the catcher in the rye book review

I just finished reading The Catcher in the Rye, by JD Salinger, and I have only two words for it: LAME O. Well actually, I think lame-o is suppose to be hyphenated, so I guess it's only one word. Whatever. The book was awful.

I had an itch to read another book in August (weird, right?), so I raided my dad's bookshelf in search of a fun summer read. I came across The Catcher in the Rye and thought that reading a classic would be culturally good for me. Also, I knew I had read it in high school, but couldn't for the life of me remember anything about it, so I wanted to refresh my memory.

As I have already stated, I did not enjoy the book...at all. As I read chapter after chapter, I kept thinking it might get better...I mean it had to, right? It didn't. I found it boring, offensive, and grammatically irritating. Never did a plot come together. Never was I hooked with anticipation. Never was I entertained.

So as I read it though, I kept thinking about high school. Since I can't remember reading this book, I certainly can't remember what kind of essay I wrote about it either. But I wonder - I wonder what points in it I found composition worthy; what nuggets I extracted for a story of my own. No idea, though. Totally blank. The more I thought about having to write an essay or book report on The Catcher in the Rye, the more perplexed I became with idea...

...so, I challenged myself. Thirty-something year old Joah, what would you write about today? Hmmm...well, I think this is where I would go...

Holden (the main character) was very obsessed with phonies throughout the entire book. He blamed most of his personal failures on his desire to get away from them (the phonies), in fact. So, I think I would write a paper exploring that theme in the book and compare it to Christians. Phony Christians. The ones who say one thing and do another. The ones that perpetuate a distaste for religion and faith. The ones who's very presence makes people want to run away and never look back...

As I am writing these words, I have in my head a few of these Christian phonies that I am specifically thinking of - but then, I look at myself. I am suddenly convicted to look at my own life, and my own Christian walk, and reflect. How many times have I played the role of the phony? How many people have I turned away from the truth of Jesus because I lived in a way that was not consistent with my words? Ugh.

As I started this blog about an hour ago, I was fully prepared to rant about The Catcher in the Rye, and discourage all from reading it. Now, I am feeling less hateful. Please don't think I am changing my mind and approving this book as a good read, because I am not. I still think it was bad, really bad. But, as I look for ways to apply it to my life, I am fully convinced that God has used it to show me a truth - and an ugly one at that. Because I claim to be a Christian, people look at me to do Christian-y things. And, when I do not - when I am a hypocrite, when I am not genuine - then I have the unpleasant distinction of being a phony. And from the book I just read, I learned that phonies can be a real turn off, and they can cause people to run. Ugh. Ugh. (That's a double "ugh," just so you know.)

So what now? Well, I am not going to actually write an essay, I can tell you that. But, I am glad that I took this opportunity to put some thoughts to paper (or screen if you want to get technical). Am I ever going to recommend The Catcher in the Rye to anyone? No, never. But I take the challenge to apply all literature - good and bad - to my life, and use it as a tool to help me grow and mature.


Read on. Have fun. Honor God.