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Catcher in the Rye


            "The Catcher in the Rye," is a story told in first person by a seventeen-year-old boy named Holden Caulfield. The story basically consists of what Holden does between his expulsion from high school and when he returns home to tell his parents the bad news (which is the span of three days). This expulsion is not the first he has had, for he had been expelled at least a couple times before. However, Holden does not get expelled for bad behavior, but for lack of effort, and failing grades (except in English). Through the course of three days, Holden leaves his school, meets old friends, gets drunk, gets a prostitute (with whom he only ended up talking to), gets beaten several times, and many other occurrences.
             I believe the author wrote this book to show how teenagers live, what's on their minds, and how they talk. However, I think J.D. Salinger does a poor job, and ends up repulsing me. In my lifetime, I have NEVER heard anyone talk like Holden, and I don't mean outdated slang either. His foul language is revolting and extremely frequent. He uses curse words (mainly goddam and bastard, if you consider it a curse) even when there is little emotion involved, for example on page 155: "The only good thing, I knew she wouldn't let old Phoebe come to my goddam funeral because she was only a little kid." Also, the author offered limited variation to how Holden reacted to certain people. Holden hated pretty much everyone, because he found them phony. It was almost is if he tried to find phoniness in people. .
             There are many other aspects of this book I did not like, but they are too subtle to mention. On the other hand, I did find the book interesting and easy to read, but the language and predictability of the plot turned me off. Once again, I have read a "classic" and have difficulty finding reason for it to be one (for example, "Frankenstein".) I give this book a 4 out of 10.
            


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