J. D. Salinger: "The Catcher In The Rye" // Review

So today I'm tackling a book review of J.D. Salinger's The Catcher In The Rye, which worries me considering it's such a well-loved book. Truth be told, I hated it. Really hated it. Honestly, I would not flinch if someone were to set my copy on fire.

I had been recommended this book by pretty much every single person in my English Lit class, and seemed to see the gorgeous cover (as seen above) everywhere. Not only it would be good preparation for my comparitive coursework next year, it was completely enticing. Whilst reading the first page, I was hopeful. It seemed like a book I was going to like. Then, I got to the second. All I can say is, thank God it was such a short novel because the hours... my, did they drag. I lost a tiny bit of respect for everyone who'd bothered to recommend it to me, to be honest. The main character, despite the insistence of just about everybody in the real world, is so unlikeable. He's repetitive, he's weird, selfish, arrogant, annoying... the list goes on. If I hear "it really is," "you really are," or anything similar for the next week or so, I think I'll just weep.

For those of you who don't know, The Catcher In The Rye is the story of a troublesome, young, American boy named Holden, who seems to spend the majority of his formative years getting kicked out of schools; mainly just for flunking. When he learns he's being kicked out again, he decides to leave before the end of term and gallivant around New York, although nothing really happens. Despite his situation there's nothing badass or even endearing about Holden; in fact, I think I preferred his younger sister. Nope, I definitely prefer his little sister. She's more bad-ass than Holden.

If you're thinking about picking up this book (and I implore you not to) bare in mind that you'll either love it or hate it. Although I consider it to be one of the worst books I've ever read, you might like it - if you don't mind the absence of a plot. Not worth your time at all.

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆ (One star at a push.)

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John Green: "The Fault In Our Stars" // Review

"Despite the tumour-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten."

The Fault In Our Stars, probably one of the world's best-loved books, comes as the most compelling read I've had in a very long time. Since I've been seventeen, I've been more inclined to read more 'mature' books and move away (although not completely away) from books about supernatural or mythological goings-on like that of Meg Cabot's "Underworld" and others. If you're attempting to do the same, The Fault In Our Stars would be a wonderful place to start. Although fictitious, this book felt very real to me.

I've read John Green before, beginning with his book "Looking For Alaska". Although it was an okay read, it didn't hit me like The Fault In Our Stars; which had me constantly turning pages from 3pm to 11:45pm last night. When you can read a book in a day, you know you're in love with it. One thing I loved about it was that it is out of the ordinary. Hazel, the book's main character, is on a completely fictitious drug called Pholanxifor which makes her cancer manageable; at least for now. The fact that John Green made up Pholanxifor is astounding to me. It was a genius idea - it allows the reader some distance from the modern-day situation, where the sad reality is that drugs like Pholanxifor just don't exist. With this in mind, you can read the book like a fantasy or maybe even a watered-down sci-fi. However, I did not discover the drug wasn't in existence until the book's final pages - and so everything in the book was very real to me at the time of reading it.

Another thing I loved was the use of intertextuality (I'm going all 'English Literature student' on you here, but it's true); whereby The Fault In Our Stars has connections with a fictional book Green creates called "An Imperial Affliction". Green writes about this as Hazel's favourite book. I was under the impression that it really existed, although that doesn't, either! Anyway, AIA supposedly ends mid-sentence with the assumption that the main character died in the middle of writing; leaving Hazel with an unavoidable urge to find out how it ends before she herself dies. Throughout the book I was so scared that The Fault In Our Stars would end mid-sentence too - but (SPOILER) I'm so glad that it didn't. I'm so glad that we never have to hear about how Hazel dies.

I am also able to say that I actually learned something from this book. There are many quotable lines, which you'll undoubtedly come across if you log onto Tumblr, but there is one section of text which, more than any other, I found solace in. When thinking about her own death, Hazel says, "I kept thinking there were two kinds of adults... Neither of these futures struck me as particularly desirable. It seemed to me that I had already seen everything pure and good in the world, and I was beginning to suspect that even if death didn't get in the way, the kind of love that Augustus and I share could never last... Nothing gold can stay."
Although I do not imagine myself becoming terminally ill often, this book makes you question how you would handle such an event. This quote resonated with me - and if I was dying, I imagine words like this would comfort me. The way John Green has put himself into the mind of someone with cancer is incredible and although the book is not all doom and gloom, it has been written in such an exquisite way that you almost don't feel pity for cancer sufferers anymore - you respect them.

So, if you have a day to spare, pick this book up. I cannot stress that enough. Don't fear that it will make you depressed, because that's not the effect it had on me, although I did have doubts about that before I opened the book. There will be tears, I'm not going to lie, but they will be very, very worth it. God help me when the movie comes out.