What is "The Catcher In The Rye" about?

Question

I bought the book at a yardsale. It has no jacket and no little paragraph, blurb, thing on the back/ inside cover to tell what it is about. I really don't like reading a book without first reading that little summary paragraph. The one person I asked that could answer me, wouldn't, saying "Let the book take you where it goes". If anyone has the book with that little summary, then please type up EXACTLY what it says, and if you don't but you can pretty well explain it, then that works too. Please don't tell me anything important about the book that would spoil it. I just started reading it and I don't want it spoiled, I just want to know what it is about.

Thank You!

Answer 1

The book is told from the point-of-view of Holden Caulfield, a prep school student who has been thrown out of his school and has to go home. It's told from his viewpoint, and it takes you through some of the things he encounters and the thoughts he has on those things.

FWIW, "Catcher" is one of the most-often banned books at school libraries, ostensibly because of the language Holden uses and some of the situations he encounters, which include homosexuality, prostitutes and incest. Not that there's anything graphic about those things, nothing at all like the detail some "bodice-ripper" romances get into.

I personally think that the main reason the book is so often banned is because one of the central issues that Holden focuses on is phonies-- people who are phony, who claim to be one thing while their actions show them to be something entirely different. The mostly-conservative groups that like to see this book banned are, IMO, very much afraid that people who read it will take to heart what Holden has to say about phonies.

It's a great read, IMO, still very topical in spite of the passage of time since its publication.

Answer 2

I loved it, i thought it was an inspiring book even if i didn't agree with some of the opinions of the central character.
Look here http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/catcher/summary.html for a summary, it pretty much describes the entire book in about two pages. It might give the plot away though, so i'd say just read it. Its not very long, so if you don't like it it wont have been a massive waste of time, but i'm pretty sure you will...it's considered a classic for a reason :)

Answer 3

The Catcher in the Rye is about a teenage boy who leaves school and is on his own for a few days. It is a first person narrative. Holden (the protagonist) has a lot of problems. He's lost a brother, he's failed out of a few different schools. Some people find him annoying, but I've always thought he was a great character. You just want to take him home and feed him soup.

Basically it is about teenage problems. You should read it. It is one of those books that everyone needs to read.

Answer 4

I have read the book, and I would absolutely agree with what Karin C said about it.
(By the way, don't expect any great climax or neat conclusion, because there isn't one. It's still a great book, though.)

Answer 5

Excellent little work, and a scarily good depiction of the mind of a teenager on the edge of a nervous breakdown.

Answer 6

It's about a foul mouthed spoiled kid who thinks the world revoles around him. While I never liked it l\for many people it is their favorite book.