Chapter 13

In the 13th chapter, Laura mentions that it's autumn once again and the house is full of good things to eat for the winter. Pa gets things ready outside of the house for winter, like insulation and such. Then one day he goes out in the woods to keep an eye on the deer lick he set up. He ended up falling asleep in the tree he was hiding in, and when he woke up he saw a deer, but it looked to peaceful so he didn't kill it. Then the deer left and a bear came! But he couldn't shoot it because he looked too much in the element of being in the woods. So Pa came home empty handed. When he told Mary and Laura this story, Laura told Pa that she was glad he didn't shoot the peaceful looking animals.

Response- The book is done?!?! You can tell she writes more than one book, because it flows right into Little House on the Prairie. No climax or anything of that nature. But overall it was great! I loved these books when I was younger, and I'll most likely love them the rest of my life! : )

Chapter 12

This whole chapter is basically about a couple of guys who travel with this machine that can separate grain from everything else on the plants. Laura and Mary watch them work on Pa's grain for payment. When they leave, Pa can't help but comment on how wonderful the world is becoming. He eliminated almost a weeks worth of work!


Response- Yeah, this chapter was kinda boring... Laura was only explaining how the machine worked and what her Pa thought about it. Not too exciting.. haha

Chapter 11

Harvest is here, and Uncle Henry and Pa trade work with each other. One day they'll work at Laura's house and another at Uncle Henry's. The day they were at Uncle Henry's, the men were cutting the grain stalks down and working hard, when they noticed that it looked like it was going to rain in a couple of hours. When lunch arrives, they hurry and eat, and force Laura's cousin Charley to work with them. Now Charley is a spoiled brat! He never works and always complains. So when he was out there, he was causing all sorts of trouble. Stealing the work tools and not getting the water, he was a total prick. Then he would run off and scream, making them come after him, only to laugh at them for coming. After doing that for a couple of times, he did it again, but the men didn't respond this time. Charley's screams got louder, and then they realized he might not be faking it this time. He wasn't, because he started it out as a joke, but he ended up stomping on a yellow jacket bee's nest, angering them hardcore. He was stung EVERYWHERE! Ma and Aunt Polly tried their best to fix him up, but he was in major pain. Then the family went home.

Response- I've never been stung by a bee, and I'm so glad! : ) If I was either Pa or Uncle Henry, I wouldn't have dealt with Charley's attitude... he would've been down and out! lol

Chapter 10

It's summertime, and that means it's the time that everyone visits each other. Whether it's family or friends, neighbors and their families, or people just passing by. When people show up, the men help Pa and the women talk with Ma and help her cook, and they read together. Later when people leave, Mary tells Laura that her hair isn't as pretty as hers, because it's brown and doesn't shine like her golden hair. Laura was pissed basically and slapped Mary. Pa saw the whole thing and whipped Laura and told her to go sit in the corner. Then after that, he asked her to come to him. She did, and she asked him if he likes brown hair more than blonde. He responded with, "I have brown hair, don't I?" That made Laura smile. Then the family made cheese!
One day Pa leaves to go borrow a hoe from a neighbor, and rushes back because he found a honey tree! He grabs the horses and wagon, and puts every possible container in it, including the tubs... just in case. He comes back with all of them full with honey!

Response- I don't know how cheese is made anyway, but to know how it was made in Abe Lincolns time?! Woah.

Chapter 9

The family is going to town! Pa got the horses all cleaned up while Ma got the girls ready. The night before Ma washed up Mary and Laura and set up their hair so it would curl in the morning. Everyone dressed up the best they could. The town they were going to is called Pepin because it's right on the shore of Lake Pepin. They got their and the girls were all fascinated that there were so many houses! Laura was shocked at how big the sky was and that the water didn't stop until it met the sky across the lake. They went into the store and Laura tried to look at everything, but couldn't because there was so much stuff! The store owner commented on how pretty Mary's curls were and didn't say anything to Laura. So Laura is slowly getting jealous. Laura couldn't say anything either, because she never really talks to strangers, but Mary was all prim and proper. The family had a picnic and Mary and Laura were collecting stones to take home; Laura got greedy, and shoved too many into her pocket and it ripped off. Then they went home.

Response- I can relate to Laura's jealousy, having an older sister of my own. There are too many times to think about how I thought Rachel was getting more attention than me, and I was a dumb, jealous, little girl. : )

Chapter 8

They get to Grandpa's and the men helped Grandpa with the syrup and the girls/mothers helped Grandma get ready for the dance. Uncle George was in the army and he was always blowing his bugle outside. Laura then watched her Aunts and her mother get ready for the dance at her Grandparents. They curled their hair and put on their best dresses. Then people started showing up and the dance got started. Grandma was making the syrup the whole time in the kitchen and Uncle George convinced her to dance with him and they ended up having a dance off! Grandma won too! Then the syrup was ready to make candies and everyone got some. There was multiple foods that could be eaten and the dancing continued then Laura fell asleep until the next morning and they went home.

Response- It's hilarious that Grandma won the dance off they had, even more so because Uncle George is in the army!

Chapter 7

The snow has started to let up and dry up a bit. One day it snowed again and Pa kept calling it sugar snow and he went to Grandpa's. When he got back he had cakes and a bucket of dark syrup. It was maple syrup and Grandpa makes the sap from maple trees into syrup and candies. Pa explains how he does it and then tells the family that they are going to Grandpa's next week and there will be a dance party. Ma was excited about that because she has a wicked awesome dress that some expert made before they moved to the Big Woods.

Response- It was really interesting to learn about how maple syrup was made 140 years ago!

Chapter 6

Pa went to town one day to trade furs he has been saving. So that night Ma and Laura head to the barn where they are going to milk the cows. They see a cow outside the barn, which is odd, and Ma hollers at the cow to go back in the barn and slaps it. When Laura moves the lantern at a better angle, they both realize it was a bear!! So Ma and Laura hurry back in the house.
When Pa gets home, he tells his story about coming home and seeing a bear himself. Because he had so many furs, he couldn't take his gun with him, and on the way home he regretted that because when he was walking home, he saw a bear standing in the middle of the road! So he picks up a club and runs at it, only to realize it's a stump!

Response- Holy crap! I would be freaking out if I was Laura's Ma, slapping a bear? With my luck it would eat me alive...

Chapter 5

This one starts talking about what they do (or don't do) on Sundays. They get their baths on Saturday night and they can't do anything real exciting, because it's Sunday. One Sunday, Laura started playing with Jack, their bulldog, and Pa almost ridiculed her, but ends up telling her and Mary a story about his father and a pig and a sled. When Pa was a little boy one Sunday he and his brothers left the house so they could sled down the hill just once. When they were sledding a pig walked in front of their path and landed on the sled! The pig squealed so loud that it woke up their father from his nap. Pa and his brothers knew that they were doomed when they went back in the house. After the story they went to bed.
In the morning Pa woke them up and told Laura that it was her birthday and she got a few presents and Pa played the fiddle.

Response- That would be awesome to sled down a huge hill and have a pig get on the sled!! They probably couldn't sit comfortably though for a few weeks, the way Pa talked about how pissed his father was..

Chapter 4

Christmas is almost here and Laura's family is coming over! The family does a lot to get ready for them, with food and cleaning. Uncle Peter and Aunt Eliza come over with their kids Alice, Ella, and Peter. They come over on Christmas Eve and the kids played all day long. On Christmas morning, the kids opened their stockings and they all had new red mittens and peppermint sticks. Laura was the only one to get another present. She got her very own rag doll and she named it Charlotte. Laura now doesn't have to ask her sister Mary to see her rag doll anymore! The whole family then had their big Christmas meal and Uncle Peter and the rest of his family had to get ready to go because they had a long way to go.


Response- It's really sad how in 100 some years Christmas has come from getting 2 gifts to more than 20! Laura can really explain how things were back then, even though she was 6!

Chapter 3

This one starts out with Laura talking about Pa's gun, how he cleans it, and what everything else dealing with his gun is. She says her and Mary watch him clean it because right after he tells them stories. The story in this chapter is about when Pa was a little boy. When Pa was younger, he had to bring the cows home from inside the woods. Grandpa always told him to hurry and not mess around. One day he left earlier than usual so he thought he had time to play. He ended up playing till dusk and he had to hurry to find the cows. By the time it was dark he still couldn't find them. He called for them, but he got no response. A little later he tried again, and someone answered, "Who?" and it scared Pa so he ran home. He got whipped and scolded because he was scared of a screech owl!

Response- I've seen my dad clean one of his rifles before, so nothing in this chapter surprised me or anything, except for Pa being scared of an owl. Ha.

Chapter 2

This chapter starts out with the first snow and Pa shooting a bear that killed a pig. Then Laura mentions what they do because they can't go outside. She also mentions they chores they have to do. Then she explains how her Ma makes butter and her cooking process. When Pa comes home, he does the outside chores and plays the fiddle or games with the girls and tells them stories. The story in this chapter is about Laura's grandpa and a panther. In the story, Laura's grandpa was coming back from town one day and didn't have his gun. Halfway home he heard a panther scream and it started chasing him. He rode his horse as fast as he could home and ran into the house. The panther hurt the horse he was riding, but grandpa shot the panther. He never leaves without his gun anymore.

Response- WOW. I would have panicked if a panther was chasing me! That grandpa has some serious skill not to freak out!

Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder (1)

The book starts out with Laura talking about how the house looks and things around their home. She then describes her Pa smoking deer meat and all the ways her family stored different types of food for winter, because it was coming soon. Like the garden and slaughtering the pig; also what comes along with the pig. Ma makes provisions like cheese and smoking more meat. Laura them moves on to talk about what they did in the winter since they couldn't go outside. Her Pa would play the fiddle and tell stories that Laura and her sister Mary would enjoy.

Resopnse- This chapter was interesting because I never knew how meat was smoked, even in the 1800s.

Chapter 26

This chapter is back in the present. Holden won't talk about what exactly happened after the last chapter, but he says he got sick and he is now where he is recovering. Holden says he starts a new school in September, but he doesn't want to talk about it that much... He mentions how D. B. comes to visit, and how he regrets telling so many people about what happened because he starts to miss everyone that he talked about in the book.

Response- I enjoyed the book. It was really different from other books I read and J. D. Salinger really got into it. It was great!

Chapter 25

So Holden gets to Grand Central Station and sleeps on a bench for the night. When he wakes up no matter where he goes he's depressed. He thinks that anytime he crosses the street he will disappear. So he talks to Allie, almost praying to him, asking him to watch over him and help him cross the street. If it was successful, he would thank Allie. He goes to Phoebe's school to leave her a message to meet him at lunch time at the Museum so he can give her her money and say goodbye to her because he's going west. He walks around the school and says he went there. He keeps seeing "fuck yous" everywhere and gets depressed seeing that, because then little kids will see them. When he's at the museum, two boys ask him where the mummies are and he shows them. They get scared and run away, but Holden was almost peaceful... until he saw another "fuck you." He was sad that where ever you go, it's tainted. He goes to the bathroom, but ends up passing out. When he gets up and sees Phoebe a little later, she has a suitcase because she wants to go with him. He tells her NO WAY and she gets really pissed at him. Holden tries to make it up and they go to the zoo and the park, but the carousel actually brings them together. Holden tells her he isn't going anywhere [he stops here and verifies that he doesn't] and he's going home. They both are happy, but Holden could almost cry he's so happy!

Response- Will Holden finally get his act together? I was so worried when he kept talking about how dizzy he was or how he felt like he was going to pass out.

Chapter 24

Holden gets to the Antolini's where it looks like they just got done with a huge party. Mr. Antolini is a heavy drinker and Mrs. Antolini isn't really present in the story. Mr. Antolini talks to Holden about what he thinks might happen to Holden if he keeps doing what he is doing. He also talks about the things Holden might be able to do to prevent it, but Holden can't really pay any attention because he's weak and really tired. So Mr. Antolini and Holden make up the couch and Holden falls asleep. He wakes up abruptly to someone stroking his head... and it was Mr. Antolini. [ : O ] Holden sort of freaks, because he thinks Mr. Antolini is hitting on him, and leaves in a hurry.

Response- WOAH!!! So if Mr. Antolini was making some moves on Holden... eck. But he could also just be totally wasted and feeling Holden's pain, so he's trying to comfort him.... I don't know.

Chapter 23

Holden leaves Phoebe for a bit to ring up Mr. Antolini, an english teacher from one of his past schools. Holden tells him the situation, and he invites Holden over to sleep for the night. Holden tells us that he was the only teacher to get closer to James body after he jumped, so he's a good guy. Holden goes back to Phoebe's room and they dance for a few songs and their parents get home from a dinner party. Holden tries to get the room to not smell like cigarettes while hiding. The mom comes in to tuck Phoebe in, and then Holden leaves, but not before Phoebe gives him all of the Christmas money she was saving up and Holden gives her his red hunting hat.

Response- Wow, so their mother reacted smoothly when Phoebe said that the smoke was from her... I would be freaked out on! Holden seemed like the perfect older brother when he danced with Phoebe!

Chapter 22

Holden comes back and gets Phoebe to listen to him. He tells her all about Pencey and the phonies in it and everything he hates. Phoebe sort of snaps and tells Holden that he hates everything. Holden tries to deny it, but he can't think of something he likes when she asks, because he gets side-tracked. He starts to think about the nuns and a boy named James Castle who jumped out of a window at his old school because of being bullied. He was borrowing Holden's sweater at the time. Holden tells Phoebe he likes Allie, but she says it doesn't count because he's dead. Phoebe asks Holden what he really wants to do with his life, and he remembers 'if a body catch a body coming through the rye.' He tells Phoebe that he wants to be on a cliff with a rye field and children playing, and if they get to close to the edge, he'll catch them. Phoebe corrects him that it's 'if a body meet a body coming through the rye.' He seems sort of shocked.

Response- So that's what the title is eh? Very nice... kind of odd, but ok.

Chapter 21

Holden gets to his house and sneaks into the room because he doesn't know where his parents are and goes and talks to Phoebe. She sleeps in D.B.'s room when he isn't there. When he gets to Phoebe, he watches her for a while and snoops around at her school supplies. He wakes her up and she's really happy to see him, but then realizes he is home early and probably got kicked out again. She can't stop saying "Dad will kill you" and does the whole 'I'm ignoring you but I know you are still there' move and Holden leaves to get more cigarettes.

Response- Phoebe is such a cute kid, but she needs to listen sometimes!

Chapter 20

Once Luce is gone, Holden gets hammered. He calls Sally up [ha!] and wakes her and her grandma up. He hits on a couple of girls at the bar and then decides to go see where the ducks go at the park. On the way there he drops the record he bought for Phoebe and gets pissed/depressed. When he is at the pond, Holden imagines what would happen if he were to die of pneumonia and what his funeral would be like. He states that he missed Allie's funeral because of breaking all of the windows with his hands. Holden remembers going to his grave sometimes. He then really wants to talk to Phoebe and decides to risk getting caught going home.

Response- That's terrible that he missed Allie's funeral! Maybe that is a factor of him being depressed some of the time..

Chapter 19

Holden meets Luce at the Wicker Bar and Holden thinks about when he was an advisor at Whooton and Luce would tell all of the boys about sex. So when he arrives, he keeps bringing up sex and Luce starts to get pissed off and tells him he should see a psychoanalyst. Holden remembers that Luce's dad is a psychoanalyst and asks him if he's ever been tested. Soon Luce leaves.

Response- Why would anyone want to hang out with that phony idiot? He seemed like such a prick....

Chapter 18

So Holden leaves the rink and goes and gets something to eat. He starts thinking about Jane again, and calls her. She doesn't pick up though. He thinks about how he once saw her dance with this total prick and she defended him, saying he had an inferiority complex. He also calls an old friend, Carl Luce, to meet him for a drink later, and he accepts. Holden has a lot of time to pass, so he goes to see a movie, that was about the war, so he is thinking about he army when going to meet Luce. D.B. told Holden that the army sucks, but yet is great. At the Radio City Music Hall (the movie) Holden remembers the drum player that Allie and he would notice playing. The drummer hardly played, but he always looked like he was having a good time.

Response- I'm still jazzed up about him throwing Sally to the curb! Anyway, Holden seems to be getting more and more depressed... because he's talking about Jane and Allie in almost (if not every) chapter...

Chapter 17

At 2, Holden goes to meet Sally, but she's late. Holden mentions that she looks fine though, so he forgives her for being late. They get in a taxi, and start making out. When they are at the show, Holden gets aggravated because the actors are all phonies. Then Sally starts flirting with some guy she's met before. They go ice skating, and Sally gets one of these outfits to wear, and she looks like a total skank in, but Holden finds it attractive. When they take a break, Holden sort of snaps and starts venting about everything! Phonies, school, and how lonely he feels. He then gets kinda crazy and tells Sally that they should just run away together. She shuts him down and they start getting pissed at each other, and then Holden just calls her a royal pain in the ass. She starts to cry and Holden gets so fed up that he just leaves her.

Response- HA! That's what she deserves! She was so annoying to read about...wow.

Chapter 16

After breakfast, Holden takes a walk and goes and buys a record for Phoebe called Little Shirley Beans. He mentions how it's good because a black lady sings it and she makes it sound good, not stupid. Holden then thinks about how Phoebe is such a good kid. While walking, Holden hears a kid singing, "if a body catch a body coming through the rye" and feels refreshed about untainted games of kids. He then gets tickets for the date, and goes to see if he can find his sister at the Park because she plays there on Saturdays... but then realizes its Sunday. So he goes to the Museum of Natural History, where nothing changes, so it's a great place. He thinks about all of the times his classes at school came to the museum and nothing changed, but they did.

Response- Holden is such a loner! I'm glad he has something planned that doesn't deal with prostitutes or booze though... haha.

Chapter 15

When Holden wakes up, he calls up Sally Hayes, a girl he's known for a long time... and only recently discovered that she is annoying. They get a date set up for the afternoon: going to the movies, which Holden says he hates but I bet he doesn't. Holden goes and puts his bags in this box type thing at the Central Station and goes and gets breakfast. While eating, Holden meets 2 nuns and feels sort of bad for them, and gives them 10 dollars for the Salvation Army. They talked about Romeo and Juliet and when they got up to leave, Holden accidentally blew smoke in their faces because he was smoking, and he felt like a total jerk.

Response- It's weird how Holden's attitude sort of changed towards the nuns... is it just because they are nuns or what?

Chapter 14

The chapter starts out with Holden smoking and thinking about a time when he didn't let Allie come play with him and his friend Bobby. He started talking out loud to Allie, telling him that he could come with them and play. A little later Holden hears a knock on the door and it's the elevator guy, Maurice and Sunny. They came to get the other 5 bucks because apparently Maurice said $10 the first time and they wanted it now. So after a little arguing, Maurice holds Holden against the wall so that Sunny can get the 5 bucks and Holden starts insulting Maurice... so he punches Holden in the stomach. They leave, and Holden acts like he's a character in a movie, in the mob, going to go get revenge on Maurice because he shot him in the stomach. Holden then crawls into bed and sleeps.

Response- Maurice sounds like a total jerk that needs to be punched himself. I feel bad for Holden!

Chapter 13

Holden walks back to the hotel after leaving Ernie's... all 41 blocks! It was cold, and Holden got to thinking about how his gloves got stolen at Pencey, and imagined how he would confront the jerk that stole them and beat him up. Holden then admits that he isn't the fighter type, he's "yellow." Neither a fighter or a lover, just there. When he gets into the elevator at the hotel, the elevator man asked if Holden wanted a whore for the night for $5. Holden, feeling lonely and depressed, accepted. Holden goes to his room and thinks about his virginity and how he is almost nervous about the chick coming up. When she gets there, Holden notices that she looks his age. Her name is Sunny and she takes off her dress when Holden just wants to talk, and then Holden makes an excuse that he is recovering from his operation on his "clavichord." She gets all pissy and pays her the 5 bucks even though she says it was 10. He doesn't give her 10 though.

Response- A prostitute!? Holden, the little lonely stud... poor guy. He just wanted to talk to the impatient tramp.

Chapter 12

Holden calls a cab and heads to a nightclub called Ernie's. On the way there, Holden asks this cab driver where he thinks all the ducks go in Central Park during the winter time and this cab driver gets really into it. He is more worried about the fish though. And Holden gets tired of talking about it. When Holden gets to Ernie's, named after a piano player that is good, but he knows he is good, so he's a phony. When Holden finally gets in, he gets seated in the middle of a bunch of jerks. He orders a scotch and soda, his favorite drink. Later, he sees a lady named Lillian who used to date D.B. and keeps asking him questions about D.B. and Holden gets so annoyed with her. He says that he was so annoyed that he had to leave because of seeing her.

Response- Wow, it's not like Lillian was annoying or anything. The guy she was with sounded annoyed too, which is great. Haha.

Chapter 11

When Holden leaves the Lavender Room, Jane jumps into his mind. He thinks about all of the times they were together and reminiscences about things from golfing with her to her dog. He remembers about the time they first met when her dog kept peeing on Holden's lawn and Holden's mother freaked on Jane's mother. He also thinks about the time they were playing checkers and her step-dad came out hassling her for cigarettes and she wouldn't answer him. So when he left she started to cry and Holden comforted her. Another thing he thinks about is how when you hold Jane's hand you are happy. Holden goes back to his room and looks to see if the perverts are still awake out his window but they weren't. He wasn't tired yet, so he grabbed a taxi and left.

Response- Aww, Holden was so sweet to Jane!! He must really, really, really like her!!

Chapter 10

Holden feels lonely still so he goes downstairs to the Lavender Room, a sort of night club in the hotel. While getting ready to leave his room, Holden talks about his sister Phoebe, calling her intelligent and giving her a great definition of her character. But her one flaw is that she gets too worked up sometimes. Holden tries to get a cocktail but they won't let him order one so he just gets a coke. There are three girls sitting close to him visiting from Washington (state) and he asks them all to dance. The blonde one was the best dancer, but they all seem distracted. They want to see celebrities and get annoyed with him, almost as much as he gets annoyed with them. He tricks them by saying that he just saw Gary Cooper. They fell for it, and he bought their drinks and left.

Response- It got almost annoying when Holden kept talking about how good the blonde dancer was... but you gotta love him anyway. : )

Chapter 9

When Holden gets off the train, he really wants to call someone but everyone he thinks of is either asleep or he doesn't really feel like talking to them so he just goes to a hotel instead in a cab. In the cab, Holden asks the driver about the ducks, but he's uninterested. When he gets into his room, Holden notices all of the people across his window doing different things. There's a tranny in one window and a flirting couple in another. Holden starts to get horny and calls a prostitute he knows of named Faith. Faith refuses, because she has to get her beauty sleep. Holden gets pissed and hangs up.

Response- Holden mentioned the ducks again and I bet it comes up later! Holden is lonely in this chapter...

Chapter 8

Holden heads out to the train station on foot and gets on a train. On the train he meets a Ernest Morrow's mother, a classmate of his at Pencey. They hit up a conversation and Holden seems attracted to her. Holden hates Ernest, but to make his mother feel great about her son, he tells a whole bunch of lies about how great he is, how popular he is, etc. She feels good and then asks him about himself, and Holden tells her his name is Rudolph Schmidt, the Pencey's janitor's name. She is curious as to why he is leaving school early and he makes up this story about how he has a brain tumor. They chatted a little bit more and then the chapter ends.

Response- Ahaha! Holden has the hots for a mother?! He's right, he is a pretty good liar.

Chapter 7

Holden wakes up Ackley and they talk for a while, Holden sitting on Ackley's roommates bed, who was already gone. Ackley falls asleep and Holden keeps thinking about Jane and Stradlater. So Holden wakes him up and talks to him again, asking him if he could join a monastery without being Catholic. They both get annoyed with each other, Holden thought he was phony and said goodbye to him forever, since he decided he was going to New York for a couple of days and wait for his parents to blow off some steam from him being kicked out. So he packs up, puts on his hat and starts to cry. When he is at the door, and yells back, "Sleep tight, ya morons!" and leaves.

Response- Holden left all of the phonies of school just to go into the world of phonies? He's going to have a blast then....

Chapter 6

Stradlater gets back from his date with Jane and Holden is still up. He reads the paper Holden wrote and gets pissed because it describes some stupid mitt instead of a boring room. Of course Holden isn't happy about that and gets up and rips it up. There's tension in the room, and Holden starts to smoke to rile up Stradlater. He asks Stradlater how the date went and if he mentioned him to Jane, and Stradlater of course says no. Stradlater does however tell Holden that they were in the basketball coach's car the whole time while lightly punching Holden. Holden freaks and tries to hit him square in the face but misses and hits him in the side of the head. Stradlater tackles him to the floor and sits on his chest. Holden keeps calling him a moron and stuff and Stradlater wouldn't let him up unless he would shut up. Holden said he would be quiet and they get up. However, Holden starts right back up again and Stradlater punches him to the ground. Stradlater is sort of worried that Holden will tell on him and he leaves the room. Holden gets up, puts on his hat, and checks himself out in the mirror, almost fascinated by the blood. Holden then goes and sees of Ackley is up.

Response- Stradlater's still a jerk... haha. I would have freaked on him like Holden if he started insulting my dead brother's mitt, even if it wasn't direct... I still would be pissed! I'm on Holden's side!

Chapter 5

After dinner Holden and one of his friends Mal Brossard go into town to see a movie, Ackley comes along too. The movie that's playing is one Mal and Ackley have both seen, so they eat some burgers instead. They go back to Pencey and Ackley stays in Holden's room for a while, talking about this chick he apparently had sex with. After a lot of effort, Holden gets Ackley out of there and he starts Stradlater's composition paper. He writes about his brother Allie's old baseball mitt, which he wrote poems on with green ink. Allie was two years younger than Holden, but died of leukemia a while back. Holden then talks about Allie and says he was really smart. He also says that the night Allie died, he slept in the garage and broke all the windows (and his hand) by punching them.

Response-The way Holden talks about Allie, compared to others, he really misses him and adores him. To Holden, Allie is no phony.

Chapter 4

Chapter 4 opens with Holden following Stradlater into the bathroom and watching him shave. There, Stradlater tells Holden about this date he is getting ready for and apparently she knows Holden. Her name is Jane Gallagher and she was Holden's neighbor. Once her name is mentioned, Holden gets all jittery and seems unsettled. He keeps saying that he is going to go down and talk to her but he doesn't. Stradlater then asks Holden to write a composition paper about a house, that has to be very detailed. Holden doesn't exactly agree to him though, and he gets a little pissed. Holden then gets in this mood that he feels like he has to wrestle, and puts Stradlater in a headlock, and then lets go a little later. Holden then talks about how Stradlater and Ackley are both annoying, but in their own ways. They both go back to the room and then Stradlater leaves with Holden's coat and Ackley comes back. Ackley and Holden then talk about guys Ackley hates until dinner.

Response- Yep, Stradlater's a jerk. I wonder how many things Stradlater has asked Holden to do if he thinks that asking him to write his paper is no big deal... Ackley seems nice, but his habits are discusting.

Chapter 3

Holden starts this chapter out by telling us that he's a terrific liar. He mentions where his room is in Pencey, a dorm called the Ossenburger and about the man it's named after. When Holden gets to his room he talks about this red hunting hat he bought that day in New York for a dollar. He starts to read, but a senior named Robert Ackley interrupts him. Ackley lives across from Holden and enters through the shared shower. Holden describes him as basically an ugly 18 year old, who's habits are far beyond gross. Ackley hates Holden's roommate Ward Stradlater. Holden drops a lot of hints that he would rather read, but Ackley doesn't get the message, or ignores them, and continues to mess with all of their stuff. Ackley then starts to ask Holden a ton of questions about Stradlater and talks about how conceited he is. Stradlater of course comes in, but doesn't care that Ackley is in his room. He says hi to the both of them, and then asks Holden if he could borrow his coat. Ackley goes to his room and Stradlater goes to shave.

Response- Eck, Holden describes Ackley as one naaasty kid! Stradlater is probably one of those kids that tends to get whatever he wants, because he asked Holden for his coat like he knew for sure that he was going to be able to borrow it.

Chapter 2

Holden goes to Spencer's room and greets him. He can't help but notice all of the pills, kleenex, blankets, etc. Holden keeps telling us that Spencer is in his pajamas and his old wrinkly chest is showing. [Spence is like 65] They talk about Holden getting kicked out and the reasons why, also about why he failed all of those classes. Spencer made Holden get his term paper across the room and read it out loud to him and notice how terrible it was. [[During this Holden thinks about where the ducks go in the winter time.]] He asks Holden how he felt about being flunked out and not just Pencey, but all of the schools. They talk about his future and Holden doesn't stop telling Spencer to not worry about him. He leaves lying to Spencer telling him he needs to go get something from the gym.

Response- Holden acts like he doesn't care about Spencer, but if he didn't, why would he have taken the time just to visit him before he leaves? I bet Holden is going to turn out to be an emotional wreck trying to be a rebel.

Chapter 1 The Catcher in the Rye

The book starts out with a guy named Holden Caulfield telling us about his life last year. Now he is in Hollywood visiting his brother D.B., who makes a living writing. His story starts out at a football game at Pencey prep in Agerstown, Penn, where he "left." He arrived at the game after a fencing meet (he's the manager) that he forgot the stuff for. He talks about how he is going to get kicked out of Pencey because he is failing 4 classes. It's close to Christmas break, so when everyone goes home, he is leaving for good. He mentions that he is about to leave the game and go to Mr. Spencer's house, his history teacher. Spencer asked him if he would visit him before he leaves, since Spencer is home sick with grippe. His wife answers the door and lets him in.

Response- The book seems good so far, once it gets more into the story I will have an opinion. Looking forward to the rest!

Characters- Catcher in the Rye

Holden Caulfield-
*heavy smoker and sometimes drinker
-favorite drink: scotch and soda
*17 when telling story, 16 in story
*gets kicked out of schools frequently
*manager of fencing team
*crazy
*loves his late brother Allie
*but also loves his other siblings
*is a virgin
*hates movies, morons, phonies...
Allie-
*was 2 years younger than Holden
*died of leukemia when he was 12
*is a ginger!
*had a baseball mitt that he wrote poems on in green ink
D.B.-
*is Holden's older brother
*lives in Hollywood
*writer of short stories and now movie scripts
Phoebe-
*Holden's younger sister
*10 years old
*is a ginger!
*admires Holden
*is a smart little girl
*likes to dance, ice-skate, carousels, and Holden's red hat
Jane Gallagher-
*was Holden's neighbor
*stole Holden's heart
*is the one person Holden opened up to about Allie
*has a total jerk for a step dad
*has great hand holding skills
Ward Stradlater-
*is a total jerk
*is a year older than Holden
*Holden's roommate
*ladies man
*is annoying in his own way
*can't understand the concept of clean razors
Robert Ackley-
*has acne.... a lot.
*doesn't know the meaning of personal: space, things, information... etc.
*has disgusting habits
*hates Stradlater's guts
Mr. Spencer-
*Holden's history teacher at Pencey
*OLD
*has grippe
*is probably the only teacher Holden respected at Pencey
Sally-
*is a trashy old 'friend' of Holden's
Carl Luce-
*another old friend of Holden's
*is an intellectual jerk
*a little older than Holden
Mr. & Mrs. Antolini-
-MR.
*old english teacher
*heavy drinker
*pets men's heads while they sleep...
-MRS.
*older than Mr.
*looks ugly without makeup!