Writing Style
The Catcher in the Rye is written in a subjective style from the point of view of its protagonist, Holden Caulfield, following his exact thought processes. There is flow in the seemingly disjointed ideas and episodes; for example, as Holden sits in a chair in his dorm, minor events such as picking up a book or looking at a table, unfold into discussions about experiences.
Critical reviews agree that the novel accurately reflected the teenage colloquial speech of the time. Words and phrases that frequently appear include:
- "Phony": Superficial, hypocritical, and pretentious
- "That killed me": I found that hilarious or astonishing
- "Flit": Homosexual
- "Flitty": Homosexual behavior
- Wuddya: (the ya slang) vernacular rendering, idiomatic
- "Crumby": Inadequate, insufficient, and/or disappointing
Read more about this topic: The Catcher In The Rye
Famous quotes containing the words writing and/or style:
“The writer who loses his self-doubt, who gives way as he grows old to a sudden euphoria, to prolixity, should stop writing immediately: the time has come for him to lay aside his pen.”
—Colette [Sidonie Gabrielle Colette] (1873–1954)
“We are often struck by the force and precision of style to which hard-working men, unpracticed in writing, easily attain when required to make the effort. As if plainness and vigor and sincerity, the ornaments of style, were better learned on the farm and in the workshop than in the schools. The sentences written by such rude hands are nervous and tough, like hardened thongs, the sinews of the deer, or the roots of the pine.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)