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The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger – review

dewdrop: 'Overall I think this book is extraordinarily exact however it has its short-comings like all things'
  
  


Holden Caulfield has quite a reputation for being kicked out of schools. As he is kicked out of yet another school, he decides to spend the weekend in New York instead of going home so his parents have a chance to calm down about the latest expulsion.

J.D Salinger managed to catch my attention in just the way they wrote. The simple way he wrote, which included lots of repetition of certain phrases for example 'phony', made you immediately know it was from the perspective of a teenager.

I suppose I could say the book itself was almost annoyingly repetitive and the pessimistic thoughts going through the main character's head were just depressing at times. However, all these bad points in the book are exactly the kind of thing that convinces you that it is a teenager writing the story.

Throughout the book there are highs and lows with Holden, the main character, as he frustrates with his pessimistic thoughts and ideas but sometimes he surprises with sparks of decency and selflessness which made him more interesting to read about.

Whilst I thought all of the characters were very realistic and well thought out, the description was lacking for me as it failed to describe the surroundings and other people. The plot got a little tiring after a while as well as it wasn't particularly exciting but I suppose if you were to try and make it as realistic as possible the plot would have to be pretty simple.

Overall I think this book is extraordinarily exact however it has its short-comings like all things.

• Buy this book at the Guardian Bookshop

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