The Catcher in the Rye - Course Introduction

From the title alone, you might be expecting this book to be some sorta Field of Dreams business. An idyllic, heartwarming country tale about a farmer-turned-catcher, playing baseball amid all his rye.

Is that how baseball works? Is that how farms work?

But no, protagonist Holden Caulfield is more jaded, cynical, and misanthropic than any 80s' sports film could handle. And the title of the novel actually arises from a misquoting of a Robert Burns poem—which is what happens when you don't have a Shmoop literature course to set you straight. To think, this book could've been called "The Meeter in the Rye."

"The Meeter in the Rye." "The Meeter in The Rye."

Thankfully, it's not. And even more thankfully, Holden Caulfield is as compelling and engaging as he is bitter and judgmental. We wouldn't want to be friends with him in real life, but we're more than happy to go on a literary romp with him through the streets of New York. So mosey on over to Lesson 1, and start romping. 

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