This is an Online Internet Book Club on The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. Discuss this book, share your thoughts, make comments, ask questions, offer responses...
Description
Since his debut in 1951 as
The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield has been synonymous with "cynical adolescent." Holden narrates the story of a couple of days in his sixteen-year-old life, just after he's been expelled from prep school, in a slang that sounds edgy even today and keeps this novel on banned book lists. It begins,
"If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth. In the first place, that stuff bores me, and in the second place, my parents would have about two hemorrhages apiece if I told anything pretty personal about them."
His constant wry observations about what he encounters, from teachers to phonies (the two of course are not mutually exclusive) capture the essence of the eternal teenage experience of alienation.
Book Club Questions for The Catcher in the Rye (Fiction)
Suggested Book Club Questions for The Catcher in the Rye (Fiction)
The following book club questions provide a starting point for creating a reading group discussion on The Catcher in the Rye:
- Did J.D. Salinger emphasize any specific themes throughout The Catcher in the Rye? What do you think J.D. Salinger is trying to explain with this theme?
- What was unique about the setting of The Catcher in the Rye and how did it affect the storyline?
- Could you relate to any of the characters? If so, which ones and why?
- How do characters change or learn throughout The Catcher in the Rye? What events caused these changes? Have you or someone you know experienced the same thing?
- How does The Catcher in the Rye reveal J.D. Salinger's own perspectives about people and the world? For a lively discussion, describe why you think J.D. Salinger is liberal or conservative.
- Did certain parts of The Catcher in the Rye affect you emotionally? Why did it evoke those emotions?
- Did J.D. Salinger's point of view on things lend new perspective to your own view of the world?
Book Club Questions for The Catcher in the Rye (for Non-Fiction)
Suggested Book Club Questions for The Catcher in the Rye (Non-fiction)
The following book club questions provide a starting point for creating a reading group discussion on The Catcher in the Rye:
- Did J.D. Salinger make persuasive arguments in The Catcher in the Rye? Did The Catcher in the Rye change or reinforce your opinion on the subject?
- What did you learn from The Catcher in the Rye?
- How does J.D. Salinger present the information and did you enjoy it?
- How is J.D. Salinger biased within The Catcher in the Rye? Is there a political slant to what is being discussed and how does it impact the book?
- What, if anything, does The Catcher in the Rye make you want to read next? Why?
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