Der Fänger im Roggen in Terminalcoffee

Aug 13, 2007 Gertie rated it liked it · review of another edition

I reread this book this year, because several of us had been talking about how miserable it is, and I wanted to see if reading it decades later had the same effect.

It's definitely different to read as a supposedly older and wiser adult, because it's easier to find forgiveness and understanding. Here is one very sad, lonely, disappointed kid, desperate to make a connection, and failing miserably. I spent most of the book waffling between being understanding and feeling frustrated at his bleak out ...more

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Feb 06, 2008 Richard rated it liked it · review of another edition

Did Salinger Stop Dreaming?

J.D. Salinger had a vivid dream. He wove a story around it. A lot of people liked the story, but most of them only remember the dream. Maybe because the dream is the title of the book. I also recall that one of the people who loved the book shot and killed John Lennon, a popular musician. But this may be irrelevant. I sometimes wonder if J.D Salinger stopped dreaming. Perhaps he only ever had one vivid dream. Or maybe he had so many dreams that it was impossible to cho ...more

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Sep 21, 2007 Jackie "the Librarian" rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, youngadult, bildungsroman

Well, I dont' know about you guys, but I think most books are phony, maybe even this one. Did disaffected kids ever really talk like this? Maybe just the ones kicked out of prep schools on the east coast.
I gotta read this one again, from my new perspective as a forty something. Maybe I'll have the compassion missing from earlier attempts. Certainly, this book has something to it, or it wouldn't be a classic.
Or maybe it's a classic because it's famous, not because it's actually good. I mean, what ...more

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Oct 11, 2008 Cynthia Paschen rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: the-list

I don't know how many times I read this in middle school. It seemed very poignant at the time. Re-reading it as an adult, I still like it but it's not the same. This is by definition a young adult novel, from before the day that term was used. ...more

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