The Catcher in the Rye

The Catcher In the Rye by J.D. Salinger

One of the most well know and acclaimed pieces of classic literature, awarded one of the best English-language Novels of the 20th century.  We follow the first person account of Holden Caulfield mental break down.
He starts his journey with being expelled from his school Pencey Prep leading him to decide to run away to New York and experience life.  After a whirl wind of women and drinking Holden is more confused and depressed about life than ever before.  A novel that beautifully displays the tragic loss of childlike innocence has been read in class rooms across the U.S. and even banned in other countries due to its involvement with alcohol and sexuality.

I read this for an English class of mine and I give it a 6 out of 10


This is a hard one to review seeing as it's revered as such a classic.  And before I say anything about the book I'd like to first say that these reviews are completely personal opinions, I'm completely fine with someone disagreeing with me, just as I am entitled to my opinion you are entitled to yours and I would encourage you to comment or message me with anything you have to say about my reviews.
Now with that said, I think I had such big expectations for this book that I could never really fill them.  I had heard so much about this novel, how it was everyone's favorite classic and how it had inspired murders and all that crazy stuff that when I read it I was kind of disappointed.  When I read it I wasn't inspired or moved.  It just seemed like this whiney kid was running around the city doing things he shouldn't and that he should just go home and maybe get some help.  **WARNING SPOILER** The only part that I really enjoyed was in the end as he watched his sister on the Merry-Go-Round and was finally content and not complaining about anything.  
However my dislike of the novel did not dieter me from understanding why it is a classic and why it's part of so many english curriculum.  It is a great representation for the tragic way we lose out childlike innocence and  how we'd give anything to get it back.  
I do not hope to dieter anyone from reading this classic, in fact I'd rather you see this review and pick it up for yourself to see whether you agree or not.  Happy readings!