Reviews tagging 'Child death'

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

126 reviews

jodar's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

0.25

Some novels have engaging characters or an absorbing plot or are delightfully written. Some even have two or all three of these elements. But then there are novels like The Catcher in the Rye that has none of these features.

I detested this so-called ‘great novel’ when I was compelled to read it as a teenager at secondary school. But that was decades ago, so when I mentioned my loathing recently and someone claimed it was well-written, I decided to read it again. But no, I didn’t find it well-written either: probably because it is a first-person narrative of a puerile, self-absorbed, cynical adolescent, the writing reflects that too.

To be clear, I have enjoyed novels whose MC is unattractive and selfish. But for me there needs to be something else for the novel to be ‘great’, moving, impactful and absorbing – some wider perspective, perhaps, or beautiful writing or something.

Yes, I understand that the MC, Holden Caulfield, is grieving for his dead brother, estranged from his parents and is grappling with the anguish of a teenager growing up. But his deep cynicism of everything, shallow appreciation of others, selfishness and general sordidness in thought and word is just plain ugly and unappealing. The MC only shows a bit of human warmth towards his younger sister, and even then he struggles not to be a selfish moron. (Now, if the MC had been his sister instead – she comes across as a sensible, decent human being – with a disturbed older brother to cope with, that might have been a ‘great novel’).

In short, I still regard this novel as the ‘type specimen’ of a largely meritless novel that some others regard as superlative for reasons I can’t really understand.

Or in words Holden might use: The MC is such a pain in the arse and phony sonuvabitch who annoys the hell out of me. The whole novel is a dumb, stinking goddam story that makes me want to puke.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Cursing, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Pedophilia, Sexual content, Child death, Suicide, and Panic attacks/disorders

wiktoria_bojda's review

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Cursing, Cancer, and Mental illness

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Sexual content and Homophobia

hannah_cogo's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Blood, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, and Child death

Moderate: Suicide, Cursing, Grief, Physical abuse, Death, Homophobia, Mental illness, Alcohol, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Misogyny, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Addiction, Pedophilia, Homophobia, Incest, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Misogyny, and Sexual content

maddalenacesco's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

teenage misanthropist who grew up in a silver-spoon gated community.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Alcoholism, Death, Alcohol, Bullying, and Cursing

atlasobi's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

"Certain things they should stay the way they are. You ought to be able to stick them in one of those big glass cases and just leave them alone. I know that's impossible, but it's too bad anyway."

i can see why some people wouldn't like this book, but honestly i think i love it for those same reasons. the catcher in the rye is an angsty coming of age novel about holden caulfield, a teenager struggling with depression & growing up in the 1950s. holden's smart but unable to apply himself, he feels alone and struggles connecting with other people, and he's desperately clinging to his childhood as everything, even he himself, is changing. yeah he's whiny and depressed and lonesome (rip bozo), but who wasn't at 16 lmao

so glad at the reveal that he gets admitted to a mental hospital for a while tho like... you need help kid!

couldn't in good conscience recommend this to just anyone bc i know how much some people hate it lol but it's definitely worth a try imo !!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Death, Blood, Mental illness, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual assault

Minor: Cancer and Child death

wrensandroses's review

dark emotional reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Blood, Mental illness, and Sexism

Moderate: Violence, Suicide, Homophobia, Child death, Death, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Cancer, Terminal illness, Trafficking, and Vomit

countdraculahimself's review

emotional funny sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Grief, Violence, Alcoholism, and Child death

Minor: Suicide and Bullying

zeraphyr's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

It started with a bit of a slouch (it wasn't to easy to adjust to 1940's New York slang at first), but I quickly found myself drawn to Salingers way of weaving the complex struggles of adolescence into the narrative through Holden's own conflicted perspective. And boy does he have a very strong perspective. 

While Holden is certainly a very... idiosyncratic character (he's a bit of a dick, quick to pass judgment on others whilst falling short of identifying the same flaws in himself sometimes), he's also a character that's very true to the adolescent struggle of failing to fit in. To find a purpose in a world that places a lot of restrictions upon people while growing up. And how in trying to rebel against the confines of adulthood and this sense of alienation from ourselves, we can get lost just as well as when we're giving in.

There's a lot of other interesting themes and often dark topics (like sexual assault and trauma) that get brought up, but this one resonated with me the most. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Sexual assault, Vomit, Death, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Child death, Sexual content, and Child abuse

seanml's review against another edition

funny reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Excellent. A kid on the verge of growing into a young adult tells us all about how the world works. Everyone is annoying - either they're sad and pathetic to think about. Or they're phony; so full of themselves. Every except Holden - Holden who hates movies more than anything but sometimes goes to watch them. Holden who knows all about how women work because he's decided how they work before he even says hello. Holden does have a lot of beautiful points to make about the world - they're just not the ones he intends. 9/10.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Sexism, and Grief

Minor: Blood, Cancer, Death, Gun violence, Cursing, Gaslighting, Bullying, Pedophilia, Homophobia, Cultural appropriation, and Child death

halaagmod's review

emotional funny reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I suppose for the time written, the contents in this book were groundbreaking and never seen before, and I can certainly appreciate the cultural significance that this book has had on Western literature and pop culture. However, in the era where much of the protagonist's antics are more-or-less seen as completely normal or expected teenage behavior, it falls flat in living up to its legacy and does little to give the reader anything entirely unique or of substance to chew on. There's little for me to dig my fangs into as far as analyzation since everything is just laid out for the reader (though this did help in English class; easiest A I've ever gotten on an assignment), and as far as an actual story, though it is dull and uneventful throughout the entire thing, it was still an enjoyable read thanks to Holden's pessimistic quips and the wonderful writing, hence my three star rating.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Cursing, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Homophobia, Pedophilia, and Misogyny