Published: 04/03/2010
Holden Caulfield's notorious teenage odyssey around New York City constitutes one of the greatest coming-of-age stories in fiction, and Salinger's howl of angst and alienation has lost none of its power to shock and confront.
Witty, wise and bittersweet, The Catcher in the Rye is the ultimate American coming-of-age novel - a timeless classic.
It's Christmas and Holden Caulfield has just been expelled from yet another school. Fleeing the crooks at Pencey Prep, he pinballs around New York City seeking solace in fleeting encounters - shooting the bull with strangers in dive hotels, wandering alone round Central Park, getting beaten up by pimps and cut down by erstwhile girlfriends.
The city is beautiful and terrible, in all its neon loneliness and seedy glamour, its mingled sense of possibility and emptiness. Holden passes through it like a ghost, thinking always of his kid sister Phoebe, the only person who really understands him, and his determination to escape the phonies and find a life of true meaning.
The Catcher in the Rye is an all-time classic coming-of-age story: an elegy to teenage alienation, capturing the deeply human need for connection and the bewildering sense of loss as we leave childhood behind.
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
ISBN: 9780241950432
Number of pages: 240
Weight: 170 g
Dimensions: 198 x 129 x 15 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
I liked it very much indeed, more than anything for a long time. - Samuel Beckett
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“The Catcher in the Rye”
This is a Love...Hate book. I personaly loved it, the way the character are set out it feels as if its real life. Dont expect a big storyline because to be honest there isnt really one but its a nice relaxing read :)... More
“The Catcher in the Rye”
A story that documents the incidents leading up to a nervous breakdown. The narrator, seventeen year old Holden Caulfield, has just been kicked out of prep school - again. What ensues is a narrative of random... More
“As relevant now as ever”
The book was really easy to get into (sometimes I get a 'book hangover' when I don't really enjoy a new book because I'm still into the last one - this didn't happen with Catcher). I loved the... More
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