Best book ever written (subjective view). One of the top 100 fictions ever written. The low ratings seem to be from people who did not "get it". Perhaps one needs to read it over.

Only read it once, from what I can understand the main character thinks adults as phonies because as you grow up, you lose innocence. I think the book was a bit boring since of the time period. But you can only truly understand this book if you read it multiple times.

I can't believe I haven't read this book before. I wasn't sure if I would enjoy it or not, but I did. Holden Caulfield is kind of my hero now. I think the book is very insightful, funny in parts and also depressing. I'm sorry I didn't read it earlier!

This is one of my all-time favorite books. Here's a quote from the book that sums up how I feel about it: "What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it." I also recommend watching John Green's excellent two-part analysis of the book here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R66eQLLOins and here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LI1CusL7Ceo

The Catcher in the Rye offers something for every reader. You may relate to Holden Caulfield's angst and alienation; you may be drawn to his humor or cynicism; or you may be offended by his pursuit of relationships, intimacy and sexuality. He is very interesting yet a complicated character trying to find the good in world. He exhibits raw emotions about his encounters in the wild city of New York. This novel is an epic journey of dysfunctional alienation from school through to New York. Holden encounters many situations where he may be suited to describe as a strange, rebellious protagonist. The boy himself is at once too simple and too complex for us to make any final comment about him or his story. Perhaps the safest thing we can say about Holden is that he was born in the world not just strongly attracted to beauty but, almost, hopelessly impaled on it. There are many voices in this novel: children's voices, adult voices, underground voices-but Holden's voice is the most eloquent of all. Although, many teenagers would be able to relate to the themes - it's a modern classic of the coming of age genre. J.D. Salinger's novel is a wake-up call to all teenagers and in a sense, is an inspiring read because it sends out the message that we should all remain hopeful and true to ourselves. Teenagers can relate to it because of its complex themes of rebellion, identity and independence but I would recommend you read it before you're an adult otherwise you may have the urge to slap Holden for his actions when reading the book! This novel offers controversial views but it's something you'll never forget.

This is the best book I have ever read, doubt I'll ever encounter anything as good as this. Is there anything higher than a billion stars on the ratings?

I diverge a bit from the book and into recent pop culture history because this book conjures up memories that take me back to New York City on 8 December 1980. There is also a great reference to this book in the movie Conspiracy Theory. This feeds in well with the paranoia of the CIA regarding John Lennons' presents and influence in the United States. There are some great documents in the CIA "freedom of information Act" files documenting this fear, allowing for a strong case supporting assignation conspiracy theory where a Manchurian Candidate is created to ...... Perhaps it was Johns' comment in 1966 "More popular than Jesus" that worried the CIA, well it motivated the KKK to burn Beatles albums. I do diverge a bit, this book was in the hands of the Manchurian Candidate.

I wasn't really sure how to interpret this book. To me it seemed plot-less, slightly vulgar and monotonous.

I read this because I'm obsessed with reading and protecting banned books. Maybe it was shocking back in 1951, but not by today's standards. I'm glad to see some teenagers on here reading it, simply because it means there's some teenager's reading. But as an adult, who does remember what it was like to be a teenager, I just didn't get it. Maybe you have to have been a teenage boy to understand it.

Best book ever written.