Expectation and first reaction

This book didn’t have a little summary on the back, so I didn’t really know what this story was about before I started reading. When I read the first chapter, I was really excited to read the other chapters, because it is a story about a boy with the same age as I. Because of this similarity, the book was really appealing to me.

Summary

The Catcher in the Rye is about a sixteen year old boy named Holden Caulfield. Holden studies at Pencey, a boarding school in Pennsylvania. He is bright and tries to be very tough. Before the end of the first trimester, Holden is suspended from the school for the third time, because of his indifferent attitude and bad grades. It is just before Christmas, and Holden decides to say goodbye to his favourite teacher Mister Spencer, who tries to justify the note he gave to Holden, by summing up Holden’s faults. When Holden goes back to his room, he starts a fight with his roommate Stradlater. Stradlater is dating a girl with whom Holden was in love the previous summer. Holden decides not to wait until the end of the trimester but to leave Pencey straight away. He takes the train to New York, where his parents live, but decides not to go to his parents straight away but to stay in a hotel until the beginning of the Christmas holiday. He spends his time in New York drinking and walking through the city and has no idea of what to do. He is desperately searching for someone he can really talk to. During this search he spends a great deal of money and loses his illusions. At the hotel an elevator-boy called Maurice offers him the services of a prostitute in his room. He accepts and a few minutes later the girl, Sunny, arrives. He is still a virgin and would like to change that. However that evening he doesn’t feel sexy enough for some reason so he simply gives her the money and sends her away. Afterwards her pimp comes to his room, gives him a couple of punches, and steals some of his money. The next morning, Holden gives his ex- girlfriend Sally a call and invites her out to the theatre. During the date, Sally meets an old friend with whom she has an intellectual conversation. The friend irritates Holden. When they are alone, Holden suggests that they escape the city-life, so the two of them can live in the woods. They could start an easy life, get a job, and marry each other. Sally says ‘no’ and calls him a ‘pain in the ass’ and leaves him. Holden took his plans very seriously. After this, he becomes even more disillusioned and lonely. He meets an old schoolfriend, Carl Luce. They have a drink together in a bar downtown, where they get into a fight and Carl leaves. Holden stays and has a lot to drink, getting very drunk. He goes to the lake in Central Park and stays there for a while wondering where the ducks are. When he regains his senses he decides to visit his sister Phoebe, so he sneaks into his parents’ house. Holden finds the integrity he is looking for through his sister. Instead of going back to the hotel he decides to go to see his former English teacher Mister Antolini, and asks if he can spend the night there. Antolini is one of the few people who Holden still trusts. Holden tells him his story. In the middle of the night Holden awakes and finds Antolini ‘s hand on his head. Holden thinks Antolini might be homosexual, so he decides to leave the house as quickly as possible. He spends the rest of the night at Central Station. After this last disillusionment, Holden decides to run away, and tells Phoebe about his plans - she says she wants to go with him. He tells her that she can’t. They get into an argument, as a result of which Holden changes his plans and takes her to the zoo instead. In the end Holden becomes ill and is diagnosed with tuberculosis. His parents send him to a sanitarium for psychological treatment. He recovers and talks about his experiences during those two dramatic days.

Facts

The book title : The Catcher in The Rye.

The writer of the book is J.D. Salinger.

The book is edited by Noordhoff Uitgevers BV

The book is publicated in 1945.

The book has 192 pages.

Biography of the writer

J.D. Salinger was born in New York, by Jewish parents. The Catcher in the Rye is his only novel. He also wrote some short stories, the most famous one is Franny and Zooey. He is one of the most famous Jewish-American novelists after World War Two. The Catcher in the Rye made him extremely popular, particularly among high school and college students. Young people felt that Salinger put his finger on what was important in the struggle between the individual and established society. Even today, the book still is popular, although some still find it controversial.

Character Description

Holden Caulfield:

Holden Caulfield is the main character, a sixteen-year-old boy who has just been suspended from Pencey Preparatory School. His father is a Jewish lawyer in New York. Holden is a nice person but has a really big mouth. He keeps calling people names, doesn’t want to belong to a group and hates people with an attitude. He tries to keep proving himself, especially to his fellow students by exaggerating. During the story he smokes a lot and drinks large amounts of alcohol.

Ward Stradlater:

Ward Stradlater is Holden’s roommate at Pencey. He is a senior student and is eighteen years old. He always dresses well and thinks he is the most handsome boy  at Pencey.

Robert Ackley:
Robert Ackley is another of Holden’s roommates at Pencey. Robert Ackley is very untidy. Everyone calls him simply Ackley.

Title Explanation

'The Catcher in the Rye' refers to a line in a poem by the Scottish poet Robert Burns. The character Holden thinks the line is “if a body catches a body in the rye” instead of the actual line in the poem which is “if a body meets a body in the rye”. His sister Phoebe corrects him. Holden tells his sister that it makes him imagine children playing in a rye-field, while he is standing on the edge of the nearby cliff so he can catch them if they fall, and send them back to the field. He is therefore the catcher in the rye.

Literary terms

Genre : Novel

Setting : Pennsylvania, New York.

Theme : The theme is the transition from childhood to adulthood.

Style : The style is almost only oral language used by Holden Caulfield,

who speaks in the American teenage slang of the 1950’s.

Evaluation and Final verdict

I think this book is one of the best books I’ve ever read, mostly because it has a great deal of humour and the writing-style is very appealing to me. Also, the language used in this book fits the theme of the book perfectly. When the book was finished, I felt a connection with Holden Caulfield and I understood his decisions and his personality. He frequently says he is crazy en wouldn’t be surprised if you don’t understand him, but the fact that he is the one who says that, I feel pity for him and I feel compassionate.