, a bar/club in the hotel. In the Lavender Room, the waiter realizes he is a minor, irritating Holden. Holden then flirts with three women, much older than he. Holden believes he has fallen in love with one of the girls after dancing with her but, when the ladies leave and leave him the check, Holden thinks otherwise. Holden enters the lobby of the hotel and starts to think about the time he and Jane Gallagher came close to “necking”. Next, Holden decides to take a cab to Ernie’s Jazz Club. At Ernie’s, Holden sits alone until running into one of his older brother’s ex-girlfriends, His brother’s ex invites Holden to sit with her and her date but, Holden refuses. Holden returns to the Edmont where Maurice, the elevator operator, offers to send Holden a prostitute to his room. Soon, a woman who calls herself “Sunny” comes in. Holden is nervous and asks that instead of having sex with her, they should just talk. Holden still pays “Sunny” her five dollars but, later “Sunny” brings Maurice up to Holden’s room where they accuse Holden of not paying “Sunny”. Maurice and “Sunny” steal another five dollars from Holden. The next morning, Holden calls Sally Hayes, a girl he dated and isn’t quite sure he still has feelings for. Holden schedules a matinee showing of a Broadway play as a date. Before meeting Sally Holden goes to the park to look for his younger sister Phoebe. He does not find her and instead returns to meet Sally at the show. At the show, Holden gets upset at Sally for talking to a boy she knew from Andover. Next, Sally talks Holden into ice skating in Radio City. After both of them fail at ice skating, they decide to take a table instead. Holden tries to tell Sally about his troubles at school but, Sally doesn’t understand. Holden tries to convince her to run away to the country with him to get away from all of her problems. When Sally doesn’t agree with him, he calls her a pain she gets upset and he laughs at her. Sally wouldn’t accept his apology and leaves. After his unsuccessful date, Holden decides to try to call Jane Gallagher again. No one answers so instead he calls Carl Luce, a boy he met at Wooton School and who now attends Columbia University. They schedule time to meet at a bar. When Holden meets Carl there, Holden tries to strike up conversation about Carl’s Chinese girlfriend and his personal life. Carl gets irritated with Holden and leaves but Holden stays and gets drunk at the bar. While Holden is drunk he decides to sneak into his own apartment building and visit his little sister, Phoebe. He tells Phoebe about his expulsion and his dream of being the “catcher in the rye”. Holden decides that he cannot stay in the apartment so he calls his old teacher, Mr. Antolini, and asks if he can stay there. Mr. Antolini welcomes Holden in and they discuss Holden’s future. Finally Holden falls asleep on the couch and wakes up to Mr. Antolini stroking his forehead. Holden immediately jumps to the conclusion that Mr. Antolini is making homosexual moves to him. Holden quickly leaves and sleeps on a bench at Grand Central Station. The next day, Holden leaves Phoebe a note saying he is leaving. Phoebe gets upset and asks if she can leave too…  Criticism  Overall I enjoyed __The Catcher in the Rye__ very much. The style J. D. Salinger used was very different. He wrote the book truly from inside Holden’s head. I have never read a book before that was so real. You could experience all of Holden’s emotions through the style of the literature. The characterization in the story was very good also. The reader could understand Holden’s depression. J. D. Salinger used strong language to accentuate Holden’ character and make his emotions clear. The only thing that didn’t work with the book was that sometimes it got dry. Some of the chapters focused on the same problems as in previous chapters, although Holden Caulfield is a very well written character. <span style="font-size: 16pt; color: red; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'AR CHRISTY'; text-align: center; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; msobidifontfamily: 'Times New Roman';">Literary Information <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> __The Catcher in the Rye__ is a realistic fiction book. The book is written in first person; with Holden Caulfield as the narrator considers his thoughts and telling a story of when he was expelled from Pencey Prep. <span style="font-size: 16pt; color: red; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'AR CHRISTY'; text-align: center; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; msobidifontfamily: 'Times New Roman';">Quotations <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: #333333; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">“. . . . 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'd do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all.” Holden Caulfield, __The Catcher in the Rye__ “I have a feeling that you're riding for some kind of terrible, terrible fall. . . . The whole arrangements designed for men who, at some time or other in their lives, were looking for something their own environment couldn't supply them with. . . . So they gave up looking.” Mr. Antolini, __The Catcher in the Rye__ <span style="font-size: 16pt; color: red; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'AR CHRISTY'; text-align: center; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; msobidifontfamily: 'Times New Roman';">Why read __The Catcher in the Rye__? <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: #333333; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys realistic fiction. The book really gets inside the main character’s mind and makes the reader understand the story. Another pro for The Catcher in the Rye is its length. The Catcher in the Rye is the perfect length so, I would recommend this book to someone who doesn’t want to read too long of a book. <span style="font-size: 16pt; color: red; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'AR CHRISTY'; text-align: center; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; msobidifontfamily: 'Times New Roman';">Why is __The Catcher in the Rye__ an outstanding book? <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: #333333; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">I think that __The Catcher in the Rye__ was placed on the Outstanding Book List because of its style. The book is written in first person and the narrator, Holden Caulfield, is a very complex and interesting <span style="color: #333333; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">character. The characterization in this book is very well written. It is clear who each character is and what they believe and who they are. <span style="font-size: 16pt; color: red; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'AR CHRISTY'; text-align: center; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; msobidifontfamily: 'Times New Roman';">If you enjoy this book you might like to check out these: <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; text-align: center;">A Separate Peace: http://park204.wikispaces.com/Mitch-A+Separate+Peace Ellen Foster: http://park204.wikispaces.com/Bri+-+Ellen+Foster A Death in the Family: http://park204.wikispaces.com/Alyssa+K.+-+A+Death+In+The+Family I Never Promised You a Rose Garden: http://park204.wikispaces.com/Karin+-+I+Never+Promised+You+A+Rose+Garden <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; text-align: center; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; msobidifontweight: bold;">Works Consulted: <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Linkkonca, Paul "J(erome) D(avid) Salinger". 11 Mar. 2009. < <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">[] __<span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">> __ <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Salinger, J.D. __The Catcher in the Rye__. Little, Brown and Company, 1945 <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">