Boekverslag : J.d. Salinger - The Catcher In The Rye
De taal ervan is Engels en het aantal woorden bedraagt 774 woorden.
De taal ervan is Engels en het aantal woorden bedraagt 774 woorden.
Title
The catcher in the rye
Author
J.D. Salinger
The title
The title of the book refers to a song Holden heard from a little boy. One line says: "If a body meets a body coming through the rye". Holden thought it was "If a body catch a body . . . "
He pictures himself catching children who are playing in a rye-field
The main characters
Holden Caulfield: The book is all about the thought and opinions of this 16-year-old boy. He runs away from school because he was expelled, and meets people who only annoy him. He understands that running away didn't solve a thing.
Where and when the story plays
It plays in New York during what year isn't said, but it plays in the present.
The themes
The only theme is the experience a boy gets when he is all alone, and can do anything he wants in New York. That isn't much for him. The disappointment makes him homesick, and he realizes that it's the best to go home.
The outline
Holden Caulfield is a 16-year-old boy. He goes to school at The Pencey Preparatory School. He is known for getting expelled a lot and went to many schools. And also at this school he gets kicked out. He decides to go to New York because his parents will get the letter from school on Wednesday, so that will give him a couple of days. When he was packing his things he got in a fight with a boy from school. With a bleeding nose he goes on his way to New York. In the train he meets the mother of a boy from his school. He flatters her by telling her how great he is and all, because he feels sorry for her.
He takes a room in a cheap hotel. The hotel gives him a depressing feeling and he remembers a girl he knew when he was ten, Jane (He got in the fight because of her.) He wants to call her, or maybe call his 10-year-old sister Phoebe, but because of the late hour he decides not to.
In the nightclub of the hotel he meets three ladies, he asks the one he likes for a dance and is surprised by her way of dancing. But her giggling annoys him, so that ticked him off.
When they left he went for another nightclub in town but that wasn't a success. He met one of his brother girl friends with some guy, and he didn't like them both.
Back in the hotel again, he accepts the liftboy offer of a date with a prostitute. When the girl arrived he only wants to talk to her, she doesn't like that and takes of her robe. Because of her looks he sort of hates her and sends her away with 5 dollar. They got in an argument about the amount of money because she was expecting 10 dollar. A few moments later she got back with a big guy who beat him up.
The next morning he calls his old girlfriend Sally and makes a date with her. They go to the skating-rink and after a while he asks her to run away with him, despite he doesn't really like her that much. She asks him some things about this and he gets annoyed by her and leaves her because she was crying over nothing. He meets his Student Advisor, Carl who doesn't want to listen to his problems and tells him to grow up.
He goes to Central Park to see if his sister is skating there. A friend of hers tells him that she maybe she is in the Museum, but he didn't find her there either.
That night he went home to talk to her and she says he has to stay. He refuses to stay and went outside again.
He called his English teacher, Mr. Antolini. He makes him a bed for him to spend the night on. Holden woke up because Mr. Antolini was patting him on the head. He thought he was trying to make a pass on him and leaves immediately. After wandering in the city for a while he decides to go back to Phoebe and she convinces him to stay. He was taken in a rest home for a psychological treatment. He recovers and tells about these two days and he loves everyone at the moment.
My opinion
I thought it was a ridiculous book. The boy was a moron. He took to much notice of everyone. He misjudged them too fast. It was just a story about a sick boy's life.
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