The Catcher In The Rye: Book Review

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The Catcher In The Rye: Book Review

The Catcher In The Rye, written by J.D. Salinger, is a fictional novel

that was first published in 1965. The novel takes place in New York City and in

Pennsylvania over a duration of four days. This novel tells the story of an

emotionally disturbed teenager who has been kicked out of a boarding school. The

story is told from the point of view of a teenager who is the narrator of the

story.

The main character in this novel is Holden Caulfield. He is sixteen years

old and serves as the narrator of this novel. Holden does not like anybody or

anything around him. He is an emotionally troubled kid and has many problems

with his life. Phoebe is Holden's little sister. She is ten years old and

lives at home with their parents. Phoebe really admires and loves her big

brother, Holden.

This novel begins when Holden is in a mental hospital in California. The

novel is a flashback of the events over a time period of four days. The

flashback starts off when Holden gets kicked out of his boarding school, Pency

Prep, because he is failing most of his classes. Holden decides to go into New

York City for a couple of days until his parents will be expecting him home for

Christmas vacation. Holden goes to bars and meets with friends during this time.

On the third night, Holden decides to go and visit his sister, Phoebe. Phoebe

is one of the only people that Holden actually loves. Holden talks to Phoebe

about his life being a failure. He is trying to understand life and his place

in the world. Holden decides that he wants to go see Mr. Antolini, an old

teacher, to help him get a better understanding of his life. At Mr. Antolini's

home, Holden discusses many of the problems that he is facing. Mr. Antolini

tells Holden that he has to learn not to hate everyone around him. He has to

learn to love people. Holden is told that he has to think about his future. He

has to decide when he is going to start to take life seriously and apply himself

in school. Holden's conversation with Mr. Antolini is the climax of the novel.

This is the point of the novel when Holden starts to listen and understand his

problems. He realizes that it is time he put his life back on the right track.

The next day, Holden returns home to his family. Holden is taken directly to a

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