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The prototypes of the three are Jerome himself (the narrator is J. - in the original only the first letter of the name is J. from Jerome) and his two actually existing friends with whom he often went boating: George Wingrave (who later became a general manager at Barclays Bank) and Carl Hentschel (who founded a printing business in London and is named Garris in the book). Montmorency the dog is a fictional character. ("Montmorency I extracted from the depths of my own mind," Jerome confessed; but even Montmorency later "materialized" - the dog is said to have been given to Jerome many years after the book was published, in Russia, in St. Petersburg.)
The original plan was for the book to be a guidebook, covering local history as the trail unfolds. At first, Jerome was going to call the book "A Tale of the Thames." "I wasn't even going to write a funny book at first," he admitted in his memoir. The book was to focus on the Thames and its "scenery," landscape and history, and only with a few funny stories "for spacing." ' But somehow it didn't go that way. It turned out to be all 'funny for détente.' With sullen determination I went on... I wrote a dozen historical pieces and squeezed them in one per chapter." The first publisher, F. W. Robinson, immediately threw out almost all such pieces and had Jerome come up with another title. "I wrote half of it when that title came into my head, Three in a Boat. There was nothing better."
The first chapter appeared in the August 1888 issue of the monthly Home Chimes (edited by F. W. Robinson), the last in the June 1889 issue. While the novella was in print, Jerome signed a contract in Bristol with publisher J. W. Arrowsmith, who bought and published the book in the late summer of 1889. Twenty years after the book first came out in hardcover, it has sold more than 200,000 copies in Britain and more than a million in America.
One of the book's most remarkable features is its "timeless youthfulness"; the jokes still seem funny and witty today. In the preface to the 1909 edition, Jerome confessed his own bewilderment at the book's undiminished popularity: "I think I have written funnier things. Nevertheless, it was the book that eventually came to be called "almost the funniest book in the world.
For its time, the popularity of the book is also due to its novelty in terms of ideas. Conan Doyle, Rudyard Haggard, Rudyard Kipling and Robert Louis Stevenson, very popular at that time, offered the reader completely unrealistic heroes and equally unrealistic villains. In Jerome's story, the reader meets the most ordinary types who find entertainment "around the corner," so to speak (and almost as much as the reader himself lives around the corner). In an era when pompous and high-pitched literature was not lacking, one could get a "breath of fresh air" from Jerome.
By now the book has been translated into many languages, including Japanese, Hebrew, Afrikaans, Irish, Portuguese, and even Pitman's "phonograph. Three was most popular in Jerome's lifetime in Germany and Russia. In English, the book has been adapted three times (in 1920, 1933, and 1956), a musical based on it, several times adapted for television and stage, read many times on radio and recorded on cassette tape, and staged at least twice by the "one-actor theater." The book is regularly reprinted to this day.
In Russian the book is known in translations by E. Tihomandritskaya (St. Petersburg: The M. O. Wolf Partnership, 1900), M. Engelhardt (early 20th century), the two most famous - M. Salieu (M.: GIHL, 1957), M. Donskoy and E. Linetskaya (L.: Lenizdat, 1958); and S. Pilipenko (All-Russian Film Center, 1992), E. Kudasheva (Terra Book Club, 2008).
Plot
The book begins by introducing the reader to the characters - George, Harries, Jay (the narrator), and a dog named Montmorency. The men spend the evening visiting Jay, smoking and discussing the diseases from which they all suffer terribly. After much discussion, a vacation in the countryside and a boat trip are rejected (Jay describes his brother-in-law and friend's unfortunate experiences with this kind of travel). In the end, the trio decides to head up the Thames by boat, from Kingston to Oxford, camping for the night (despite all Jay's tales of previous experiences with tents and tents).
Sailing is scheduled for this coming Saturday. George has to be at work that day ("George had to sleep in the bank from ten to four every day except Saturday. On Saturdays he was awakened and escorted out at two"), so Jay and Harris must take the train to Kingston on their own. They cannot find the right train at Waterloo Station (the confusing layout of railroad stations was often used in Victorian-era comedies), so they have to bribe the driver to direct his train to Kingston. [...] [...]
The story is told in the first person and takes place somewhere in the north of England at the end of the reign of George III. Jane Eyre's parents died when she was very young, and she is taken in by her mother's brother Mr. Reid, who also died soon after. The narrative begins when Jane is only ten years old. She is a small and feeble-minded impressionable child of lively character, withdrawn more by necessity than by temperament. She lives at Gateshead Manor, owned by her aunt, Sarah Reed, a bossy and selfish woman whose children, Jane's cousins John, Eliza, and Georgiana, are like her. Everyone in the house treats little Jane extremely unfairly. Jane is eager to earn her aunt's love, but she can barely stand it. The fact is that Jane's parents' marriage was a mesalliance - her mother, as a girl from a good family, married a poor vicar, which caused the whole family, except her brother, Mr. Reed, to disown her. Jane has a more or less good relationship only with her maid, Bessie Lee. One day the conflict reaches a critical point. John Reade smashes Jane's head in blood, and when he swings again, she lashes out at him with rage. Mrs. Reed, who immediately arrives at the screams, again fails to notice Jane's wound and punishes her by sending her to the Red Room, where Mr. Reed once died. Jane begs to be punished in some other way, but in vain. The girl thinks her uncle's ghost lives in the Red Room. Fear makes Jane sick and she faints.
Mr. Lloyd, Mrs. Reed's apothecary, having understood the situation, advises Mrs. Reed to send her niece to school. Mrs. Reed's choice falls on Lowood School for Girls, but she asks the school's mentor, Mr. Brocklehurst, to warn everyone that her niece is a liar. When he leaves, anger grips Jane, giving vent to her hatred of her aunt and screaming that she is not really the liar, but her aunt, and that her children are also growing up to be liars (especially the younger daughter Georgiana), she will never forgive her benefactress, as Mrs. Reed is called by her acquaintances. Despite her public accusation of lying and disgusting character, Jane's relationships with her students and teachers are going well. She is supported by Mary Temple, the principal, and Ellen Burns, an older girl who impresses Jane with her knowledge, fortitude, and Christian humility. Jane studies diligently, eager to learn as much as she can. But conditions at Lovuda are harsh, as Brocklehurst adores sanctimonious moralizing about the benefits of humility of the flesh and does not care that the girls are constantly hungry and cold.
As spring arrives, a massive typhoid epidemic breaks out in the school and many die. Jane is among the healthy ones, and Helen, having escaped the typhus, dies in Jane's arms from the consumption she has long been sick with. Brocklehurst is then removed from sole management, appointing a school board of trustees, and conditions at the school become normal. Jane spends eight years at Lovuda: six years as a student and two more as a teacher.
When Miss Temple, the married principal who had been Jane's friend and mentor all those years, leaves, her soul asks for something different, for a change. After advertising in the local newspaper for a job, she gets a job as a governess for a 9-year-old French girl, Adele Varans, at Thornfield Manor. Life on the estate is very quiet and secluded. In addition to Adèle, the housekeeper, simple, sweet old widow Alice Fairfax, and several servants live in the house, including the sullen seamstress Grace Poole, a strange, sinister, unsociable drunkard. On examining the house for the first time, Jane hears a strange laugh, but Mrs. Fairfax convinces the girl that it is Grace having had one too many whiskeys. Everything changes with the sudden arrival of the master of the manor, Adela's guardian, Mr. Edward Rochester. He is a man of unattractive appearance and complex disposition, strong, ironic, sullen and self-assured. There is some unhappiness lurking in his past that weighs on him. Rochester often talks to Jane, and she soon becomes accustomed to his abrupt tone and mood swings. She is interested in this new, incomprehensible character.
Jane Eyre meets Mr. Rochester for the first time
One night Jane sees smoke in the hallway - it is Mr. Rochester's room on fire. She saves his life by waking him up and helps put out the fire. The girl thinks it was Grace Poole's doing, even persuading the owner to fire Grace (her alcoholism is obvious to everyone in the house), but Rochester asks Jane not to tell anyone about what happened and assures him that he talked to Grace and nothing like this will happen again. Jane realizes that her master has become too dear to her. She struggles with this love, but it
After her aunt's funeral, Jane returns to Thornfield. The guests are gone, and life is back to normal. One day Rochester announces to Jane that he has decided to marry and has found her a new place. She tries to hide her despair, but is prepared to accept the change, concerned only with the fate of young Adèle: whether her new wife will accept her guardian. Suddenly Edward Rochester says he loves only Jane and asks to be his wife. At first Jane does not believe him, but once she is convinced of his sincerity, she agrees. During the engagement, Jane writes a letter to her uncle informing him of her impending marriage. On the day of the wedding, a solicitor from London, sent by Jane's uncle, appears at the church and announces that the wedding is impossible: Mr. Rochester is married. This is confirmed by Mason - he is the brother of Rochester's wife. It is not Grace Poole who tried to set fire to the house and hurt Mason; on the contrary, she is assigned to watch Rochester's crazy wife, Bertha, and drinks because of her constant stress. Rochester calls everyone into the house, where he introduces Jane and the priest to Bertha, a third-generation raving lunatic.
Jane goes to her room and mourns her love. On her way out, she runs into Rochester sitting at the door of her room. He pleads for his forgiveness and tells his story. Bertha comes from a wealthy family, and in her early youth Rochester was cleverly married to her so as not to leave him with a modest livelihood, for the baronet title, money and Rochester estates after his father died went to his older brother Roland. Her family propensity to insanity was concealed from him, and when he, unable to fight his wife's vicious, depraved temper, wanted a divorce, the doctors had already established that she was mentally ill, and the law did not allow divorce in such cases. Ironically, Roland had not far outlived his father, so Edward quickly inherited both titles, capital, and estates after his older brother. Having told all this, Rochester spells for Jane to go with him to Europe. But she cannot go against her conscience and break Christian precepts.
Having endured a terrible struggle with her own heart, she leaves secretly at night, boards a stagecoach, giving up her last money, and rides away as far as possible in the first direction she can find. She forgets her bundle of food and some things in the carriage and is left without any means at all. She wanders for several days, starving and sleeping under the open sky - she has no money and no shelter. She tries to find work, but in vain. Finally, in a terrible downpour, she collapses exhausted on the steps of a house where she is picked up, barely alive, by the Reverend St. John Rivers, the local vicar. Diana and Mary, his sisters, part-time governesses, are very friendly, caring for Jane while she is sick. When she, under the assumed name of Elliot, comes to her senses, Rivers employs her as a teacher in the village school. Jane takes the job enthusiastically, and though at first she encounters the ignorance and lack of manners of the students, things soon change for the better little by little. Jane is loved and respected in the neighborhood, her girls do well, and she would be happy were it not for bitter regrets, a longing for her abandoned and beloved master - and a desperate fear that he will ruin himself. At the same time, she learns in passing from St. John, Diana and Mary that some time ago they had a very rich uncle on their mother's side, who had quarrelled with their father at one time and bypassed his nephews in inheritance, and left his entire fortune to his other niece - a certain cousin they have never seen.
One day Jane paints a portrait of the girl St. John is in love with and accidentally signs it with her real name: "Jane Eyre. Without noticing it, she shows the portrait to St. John. Her identity is revealed, whereupon St. John informs her that their mother was born Air, meaning that she was Jane's father's sister and, accordingly, she is the cousin who inherited their entire fortune - an enormous sum of 20,000 pounds at the time - from their common uncle. Jane is happy to have found a family and is both delighted and overwhelmed by the wealth that has so unexpectedly fallen on her head. She decides to stop teaching and gives the school to another teacher, although she cannot yet decide what she will do next. She divides her inheritance equally with her cousins and settles in their house, redecorating it to please both herself and them, thus marking the beginning of a new life. She asks her cousins Diana and Mary to return home from London, where they are serving strangers because they are now well-off and no longer need to work. They return to their ancestral home. The family is reunited, and everyone lives happily ever after. Jane is happy because she finally has the real family she never had. All the while, St. John watches her closely. He is an extraordinary, contradictory man: driven by passions, ambitious, but also cold and judicious. He plans to become a missionary and go to India, overcoming even his passion for the rich young beauty Miss Rosamund Oliver. Shortly before his departu
The story is told in the first person: Nick Carraway begins his narrative with the advice once given to him by his wealthy father, who asked him not to judge other people who did not have his advantages. Following this advice has become a habit for Nick, except in the case of Gatsby. Nick leaves New York, where the story, not yet told to readers, took place in 1922, to return to his native Midwest. Thus, the story that follows is a retrospective.
Nick begins his story by recalling how he rented a house in West Egg on Long Island, where, unlike East Egg, not noble but no less wealthy people lived. Nick visits the lavish estate of Tom and Daisy Buchanan. Daisy was Nick's third cousin, and her husband, Tom, once played soccer at Yale (where he knew Nick in name) and now enjoys wealth. Tom is portrayed by Nick as an arrogant man with racist views and a powerful physique, and Daisy as a charming but shallow woman, the mother of a three-year-old daughter. In this house, Nick meets Jordan Baker, Daisy's friend and a very famous golfer. Jordan informs Nick that Tom has a mistress in New York.
To meet the latter, Myrtle Wilson, wife of unsuspecting car mechanic George, Tom rents an apartment in the city. Tom invites Nick there, where he also meets Katherine, Myrtle's sister, and the McKee couple, Myrtle's friends. The night ends with everyone drinking and Myrtle breaking her nose, annoying Tom by mentioning Daisy's name. Nick withdraws from this chaos with Mr. McKee.
Unexpectedly, Nick finds himself the closest neighbor of Jay Gatsby, a very rich man known for hosting fancy, fun parties at his giant estate, which hundreds of people attend every Saturday. Soon Gatsby's chauffeur brings Nick a formal invitation to one of these parties. Gatsby is a mysterious man, and there are many rumors about the size and source of his vast wealth. None of the guests Nick meets even know what Gatsby looks like. During the party, a certain man recognizes Nick, and it turns out that they are one and the same. Later it turns out that Nick's fellow soldier is Mr. Gatsby himself. Soon a friendly relationship develops between them.
Nick is surprised when Gatsby brings him to New York and, without explaining the reasons for his actions, tells him the story of his ascent up the social ladder, seemingly invented. It is there that Nick meets Gatsby's companion, a shady businessman named Meyer Wolfsheim.
Nick's aforementioned acquaintance, Jordan Baker, tells him that Gatsby gathers a huge number of guests at his house, hoping that Daisy, his former lover, will happen to drop in on him. Through Jordan, Gatsby asks Nick to arrange for him to meet Daisy. Nick promises to do so. A reunion between the lovers takes place. At the same time, an affair between Nick and Jordan begins.
The Plaza Hotel in the 1920s.
Soon, during an explanation at the Plaza Hotel, Tom learns of Jay's love for Daisy, and accuses him of being a bootlegger. Tom threatens Gatsby and expresses his hatred for him. In response, Jay insists that Daisy say that she never loved Tom, hoping to restore the love interrupted five years ago. Daisy, though hesitant, refuses to say so. Tom feels defeated. He decides that Daisy and Gatsby will drive back together and he, Nick, and Jordan will go in another car.
In the meantime, George Wilson scandals his wife, suspecting her of infidelity. She runs out of the house after seeing the car Tom was driving during the day. The car, in which Gatsby and Daisy were driving this time, knocks Myrtle to death and flees the scene. Jordan, Nick and Tom, who were driving behind, notice the deceased. Tom recognizes her as his mistress. George, distraught with grief, becomes obsessed with the idea that the driver of the car that hit Myrtle was her lover. He decides to find the car and take revenge on its owner.
Nick returns to the Buchanan house and finds Gatsby nearby, who inadvertently reveals that the car was driven by Daisy. Since Gatsby has no intention of naming the true cause of the accident, Nick advises him to leave for a week. The last words Nick says to Jay are, "Worthless on worthless, that's what they are. You alone are worth more than all of them put together."
The murdered woman's husband, George Wilson, finds Gatsby on Tom's tip and kills Jay in his pool and then commits suicide. Nick calls Gatsby's acquaintances, but none of them come to the funeral. Tom and Daisy leave without leaving their address. Besides Nick, Gatsby's father, and the servants, the only people present at the funeral are a man who looks like an owl, whom Nick met in Gatsby's library in the middle of his very first party. After breaking off his relationship with Jordan Baker and a chance meeting with Tom, during which it is revealed who exactly set Wilson on Gatsby, Nick, leaving New York for the Midwest, reflects on the impossibility of bringing the past back.
Oceania is a state with a brutal totalitarian system. The inhabitants are deprived of civil rights and individuality. In party society, in addition to the cult of Big Brother personality and unquestioning obedience to authority, all are required to hold puritanical views and all young people are encouraged to join the so-called Youth Anti-Gender Union, where they are taught an abhorrence of sexual relations and love. Love is a thought crime and marriages are solely for reproductive purposes. But the Party eventually plans to eliminate this remnant of human privacy as well, by developing a method to medically eliminate the physiological need for human sexual intimacy, followed by a switch to insemination by artificial insemination.
TV screens in Victory Square. A still from the film "1984".
Oceania has a rigid social hierarchy. Oceania has a population of approximately 300 million, of which only 45 million are party people. There is no parliament and no government; all power is concentrated in the hands of the Angsoc Party, which is divided into the Outer Party and the Inner Party. The highest social caste is the Inner Party, which includes the highest ranks of the ministries and the rest of Oceania's top leadership. The Inner Party holds all of Oceania's power and wealth. Unlike the near-poor members of the Outer Party, members of the Inner Party receive large salaries and have access to such rare products as tea, white bread and sugar, as well as those to which members of the Outer Party have no access, such as milk, real coffee, wine and fruit. Inner Party members make up about 2% of all Oceania's inhabitants. The middle caste is the Outer Party, which included countless nomenklatura workers and lower Party members. Outer Party members live in poverty and are under constant surveillance by the Thought Police. Outer Party members make up about 13% of all Oceania's people.
Party members are required to send their children to the Scouts: a politico-military youth organization where children are instilled with a love of the Party and Big Brother. Children are also trained to be future soldiers, informers, and police officers of thought, for example, and taught to spy on their parents. The book mentioned that there were reports in the newspapers almost daily of children who had caught their relatives in a thought crime and turned them in to the thought police.
The lowest caste is the non-partisan proletariat (in new parlance, the Proles), who, like the Outer Party, are poor, but unlike the Outer Party, the Proles are left to themselves, their homes are almost devoid of television screens and crime and speculation are rife. The Proles make up about 85% of Oceania's total population and are the main source of income.
Even lower than the Proles are the temporary workers from the reclaimed disputed territories, but in the novel the protagonists do not encounter them directly. On the other hand, the novel hints at the existence of castes even above the Inner Party.
Standard of Living.
The society of Airstrip I and, according to The Book, almost the entire world lives in poverty: hunger, disease, and filth are the norm. Many cities are destroyed--a consequence of civil war, atomic wars, and, presumably, enemy (possibly false-flag) missiles. Social destruction and ruined buildings surround Winston, except for ministry buildings, very little of London has been rebuilt. Members of the Outer Party consume synthetic foodstuffs and substandard "luxuries" such as oily gin and poorly stuffed cigarettes distributed under the brand name "Victory." (This is a parody of the low-quality Indian "Victory" cigarettes widely distributed in Britain during World War II. They were used because it was easier to import them from India than American cigarettes across the Atlantic because of the Battle of the Atlantic.)
Winston describes that even something as simple as repairing a broken glass panel requires committee confirmation, which can take several years, and so many who live in one of the blocks usually do the repairs themselves (Winston was invited by Mrs. Parsons to repair her clogged sink). All of the Outer Party members' apartments have TV screens, which serve both as propaganda sources and as devices for spying on party members; they can have the volume turned down, but they cannot be turned off.
Unlike their subordinates, members of the Inner Party live in clean and comfortable apartments in their own section of town with pantries filled with food items such as wine, coffee, and sugar not available to the general population. W
One day a hurricane lifts the house, along with Dorothy and Toto, and transports it to the Land of the Munchkins, in the Land of Oz. Falling down, the house kills the ruler of the Munchkins, the Wicked Witch of the East. Along with the Munchkins freed from her tyranny, Dorothy is greeted by the Good Witch of the North. Dorothy wants to return home. The Good Enchantress of the North gives her the silver slippers worn by the murdered witch and advises her to follow the yellow-brick paved road to the Emerald City, ruled by the great wizard Oz. He, in the witch's opinion, could help the girl.
Along the way, the girl frees Scarecrow, who is hanging from a pole, and lubricates Tin Woodman, who has lost mobility due to rust, with oil from an oil can. Both of them, as well as the Cowardly Lion she meets, join Dorothy. Each has a different request for Oz: the Scarecrow needs brains, the Tin Man needs heart, and the Cowardly Lion needs courage.
At the gate to the Emerald City, a guard makes the travelers wear green glasses so that the glow of the emeralds will not blind them. The wizard receives Dorothy and her friends, introducing himself to each in a different guise: Dorothy as a talking head, the Scarecrow as a beautiful woman, the Tin Man as a monster, and the Lion as a ball of fire. He promises to fulfill all requests on the condition that they kill the Wicked Witch of the West, who has enslaved the Winkies Country.
Against Dorothy and her friends, the Wicked Witch of the West sends 40 wolves, an equal number of crows, a swarm of black bees and Winkie soldiers. The wolves are killed by the Tin Man, the crows by the Scarecrow, and the bees die trying to sting the Tin Man, while straw from the Scarecrow is sheltered by the other travelers. The timid winks turn to flee at the Lion's first roar.
Then the witch, with the help of the Golden Hat, summons the Winged Monkeys and orders her to deliver the Lion (to harness him like a horse) and kill everyone else. The monkeys throw the Tin Man from a great height onto sharp rocks, take all the straw out of the Scarecrow, and throw his clothes and hat onto a tree branch, and deliver the bound Lion to the witch. Dorothy (with Toto in her arms) is delivered to the witch by the monkeys, but they cannot harm her because the Good Witch of the North has a kiss on her forehead, and good is stronger than evil.
The witch cannot kill Dorothy either, but cunningly takes away one of her slippers. Angered, Dorothy pours water over her offender, causing the witch to melt. After taking her slipper and the Golden Hat, the girl frees the Lion (who never allowed himself to be harnessed), and the grateful Winky mends the Tin Man and stuffs the Scarecrow's clothes with fresh straw. Instead of the witch, the Winkies choose the Tin Man as their king. Wearing the Golden Hat, Dorothy summons the Flying Monkeys, who take her and her companions to the Emerald City. On the way, the King of the Flying Monkeys tells the girl the story of the Golden Hat (see Flying Monkeys).
Oz refuses to accept the travelers for a long time, but they seek an audience and demand the fulfillment of their promises. Oz confesses that he is a trickster, unable to conjure, and got here from Omaha, having been carried away by the wind in a balloon. The city looks emerald only because all the inhabitants wear green glasses. Nevertheless, he manages to fulfill the wishes of Dorothy's companions: Scarecrow gets bran-new brains, needles and pins (bran-new brains, consonant with brand-new brains). The Lion drinks a fizzy drink that makes him braver through the placebo effect (some hints suggest that Oz treats the Lion to alcohol), and the Tin Man gets a heart made of silk stuffed with sawdust.
Dorothy, the Scarecrow, and the Tin Man meet the Lion, art. У. Denslow
Oz and Dorothy build a balloon of green silk to return home together. In his place, Oz appoints Scarecrow as ruler. While flying away, Toto chases the cat, Dorothy is forced to catch him, at which point the ropes break. Oz flies away alone. Dorothy summons the Flying Monkeys again, but they are unable to fly over the desert surrounding Oz.
The Green-backed Soldier guarding the gate advises the girl to seek help from the Good Witch of the South, Glinda, ruler of the Quadlings. They defeat the Fighting Trees, cautiously make their way through the Porcelain Country inhabited by fragile porcelain figurines, and find themselves in a forest where the Lion kills a huge spider that is terrorizing its inhabitants. The grateful animals elect the Lion King of the Forest. Finally, with the help of the Flying Monkeys, the travelers fly over the country of the warlike Hammerheads, who prevent them from passing through their territory.
Glinda warmly greets the travelers and informs Dorothy that she could return to Kansas at any moment. All she has to do is tap her heel
Alice, bored on the riverbank with her sister, sees the White Rabbit scurrying, holding a pocket watch in his paw. She follows him down the rabbit hole, falls down it, and finds herself in a hall with many locked doors. There she finds the key to a small 15-inch door, behind which she can see the garden that the girl wants to enter; however, the door is too small for her.
Alice discovers various objects that increase and decrease her height. After crying, she notices Rabbit, who drops his fan and gloves. Picking up the fan and waving it around, Alice shrinks in size and falls into a sea of her own tears. Alice meets a mouse and various birds, listens to a story about William the Conqueror, and plays "Circle Run" to dry off. The rabbit asks Alice to find his things and sends her to his house. Leaving her gloves there, Alice drinks a strange liquid from a vial and grows back, barely fitting into Rabbit's abode.
The latter, trying to figure out what is going on, sends Bill the lizard through the chimney, but Alice pushes him back out with her foot. The pebbles that are thrown at her turn into patties; after eating them, the protagonist shrinks back down and runs away from home. As she searches for the garden, which she sees through the door, she meets the Caterpillar. The latter advises her to hold herself in check and, in order to regain her normal height, to bite a piece of mushroom.
Alice follows her advice, but she begins to undergo various metamorphoses: her shoulders disappear, then her neck stretches. Finally she shrinks to 9 inches and sees a house. After talking to Froggy and entering the building, in the kitchen Alice finds the Cheshire Cat, the Cook, and the Duchess rocking an infant. After taking the baby, the girl leaves the house, and the Duchess informs her that she is going to go to croquet. However, the baby turns into a piglet, and Alice has to let it go.
The Cheshire Cat appears on a tree branch. Saying that the Hatter and the Hare of March live nearby, he disappears. Alice finds herself at the Mad Tea Party, where she tries to solve riddles, listens to the Hatter's reflections on time, and Sonia the mouse's tale of the three sisters. Offended by her hosts' rudeness, Alice leaves.
Entering through a door in one of the trees, the protagonist once again enters the hall and finally makes her way to the garden. There she meets the Card Guardians, who have mistakenly planted white roses instead of red ones and repainted them the right color. After a while, a procession led by the Worm King and Queen approaches them. On hearing of the soldiers' misdeeds, the Queen orders their heads to be cut off, but Alisa discreetly hides the condemned men in a flower pot. From the Rabbit, Alice learns that the Duchess is sentenced to death.
Everyone who has come begins to play croquet, using flamingos as clubs and hedgehogs instead of balls. The Queen tries to cut off the head of the Cheshire Cat as well, but she does not succeed in her intention - the cat has only his head, which gradually melts away. After talking to the Duchess about morality, Alice, together with the Queen, goes to see Quasi the Turtle and the Gryphon. The turtle talks about her past when she was a real turtle, singing songs and dancing. Then the protagonist and Gryphon rush to court.
There the Jack of Hearts, who stole seven tartlets from the Queen, is on trial, with the Worm King himself presiding. The first witness is the Hatter, who recounts how he prepared the tartlet. The second witness is the Cook, who informs the court that the tartlets are made from peppers. The last witness is Alice herself, who suddenly begins to grow. The Queen wants to cut off Alice's head as well, demanding that the jury reach a verdict regardless of the defendant's guilt. The girl enlarges to her usual height; all the cards rise into the air and fly into her face.
Alice wakes up and finds herself lying on the shore, her sister brushing dry leaves off her. The protagonist informs her sister that she had a strange dream and runs home. Her sister, who also dozed off, sees Wonderland and its inhabitants again.
One-year-old Harry Potter's parents are killed by Voldemort, after which he disappears while trying to kill Harry himself. Late at night, Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts School of Wizardry, and his deputy Minerva McGonagall show up outside the home of Vernon and Petunia Dursle, Harry's only relatives. The woodsman, Rubeus Hagrid, brings the child, who is left with his uncle and aunt so that fame will not turn his head early. Ten years pass, Harry grows up. The young man lives in a closet under the stairs, the Dursleys treat him badly because they hate wizards, but their son, Dudley, by contrast, they treat him with adoration and fulfill his every whim. Strange things sometimes happen to Harry, for which the Dursleys punish him. On the eve of his eleventh birthday, the boy receives a letter that Uncle Vernon won't let him read. Many such letters arrive, and in different ways: along with bread from the baker, through the chimney. The Dursleys go with Harry to a cabin on the island, where they think the letter senders will not find Harry. The night Harry turns eleven, Hagrid appears and tells him that he is a wizard and will attend Hogwarts, that is, the school of wizardry and wizardry. Soon Harry and Hagrid go to the magical Slanted Lane and go to Gringotts Bank, where Harry learns that his parents have left him a rich inheritance. The heroes withdraw some of the money and purchase school supplies, and at the same time Hagrid gives Harry a birthday present - a polar owl, which gets the name Buklya.
On September 1, from platform nine and three-quarters of King's Cross Station, Harry departs for Hogwarts. While searching for the entrance to the platform, he first meets Ron Weasley, who, later, becomes his best friend. On the way to school, Ron tells Harry about the wizarding world, the sport of Quidditch, and Hogwarts itself, which has four faculties: Gryffindor, Puffendum, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. The distributing hat sends Harry, Ron, and Hermione to Gryffindor. Harry notices a hostile attitude from his Potions teacher, Severus Snape. After his first lesson of flying on a broom, Potter becomes a catcher for the faculty Quidditch team. During a visit to Hagrid, Harry finds a note in the newspaper, from which he learns that someone tried to steal an item from the bank, which Hagrid took from the safe in front of him . A huge three-headed dog is discovered in the castle, guarding some kind of hatch. After Harry and Ron save Hermione from the troll, they finally become friends. Somehow in conversation Hagrid mentions Nicholas Flamel, and after a while the boys learn that the dog guards the Philosopher's Stone, which gives immortality. Harry also finds an Einalege mirror that shows what a person wants most. Hagrid reveals that the stone is guarded by several teachers, including Steble, Flitwick, McGonagall, Quirrell, Snape, and Dumbledore himself. Harry grows increasingly suspicious that it is Snape who is trying to steal the stone. While serving his punishment in the Forbidden Forest, Harry encounters a terrifying stranger in a black cloak with a hood hiding his face, drinking unicorn blood to keep him alive, and from the centaur's words he realizes that Snape is trying to steal the Philosopher's Stone for Voldemort.
After the exams, Harry's lightning scar is in constant pain. It turns out that Hagrid told a stranger how to get past a three-headed dog named Fluffy, who was the one who put him on the hatch. In the meantime, Dumbledore leaves for London, and Harry decides that Snape, whom Harry thinks is an intruder, will try to get to the stone. So Potter decides to beat him to it. Harry, Ron, and Hermione encounter Professor Stable's diabolical snares, Professor Flitwick's flying keys, Professor McGonagall's magic chess, Professor Quirrell's troll, and Professor Snape's potions. Ron stays in the room with the chess, and Hermione is forced to return after the potions. Harry goes on, but instead of Snape, he finds Quirrell unable to get the stone out of the Einalege mirror. It turns out that it is Quirrell who serves Voldemort, while Snape, on the contrary, tried to save Potter, even though he hated his father. On the back of Quirrell's head is revealed the face of Voldemort, who tries to win Harry to his side and then orders him to kill him. But from Potter's touch, Quirrell receives burns. Harry loses consciousness, and waking up already in the infirmary, learns that Dumbledore managed to prevent Quirrell. Harry was protected by the love of his dead mother. The stone itself was destroyed. The boys receive points for their actions in protecting the stone, which puts Gryffindor in first place in the faculty competition. After the successful exam results are announced, the students disperse for summer vacation.
Guy Montag is a fireman whose job is to burn houses where books have been found. He loves his job, but secretly takes books from houses he is supposed to burn. Also, Guy likes to take walks at night. And during another walk, he meets a new neighbor, Clarissa McLellan, who wants to talk about feelings and thoughts, is passionate about nature and interested in books. Looking at Clarisse, Montag realizes he wants to change his life. He decides to quit his job and pretends to be sick for 24 hours.
Brandmaster Beatty gives Guy a day to recover, saying that every fireman has such moments in his life. But afterwards, he hints to him that Montag should burn the book he stole and hid under his pillow. Beatty argues that the point of destroying books is to make everyone happy. That without books there would be no contradictory thoughts and theories, no one would stand out, no one would become smarter than his neighbor. The life of the citizens of this society is completely free of negative emotions-they do nothing but have fun. Even human death has been "simplified"-the corpses of the dead are now cremated in just five minutes, so as not to disturb anyone.
Montag tries to make sense of his thoughts. The man starts pulling out books from a hiding place behind the ventilation grate and reading passages from them. He asks his wife to help him, but Mildred does not understand him. She is horrified by what is happening, screaming that he will ruin them. She pulls away from him, putting on her headphones and talking to her television "relatives."
Guy reminisces about an old man he met a year ago in the park. Faber is a former English professor. When he met Montag, the old man jumped up and wanted to run away. But Montag stopped him and started talking about the weather. Faber became more talkative, even reciting several poems by heart. Faber wrote down his address on a piece of paper: "For your filing cabinet," the old man said, "just in case you think of getting mad at me. Guy finds the former professor's card in a drawer labeled "Forthcoming Investigations. He calls Faber and arrives at his house with a Bible. Monteg asks to be taught to understand what he is reading. Faber gives him a miniature transceiver for emergency communication, similar to a hearing aid. They agree on a course of action - making copies of the books with the help of a printer (Faber's acquaintance), waiting for the war that will destroy the current order of things. In hopes that then, in the ensuing silence, their whispers will be heard, not the interactive televisions.
Guy returns to work with a hearing capsule in his ear. That same evening, his wife and two neighbors, Miss Clara Phelps and Mrs. Bauels, to whom Monteg, angry about their idle chatter, has read the verse "Dover Shore," denounce that Guy keeps books at home. Beatty sets things up so that Monteg arrives on a call to burn down his own house. He is followed by an electric dog, which the fireman has always been afraid of - he was sure the dog had turned against him. At the direction of the fire marshal, Guy burns down his own house and then uses a jet of flame from a flamethrower to kill the deliberately provoked Beatty, stuns two firemen, and burns down the electric dog. But the dog still manages to stab him with a procaine needle and one of Guy's legs goes numb, which slows him down. Sirens howl everywhere, police cars chase him, and an organized chase begins in police helicopters.
Guy is nearly hit by a car, saved by his fall. "The driver realized in time, not even realized, but felt that the car rushing at full speed, bumping into the lying body, would inevitably roll over and throw everyone out. So at the last second the car swerved and circled Montag. Guy picks up the books and drops them off at the home of Mrs. Black and her fireman husband. Next, he heads to the former professor's house. There, the landlord turns on the television and they learn of an airborne chase being broadcast and that a new electric dog has been delivered to track down the criminal. Montag advises his ally to throw a chair into the stove, burn the bedspread and the doormat in the hallway, wipe down the furniture and all the doorknobs with alcohol. Faber should turn the ventilation in all the rooms on full blast, sprinkle mothballs on everything in the house, turn on the watering machines in the garden, hose down the paths - to interrupt Guy's trail. They also arrange to meet in one or two weeks in St. Louis, provided they stay alive. Montag must write to Faber, who will go to visit the printer. Guy takes the suitcase with his associate's old belongings and leaves his house.
Montag makes his way to the river, changes his clothes, enters the water, the current picks him up and carries him away into the darkness. The electric dog loses his trail by the river. When Guy emerges from the water, he walks into the woods
The book begins with an ancestor of the Finch family, Simon Finch. As a Methodist, he fled religious intolerance in England, settled in Alabama, became rich, and, despite his religious beliefs, bought some slaves.
The main story takes place within three years of the peak of the Great Depression in the fictional "long-weary" town of Maycomb, Alabama. The main character is six-year-old Jean-Louise Finch, who lives with her older brother Jim and their father Atticus, an elderly lawyer. Jim and Jean meet a boy named Dill, who comes to Maycomb every summer to visit his aunt. The three children are afraid of their neighbor, the reclusive Radley, nicknamed Scarecrow. The adults of Maycomb are hesitant to talk about the Scarecrow, and for years few have seen him. The children stir each other's imaginations with rumors about his appearance and the reasons for his recluse. They figure out how to get him out of the house. After two summer vacations with Dill, Gene and Jim discover that someone is leaving them small gifts in a tree near Radley's house. Several times the mysterious Scarecrow has shown them signs of attention, but to their disappointment, he has never shown up in person.
Despite the fact that many of the citizens do not support him, Atticus takes on a knowingly losing case to defend Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a young white woman. The other children tease Jim and Jean about it. Jean tries to defend his father's honor, even though he is against it. For his part, Atticus confronts a group of men intent on lynching Tom. This danger passes when Gene, Jim, and Dill shame the crowd into looking at the situation from Atticus and Tom's point of view.
Because Atticus does not want the children present at Tom Robinson's trial, Gene, Jim, and Dill hide out on the courtroom balcony. Atticus establishes that the accusers (Mayella and her father, Bob Euel, the town drunk) are lying. It also transpires that lonely Mayella harassed Tom, and her father caught and beat her. Despite substantial evidence of Tom's innocence, the jury convicts him. Jim and Atticus' faith in justice is greatly undermined when Tom is shot and killed while trying to escape.
Despite winning the case, Bob Ewell's reputation is ruined, and he vows revenge. He spits in Atticus' face in the street, tries to break into the presiding judge's house, and threatens Tom Robinson's widow. Finally, he attacks defenseless Jim and Jean walking home at night after a school Halloween. Someone comes to the children's aid. The mysterious man carries Jim, who has a broken arm, home, where Jean realizes it is Scarecrow Radley.
Sheriff Maycomb discovers that Bob Ewell was killed in the struggle. The sheriff argues with Atticus about Jim's discretion and Scarecrow's responsibility, reminding him that there is a kitchen knife sticking out of Ewell's body. And puts forward the theory that Euel accidentally fell on his own knife. To illustrate how this might have happened, the sheriff pulls another knife out of his pocket, of which he "says in cold blood that he took it from a drunk in town today." From what is said, it is clear that this is Ewell's knife, and that the knife in the body can only be the Scarecrow's weapon. The sheriff thinks that if the whole town thinks of Scarecrow as a hero who saved the children, he won't stand for such heated attention. Atticus eventually accepts the sheriff's version that Euel simply fell on his own knife, and thanks Scarecrow for the lives of his children. Scarecrow asks Jean to walk him home and, after she says goodbye to him at the front door, disappears again. Jean never sees him again. Standing on Radley's porch, she imagines life from Scarecrow's point of view and regrets that they never thanked him for the gifts and that they thought he was a very bad man.
The novel is written on behalf of seventeen-year-old Holden Caulfield, who is being treated in a clinic: he tells the story of what happened to him last winter that preceded his illness. The events he recounts unfold in the pre-Christmas days of December 1949.
The young man's recollections begin on the last day of his stay at the closed Pansy School, a boarding school in Agerstown, Pennsylvania. He flunked four out of five subjects on his exam, and his history paper was so unsatisfactory that he was expelled, allowed to stay in residence no longer than until Christmas break. He plans to return home a few days later, before his parents receive notice of the expulsion, so they have time to "boil over." Holden is invited to the home of his history teacher, Mr. Spencer, who tries unsuccessfully to talk sense into the teenager. Spencer is old, sick, and disgusted with Holden, yet he does not blame him for the expulsion.
Holden returns to his dormitory wearing the red hunting cap he bought in New York for one dollar. His dorm roommate, Robert Ackley, unpopular among his peers, bothers Holden with his pestering questioning and bad manners. Holden, who feels sorry for Ackley, tolerates his presence.
Later, Holden agrees to write an English essay for his roommate, Ward Stradlater, who is away on a date. However, Holden is distressed to learn that it is a date with Jane Gallagher, for whom Holden previously had romantic feelings. He still writes an essay for Stradlater, but instead of describing the room, he makes a description of his late brother Allie's baseball glove. When Stradlater returns hours later, he harshly criticizes the essay and refuses to say whether he slept with Jane. Enraged, Holden punches him, but Stradlater easily wins the fight, breaking Holden's nose and nearly knocking him out. Holden leaves school earlier than he intended. He sells his typewriter and takes a train to New York. Holden intends to stay away from his home until Wednesday, when his parents receive notice of his expulsion. On the train, he meets the mother of a rich, narcissistic and aggressive student, Ernest Morrow, but instead of speaking the truth about him, he lies without meaning to, describing him as the most dignified and humble student in the school.
In a cab, Holden asks the driver what happens to the ducks in Central Park Lake in winter, a question he is seriously concerned about, but the man doesn't know what to answer. Holden checks into the Edmont Hotel. He spends an evening dancing with three Seattle women in the hotel lounge, noting in one of them a good dancer and an utterly worthless, uncommunicative personality. At night, elevator worker Maurice offers him a prostitute named Sonny; Holden agrees to her visit. His attitude toward the girl changes when she enters the room: she seems to be the same age as him. Holden refuses intimacy and pays the agreed five dollars just to talk, but she becomes annoyed and leaves. Although he has paid her the right amount, she returns with her pimp, Maurice, and demands more money. Maurice beats the teenager and Sonny takes another $5.
In the morning, Holden contacts his girlfriend Sally Hayes and invites her to the theater, to a play with Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne. Afterwards, he leaves the hotel, deposits his luggage in the luggage room, and goes to breakfast. At the restaurant, he meets two nuns, one of whom is a literature teacher, and discusses with them the books he has read, particularly Romeo and Juliet. After eating breakfast, he goes to the music store, hoping to buy a record for his little sister with a song he likes called "Little Shirley Beans," and on the way he hears a little boy singing: "If you've been catching somebody in the rye in the evening...". The boy's song lifts his spirits a little, and he thinks about calling Jane Gallagher, of whom he has fond memories, but postpones the idea. The play he goes to with Sally disappoints him. Following the play, he goes with Sally to the skating rink, and after this he "bursts": he impulsively confesses to Sally his disgust for the school and everything around him. He ends up insulting Sally, and she leaves, crying, despite his belated attempts to apologize. Afterward, Holden tries to call Jane, but no one picks up, so he goes to the movies. Toward evening, he crosses paths with his acquaintance Carl Lewis, an arrogant student who thinks Holden is too infantile and, in response to his outpourings, advises him only to make an appointment with a psychoanalyst. Holden is left alone, gets drunk, and heads to Central Park to check out what is really going on with the ducks in winter, but on the way he is wounded.
The novel is written on behalf of seventeen-year-old Holden Caulfield, who is being treated in a clinic: he tells the story of what happened to him last winter that preceded his illness. The events he recounts unfold in the pre-Christmas days of December 1949.
The young man's recollections begin on the last day of his stay at the closed Pansy School, a boarding school in Agerstown, Pennsylvania. He flunked four out of five subjects on his exam, and his history paper was so unsatisfactory that he was expelled, allowed to stay in residence no longer than until Christmas break. He plans to return home a few days later, before his parents receive notice of the expulsion, so they have time to "boil over." Holden is invited to the home of his history teacher, Mr. Spencer, who tries unsuccessfully to talk sense into the teenager. Spencer is old, sick, and disgusted with Holden, yet he does not blame him for the expulsion.
Holden returns to his dormitory wearing the red hunting cap he bought in New York for one dollar. His dorm roommate, Robert Ackley, unpopular among his peers, bothers Holden with his pestering questioning and bad manners. Holden, who feels sorry for Ackley, tolerates his presence.
Later, Holden agrees to write an English essay for his roommate, Ward Stradlater, who is away on a date. However, Holden is distressed to learn that it is a date with Jane Gallagher, for whom Holden previously had romantic feelings. He still writes an essay for Stradlater, but instead of describing the room, he makes a description of his late brother Allie's baseball glove. When Stradlater returns hours later, he harshly criticizes the essay and refuses to say whether he slept with Jane. Enraged, Holden punches him, but Stradlater easily wins the fight, breaking Holden's nose and nearly knocking him out. Holden leaves school earlier than he intended. He sells his typewriter and takes a train to New York. Holden intends to stay away from his home until Wednesday, when his parents receive notice of his expulsion. On the train, he meets the mother of a rich, narcissistic and aggressive student, Ernest Morrow, but instead of speaking the truth about him, he lies without meaning to, describing him as the most dignified and humble student in the school.
In a cab, Holden asks the driver what happens to the ducks in Central Park Lake in winter, a question he is seriously concerned about, but the man doesn't know what to answer. Holden checks into the Edmont Hotel. He spends an evening dancing with three Seattle women in the hotel lounge, noting in one of them a good dancer and an utterly worthless, uncommunicative personality. At night, elevator worker Maurice offers him a prostitute named Sonny; Holden agrees to her visit. His attitude toward the girl changes when she enters the room: she seems to be the same age as him. Holden refuses intimacy and pays the agreed five dollars just to talk, but she becomes annoyed and leaves. Although he has paid her the right amount, she returns with her pimp, Maurice, and demands more money. Maurice beats the teenager and Sonny takes another $5.
In the morning, Holden contacts his girlfriend Sally Hayes and invites her to the theater, to a play with Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne. Afterwards, he leaves the hotel, deposits his luggage in the luggage room, and goes to breakfast. At the restaurant, he meets two nuns, one of whom is a literature teacher, and discusses with them the books he has read, particularly Romeo and Juliet. After eating breakfast, he goes to the music store, hoping to buy a record for his little sister with a song he likes called "Little Shirley Beans," and on the way he hears a little boy singing: "If you've been catching somebody in the rye in the evening...". The boy's song lifts his spirits a little, and he thinks about calling Jane Gallagher, of whom he has fond memories, but postpones the idea. The play he goes to with Sally disappoints him. Following the play, he goes with Sally to the skating rink, and after this he "bursts": he impulsively confesses to Sally his disgust for the school and everything around him. He ends up insulting Sally, and she leaves, crying, despite his belated attempts to apologize. Afterward, Holden tries to call Jane, but no one picks up, so he goes to the movies. Toward evening, he crosses paths with his acquaintance Carl Lewis, an arrogant student who thinks Holden is too infantile and, in response to his outpourings, advises him only to make an appointment with a psychoanalyst. Holden is left alone, gets drunk, and heads to Central Park to check out what is really going on with the ducks in winter, but on the way he is wounded.
The novel is written on behalf of seventeen-year-old Holden Caulfield, who is being treated in a clinic: he tells the story of what happened to him last winter that preceded his illness. The events he recounts unfold in the pre-Christmas days of December 1949.
The young man's recollections begin on the last day of his stay at the closed Pansy School, a boarding school in Agerstown, Pennsylvania. He flunked four out of five subjects on his exam, and his history paper was so unsatisfactory that he was expelled, allowed to stay in residence no longer than until Christmas break. He plans to return home a few days later, before his parents receive notice of the expulsion, so they have time to "boil over." Holden is invited to the home of his history teacher, Mr. Spencer, who tries unsuccessfully to talk sense into the teenager. Spencer is old, sick, and disgusted with Holden, yet he does not blame him for the expulsion.
Holden returns to his dormitory wearing the red hunting cap he bought in New York for one dollar. His dorm roommate, Robert Ackley, unpopular among his peers, bothers Holden with his pestering questioning and bad manners. Holden, who feels sorry for Ackley, tolerates his presence.
Later, Holden agrees to write an English essay for his roommate, Ward Stradlater, who is away on a date. However, Holden is distressed to learn that it is a date with Jane Gallagher, for whom Holden previously had romantic feelings. He still writes an essay for Stradlater, but instead of describing the room, he makes a description of his late brother Allie's baseball glove. When Stradlater returns hours later, he harshly criticizes the essay and refuses to say whether he slept with Jane. Enraged, Holden punches him, but Stradlater easily wins the fight, breaking Holden's nose and nearly knocking him out. Holden leaves school earlier than he intended. He sells his typewriter and takes a train to New York. Holden intends to stay away from his home until Wednesday, when his parents receive notice of his expulsion. On the train, he meets the mother of a rich, narcissistic and aggressive student, Ernest Morrow, but instead of speaking the truth about him, he lies without meaning to, describing him as the most dignified and humble student in the school.
In a cab, Holden asks the driver what happens to the ducks in Central Park Lake in winter, a question he is seriously concerned about, but the man doesn't know what to answer. Holden checks into the Edmont Hotel. He spends an evening dancing with three Seattle women in the hotel lounge, noting in one of them a good dancer and an utterly worthless, uncommunicative personality. At night, elevator worker Maurice offers him a prostitute named Sonny; Holden agrees to her visit. His attitude toward the girl changes when she enters the room: she seems to be the same age as him. Holden refuses intimacy and pays the agreed five dollars just to talk, but she becomes annoyed and leaves. Although he has paid her the right amount, she returns with her pimp, Maurice, and demands more money. Maurice beats the teenager and Sonny takes another $5.
In the morning, Holden contacts his girlfriend Sally Hayes and invites her to the theater, to a play with Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne. Afterwards, he leaves the hotel, deposits his luggage in the luggage room, and goes to breakfast. At the restaurant, he meets two nuns, one of whom is a literature teacher, and discusses with them the books he has read, particularly Romeo and Juliet. After eating breakfast, he goes to the music store, hoping to buy a record for his little sister with a song he likes called "Little Shirley Beans," and on the way he hears a little boy singing: "If you've been catching somebody in the rye in the evening...". The boy's song lifts his spirits a little, and he thinks about calling Jane Gallagher, of whom he has fond memories, but postpones the idea. The play he goes to with Sally disappoints him. Following the play, he goes with Sally to the skating rink, and after this he "bursts": he impulsively confesses to Sally his disgust for the school and everything around him. He ends up insulting Sally, and she leaves, crying, despite his belated attempts to apologize. Afterward, Holden tries to call Jane, but no one picks up, so he goes to the movies. Toward evening, he crosses paths with his acquaintance Carl Lewis, an arrogant student who thinks Holden is too infantile and, in response to his outpourings, advises him only to make an appointment with a psychoanalyst. Holden is left alone, gets drunk, and heads to Central Park to check out what is really going on with the ducks in winter, but on the way he is wounded.
The novel is written on behalf of seventeen-year-old Holden Caulfield, who is being treated in a clinic: he tells the story of what happened to him last winter that preceded his illness. The events he recounts unfold in the pre-Christmas days of December 1949.
The young man's recollections begin on the last day of his stay at the closed Pansy School, a boarding school in Agerstown, Pennsylvania. He flunked four out of five subjects on his exam, and his history paper was so unsatisfactory that he was expelled, allowed to stay in residence no longer than until Christmas break. He plans to return home a few days later, before his parents receive notice of the expulsion, so they have time to "boil over." Holden is invited to the home of his history teacher, Mr. Spencer, who tries unsuccessfully to talk sense into the teenager. Spencer is old, sick, and disgusted with Holden, yet he does not blame him for the expulsion.
Holden returns to his dormitory wearing the red hunting cap he bought in New York for one dollar. His dorm roommate, Robert Ackley, unpopular among his peers, bothers Holden with his pestering questioning and bad manners. Holden, who feels sorry for Ackley, tolerates his presence.
Later, Holden agrees to write an English essay for his roommate, Ward Stradlater, who is away on a date. However, Holden is distressed to learn that it is a date with Jane Gallagher, for whom Holden previously had romantic feelings. He still writes an essay for Stradlater, but instead of describing the room, he makes a description of his late brother Allie's baseball glove. When Stradlater returns hours later, he harshly criticizes the essay and refuses to say whether he slept with Jane. Enraged, Holden punches him, but Stradlater easily wins the fight, breaking Holden's nose and nearly knocking him out. Holden leaves school earlier than he intended. He sells his typewriter and takes a train to New York. Holden intends to stay away from his home until Wednesday, when his parents receive notice of his expulsion. On the train, he meets the mother of a rich, narcissistic and aggressive student, Ernest Morrow, but instead of speaking the truth about him, he lies without meaning to, describing him as the most dignified and humble student in the school.
In a cab, Holden asks the driver what happens to the ducks in Central Park Lake in winter, a question he is seriously concerned about, but the man doesn't know what to answer. Holden checks into the Edmont Hotel. He spends an evening dancing with three Seattle women in the hotel lounge, noting in one of them a good dancer and an utterly worthless, uncommunicative personality. At night, elevator worker Maurice offers him a prostitute named Sonny; Holden agrees to her visit. His attitude toward the girl changes when she enters the room: she seems to be the same age as him. Holden refuses intimacy and pays the agreed five dollars just to talk, but she becomes annoyed and leaves. Although he has paid her the right amount, she returns with her pimp, Maurice, and demands more money. Maurice beats the teenager and Sonny takes another $5.
In the morning, Holden contacts his girlfriend Sally Hayes and invites her to the theater, to a play with Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne. Afterwards, he leaves the hotel, deposits his luggage in the luggage room, and goes to breakfast. At the restaurant, he meets two nuns, one of whom is a literature teacher, and discusses with them the books he has read, particularly Romeo and Juliet. After eating breakfast, he goes to the music store, hoping to buy a record for his little sister with a song he likes called "Little Shirley Beans," and on the way he hears a little boy singing: "If you've been catching somebody in the rye in the evening...". The boy's song lifts his spirits a little, and he thinks about calling Jane Gallagher, of whom he has fond memories, but postpones the idea. The play he goes to with Sally disappoints him. Following the play, he goes with Sally to the skating rink, and after this he "bursts": he impulsively confesses to Sally his disgust for the school and everything around him. He ends up insulting Sally, and she leaves, crying, despite his belated attempts to apologize. Afterward, Holden tries to call Jane, but no one picks up, so he goes to the movies. Toward evening, he crosses paths with his acquaintance Carl Lewis, an arrogant student who thinks Holden is too infantile and, in response to his outpourings, advises him only to make an appointment with a psychoanalyst. Holden is left alone, gets drunk, and heads to Central Park to check out what is really going on with the ducks in winter, but on the way he is wounded.
The novel is written on behalf of seventeen-year-old Holden Caulfield, who is being treated in a clinic: he tells the story of what happened to him last winter that preceded his illness. The events he recounts unfold in the pre-Christmas days of December 1949.
The young man's recollections begin on the last day of his stay at the closed Pansy School, a boarding school in Agerstown, Pennsylvania. He flunked four out of five subjects on his exam, and his history paper was so unsatisfactory that he was expelled, allowed to stay in residence no longer than until Christmas break. He plans to return home a few days later, before his parents receive notice of the expulsion, so they have time to "boil over." Holden is invited to the home of his history teacher, Mr. Spencer, who tries unsuccessfully to talk sense into the teenager. Spencer is old, sick, and disgusted with Holden, yet he does not blame him for the expulsion.
Holden returns to his dormitory wearing the red hunting cap he bought in New York for one dollar. His dorm roommate, Robert Ackley, unpopular among his peers, bothers Holden with his pestering questioning and bad manners. Holden, who feels sorry for Ackley, tolerates his presence.
Later, Holden agrees to write an English essay for his roommate, Ward Stradlater, who is away on a date. However, Holden is distressed to learn that it is a date with Jane Gallagher, for whom Holden previously had romantic feelings. He still writes an essay for Stradlater, but instead of describing the room, he makes a description of his late brother Allie's baseball glove. When Stradlater returns hours later, he harshly criticizes the essay and refuses to say whether he slept with Jane. Enraged, Holden punches him, but Stradlater easily wins the fight, breaking Holden's nose and nearly knocking him out. Holden leaves school earlier than he intended. He sells his typewriter and takes a train to New York. Holden intends to stay away from his home until Wednesday, when his parents receive notice of his expulsion. On the train, he meets the mother of a rich, narcissistic and aggressive student, Ernest Morrow, but instead of speaking the truth about him, he lies without meaning to, describing him as the most dignified and humble student in the school.
In a cab, Holden asks the driver what happens to the ducks in Central Park Lake in winter, a question he is seriously concerned about, but the man doesn't know what to answer. Holden checks into the Edmont Hotel. He spends an evening dancing with three Seattle women in the hotel lounge, noting in one of them a good dancer and an utterly worthless, uncommunicative personality. At night, elevator worker Maurice offers him a prostitute named Sonny; Holden agrees to her visit. His attitude toward the girl changes when she enters the room: she seems to be the same age as him. Holden refuses intimacy and pays the agreed five dollars just to talk, but she becomes annoyed and leaves. Although he has paid her the right amount, she returns with her pimp, Maurice, and demands more money. Maurice beats the teenager and Sonny takes another $5.
In the morning, Holden contacts his girlfriend Sally Hayes and invites her to the theater, to a play with Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne. Afterwards, he leaves the hotel, deposits his luggage in the luggage room, and goes to breakfast. At the restaurant, he meets two nuns, one of whom is a literature teacher, and discusses with them the books he has read, particularly Romeo and Juliet. After eating breakfast, he goes to the music store, hoping to buy a record for his little sister with a song he likes called "Little Shirley Beans," and on the way he hears a little boy singing: "If you've been catching somebody in the rye in the evening...". The boy's song lifts his spirits a little, and he thinks about calling Jane Gallagher, of whom he has fond memories, but postpones the idea. The play he goes to with Sally disappoints him. Following the play, he goes with Sally to the skating rink, and after this he "bursts": he impulsively confesses to Sally his disgust for the school and everything around him. He ends up insulting Sally, and she leaves, crying, despite his belated attempts to apologize. Afterward, Holden tries to call Jane, but no one picks up, so he goes to the movies. Toward evening, he crosses paths with his acquaintance Carl Lewis, an arrogant student who thinks Holden is too infantile and, in response to his outpourings, advises him only to make an appointment with a psychoanalyst. Holden is left alone, gets drunk, and heads to Central Park to check out what is really going on with the ducks in winter, but on the way he is wounded.
The novel is written on behalf of seventeen-year-old Holden Caulfield, who is being treated in a clinic: he tells the story of what happened to him last winter that preceded his illness. The events he recounts unfold in the pre-Christmas days of December 1949.
The young man's recollections begin on the last day of his stay at the closed Pansy School, a boarding school in Agerstown, Pennsylvania. He flunked four out of five subjects on his exam, and his history paper was so unsatisfactory that he was expelled, allowed to stay in residence no longer than until Christmas break. He plans to return home a few days later, before his parents receive notice of the expulsion, so they have time to "boil over." Holden is invited to the home of his history teacher, Mr. Spencer, who tries unsuccessfully to talk sense into the teenager. Spencer is old, sick, and disgusted with Holden, yet he does not blame him for the expulsion.
Holden returns to his dormitory wearing the red hunting cap he bought in New York for one dollar. His dorm roommate, Robert Ackley, unpopular among his peers, bothers Holden with his pestering questioning and bad manners. Holden, who feels sorry for Ackley, tolerates his presence.
Later, Holden agrees to write an English essay for his roommate, Ward Stradlater, who is away on a date. However, Holden is distressed to learn that it is a date with Jane Gallagher, for whom Holden previously had romantic feelings. He still writes an essay for Stradlater, but instead of describing the room, he makes a description of his late brother Allie's baseball glove. When Stradlater returns hours later, he harshly criticizes the essay and refuses to say whether he slept with Jane. Enraged, Holden punches him, but Stradlater easily wins the fight, breaking Holden's nose and nearly knocking him out. Holden leaves school earlier than he intended. He sells his typewriter and takes a train to New York. Holden intends to stay away from his home until Wednesday, when his parents receive notice of his expulsion. On the train, he meets the mother of a rich, narcissistic and aggressive student, Ernest Morrow, but instead of speaking the truth about him, he lies without meaning to, describing him as the most dignified and humble student in the school.
In a cab, Holden asks the driver what happens to the ducks in Central Park Lake in winter, a question he is seriously concerned about, but the man doesn't know what to answer. Holden checks into the Edmont Hotel. He spends an evening dancing with three Seattle women in the hotel lounge, noting in one of them a good dancer and an utterly worthless, uncommunicative personality. At night, elevator worker Maurice offers him a prostitute named Sonny; Holden agrees to her visit. His attitude toward the girl changes when she enters the room: she seems to be the same age as him. Holden refuses intimacy and pays the agreed five dollars just to talk, but she becomes annoyed and leaves. Although he has paid her the right amount, she returns with her pimp, Maurice, and demands more money. Maurice beats the teenager and Sonny takes another $5.
In the morning, Holden contacts his girlfriend Sally Hayes and invites her to the theater, to a play with Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne. Afterwards, he leaves the hotel, deposits his luggage in the luggage room, and goes to breakfast. At the restaurant, he meets two nuns, one of whom is a literature teacher, and discusses with them the books he has read, particularly Romeo and Juliet. After eating breakfast, he goes to the music store, hoping to buy a record for his little sister with a song he likes called "Little Shirley Beans," and on the way he hears a little boy singing: "If you've been catching somebody in the rye in the evening...". The boy's song lifts his spirits a little, and he thinks about calling Jane Gallagher, of whom he has fond memories, but postpones the idea. The play he goes to with Sally disappoints him. Following the play, he goes with Sally to the skating rink, and after this he "bursts": he impulsively confesses to Sally his disgust for the school and everything around him. He ends up insulting Sally, and she leaves, crying, despite his belated attempts to apologize. Afterward, Holden tries to call Jane, but no one picks up, so he goes to the movies. Toward evening, he crosses paths with his acquaintance Carl Lewis, an arrogant student who thinks Holden is too infantile and, in response to his outpourings, advises him only to make an appointment with a psychoanalyst. Holden is left alone, gets drunk, and heads to Central Park to check out what is really going on with the ducks in winter, but on the way he is wounded.
The novel is written on behalf of seventeen-year-old Holden Caulfield, who is being treated in a clinic: he tells the story of what happened to him last winter that preceded his illness. The events he recounts unfold in the pre-Christmas days of December 1949.
The young man's recollections begin on the last day of his stay at the closed Pansy School, a boarding school in Agerstown, Pennsylvania. He flunked four out of five subjects on his exam, and his history paper was so unsatisfactory that he was expelled, allowed to stay in residence no longer than until Christmas break. He plans to return home a few days later, before his parents receive notice of the expulsion, so they have time to "boil over." Holden is invited to the home of his history teacher, Mr. Spencer, who tries unsuccessfully to talk sense into the teenager. Spencer is old, sick, and disgusted with Holden, yet he does not blame him for the expulsion.
Holden returns to his dormitory wearing the red hunting cap he bought in New York for one dollar. His dorm roommate, Robert Ackley, unpopular among his peers, bothers Holden with his pestering questioning and bad manners. Holden, who feels sorry for Ackley, tolerates his presence.
Later, Holden agrees to write an English essay for his roommate, Ward Stradlater, who is away on a date. However, Holden is distressed to learn that it is a date with Jane Gallagher, for whom Holden previously had romantic feelings. He still writes an essay for Stradlater, but instead of describing the room, he makes a description of his late brother Allie's baseball glove. When Stradlater returns hours later, he harshly criticizes the essay and refuses to say whether he slept with Jane. Enraged, Holden punches him, but Stradlater easily wins the fight, breaking Holden's nose and nearly knocking him out. Holden leaves school earlier than he intended. He sells his typewriter and takes a train to New York. Holden intends to stay away from his home until Wednesday, when his parents receive notice of his expulsion. On the train, he meets the mother of a rich, narcissistic and aggressive student, Ernest Morrow, but instead of speaking the truth about him, he lies without meaning to, describing him as the most dignified and humble student in the school.
In a cab, Holden asks the driver what happens to the ducks in Central Park Lake in winter, a question he is seriously concerned about, but the man doesn't know what to answer. Holden checks into the Edmont Hotel. He spends an evening dancing with three Seattle women in the hotel lounge, noting in one of them a good dancer and an utterly worthless, uncommunicative personality. At night, elevator worker Maurice offers him a prostitute named Sonny; Holden agrees to her visit. His attitude toward the girl changes when she enters the room: she seems to be the same age as him. Holden refuses intimacy and pays the agreed five dollars just to talk, but she becomes annoyed and leaves. Although he has paid her the right amount, she returns with her pimp, Maurice, and demands more money. Maurice beats the teenager and Sonny takes another $5.
In the morning, Holden contacts his girlfriend Sally Hayes and invites her to the theater, to a play with Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne. Afterwards, he leaves the hotel, deposits his luggage in the luggage room, and goes to breakfast. At the restaurant, he meets two nuns, one of whom is a literature teacher, and discusses with them the books he has read, particularly Romeo and Juliet. After eating breakfast, he goes to the music store, hoping to buy a record for his little sister with a song he likes called "Little Shirley Beans," and on the way he hears a little boy singing: "If you've been catching somebody in the rye in the evening...". The boy's song lifts his spirits a little, and he thinks about calling Jane Gallagher, of whom he has fond memories, but postpones the idea. The play he goes to with Sally disappoints him. Following the play, he goes with Sally to the skating rink, and after this he "bursts": he impulsively confesses to Sally his disgust for the school and everything around him. He ends up insulting Sally, and she leaves, crying, despite his belated attempts to apologize. Afterward, Holden tries to call Jane, but no one picks up, so he goes to the movies. Toward evening, he crosses paths with his acquaintance Carl Lewis, an arrogant student who thinks Holden is too infantile and, in response to his outpourings, advises him only to make an appointment with a psychoanalyst. Holden is left alone, gets drunk, and heads to Central Park to check out what is really going on with the ducks in winter, but on the way he is wounded.
The novel is written on behalf of seventeen-year-old Holden Caulfield, who is being treated in a clinic: he tells the story of what happened to him last winter that preceded his illness. The events he recounts unfold in the pre-Christmas days of December 1949.
The young man's recollections begin on the last day of his stay at the closed Pansy School, a boarding school in Agerstown, Pennsylvania. He flunked four out of five subjects on his exam, and his history paper was so unsatisfactory that he was expelled, allowed to stay in residence no longer than until Christmas break. He plans to return home a few days later, before his parents receive notice of the expulsion, so they have time to "boil over." Holden is invited to the home of his history teacher, Mr. Spencer, who tries unsuccessfully to talk sense into the teenager. Spencer is old, sick, and disgusted with Holden, yet he does not blame him for the expulsion.
Holden returns to his dormitory wearing the red hunting cap he bought in New York for one dollar. His dorm roommate, Robert Ackley, unpopular among his peers, bothers Holden with his pestering questioning and bad manners. Holden, who feels sorry for Ackley, tolerates his presence.
Later, Holden agrees to write an English essay for his roommate, Ward Stradlater, who is away on a date. However, Holden is distressed to learn that it is a date with Jane Gallagher, for whom Holden previously had romantic feelings. He still writes an essay for Stradlater, but instead of describing the room, he makes a description of his late brother Allie's baseball glove. When Stradlater returns hours later, he harshly criticizes the essay and refuses to say whether he slept with Jane. Enraged, Holden punches him, but Stradlater easily wins the fight, breaking Holden's nose and nearly knocking him out. Holden leaves school earlier than he intended. He sells his typewriter and takes a train to New York. Holden intends to stay away from his home until Wednesday, when his parents receive notice of his expulsion. On the train, he meets the mother of a rich, narcissistic and aggressive student, Ernest Morrow, but instead of speaking the truth about him, he lies without meaning to, describing him as the most dignified and humble student in the school.
In a cab, Holden asks the driver what happens to the ducks in Central Park Lake in winter, a question he is seriously concerned about, but the man doesn't know what to answer. Holden checks into the Edmont Hotel. He spends an evening dancing with three Seattle women in the hotel lounge, noting in one of them a good dancer and an utterly worthless, uncommunicative personality. At night, elevator worker Maurice offers him a prostitute named Sonny; Holden agrees to her visit. His attitude toward the girl changes when she enters the room: she seems to be the same age as him. Holden refuses intimacy and pays the agreed five dollars just to talk, but she becomes annoyed and leaves. Although he has paid her the right amount, she returns with her pimp, Maurice, and demands more money. Maurice beats the teenager and Sonny takes another $5.
In the morning, Holden contacts his girlfriend Sally Hayes and invites her to the theater, to a play with Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne. Afterwards, he leaves the hotel, deposits his luggage in the luggage room, and goes to breakfast. At the restaurant, he meets two nuns, one of whom is a literature teacher, and discusses with them the books he has read, particularly Romeo and Juliet. After eating breakfast, he goes to the music store, hoping to buy a record for his little sister with a song he likes called "Little Shirley Beans," and on the way he hears a little boy singing: "If you've been catching somebody in the rye in the evening...". The boy's song lifts his spirits a little, and he thinks about calling Jane Gallagher, of whom he has fond memories, but postpones the idea. The play he goes to with Sally disappoints him. Following the play, he goes with Sally to the skating rink, and after this he "bursts": he impulsively confesses to Sally his disgust for the school and everything around him. He ends up insulting Sally, and she leaves, crying, despite his belated attempts to apologize. Afterward, Holden tries to call Jane, but no one picks up, so he goes to the movies. Toward evening, he crosses paths with his acquaintance Carl Lewis, an arrogant student who thinks Holden is too infantile and, in response to his outpourings, advises him only to make an appointment with a psychoanalyst. Holden is left alone, gets drunk, and heads to Central Park to check out what is really going on with the ducks in winter, but on the way he is wounded.
The novel is written on behalf of seventeen-year-old Holden Caulfield, who is being treated in a clinic: he tells the story of what happened to him last winter that preceded his illness. The events he recounts unfold in the pre-Christmas days of December 1949.
The young man's recollections begin on the last day of his stay at the closed Pansy School, a boarding school in Agerstown, Pennsylvania. He flunked four out of five subjects on his exam, and his history paper was so unsatisfactory that he was expelled, allowed to stay in residence no longer than until Christmas break. He plans to return home a few days later, before his parents receive notice of the expulsion, so they have time to "boil over." Holden is invited to the home of his history teacher, Mr. Spencer, who tries unsuccessfully to talk sense into the teenager. Spencer is old, sick, and disgusted with Holden, yet he does not blame him for the expulsion.
Holden returns to his dormitory wearing the red hunting cap he bought in New York for one dollar. His dorm roommate, Robert Ackley, unpopular among his peers, bothers Holden with his pestering questioning and bad manners. Holden, who feels sorry for Ackley, tolerates his presence.
Later, Holden agrees to write an English essay for his roommate, Ward Stradlater, who is away on a date. However, Holden is distressed to learn that it is a date with Jane Gallagher, for whom Holden previously had romantic feelings. He still writes an essay for Stradlater, but instead of describing the room, he makes a description of his late brother Allie's baseball glove. When Stradlater returns hours later, he harshly criticizes the essay and refuses to say whether he slept with Jane. Enraged, Holden punches him, but Stradlater easily wins the fight, breaking Holden's nose and nearly knocking him out. Holden leaves school earlier than he intended. He sells his typewriter and takes a train to New York. Holden intends to stay away from his home until Wednesday, when his parents receive notice of his expulsion. On the train, he meets the mother of a rich, narcissistic and aggressive student, Ernest Morrow, but instead of speaking the truth about him, he lies without meaning to, describing him as the most dignified and humble student in the school.
In a cab, Holden asks the driver what happens to the ducks in Central Park Lake in winter, a question he is seriously concerned about, but the man doesn't know what to answer. Holden checks into the Edmont Hotel. He spends an evening dancing with three Seattle women in the hotel lounge, noting in one of them a good dancer and an utterly worthless, uncommunicative personality. At night, elevator worker Maurice offers him a prostitute named Sonny; Holden agrees to her visit. His attitude toward the girl changes when she enters the room: she seems to be the same age as him. Holden refuses intimacy and pays the agreed five dollars just to talk, but she becomes annoyed and leaves. Although he has paid her the right amount, she returns with her pimp, Maurice, and demands more money. Maurice beats the teenager and Sonny takes another $5.
In the morning, Holden contacts his girlfriend Sally Hayes and invites her to the theater, to a play with Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne. Afterwards, he leaves the hotel, deposits his luggage in the luggage room, and goes to breakfast. At the restaurant, he meets two nuns, one of whom is a literature teacher, and discusses with them the books he has read, particularly Romeo and Juliet. After eating breakfast, he goes to the music store, hoping to buy a record for his little sister with a song he likes called "Little Shirley Beans," and on the way he hears a little boy singing: "If you've been catching somebody in the rye in the evening...". The boy's song lifts his spirits a little, and he thinks about calling Jane Gallagher, of whom he has fond memories, but postpones the idea. The play he goes to with Sally disappoints him. Following the play, he goes with Sally to the skating rink, and after this he "bursts": he impulsively confesses to Sally his disgust for the school and everything around him. He ends up insulting Sally, and she leaves, crying, despite his belated attempts to apologize. Afterward, Holden tries to call Jane, but no one picks up, so he goes to the movies. Toward evening, he crosses paths with his acquaintance Carl Lewis, an arrogant student who thinks Holden is too infantile and, in response to his outpourings, advises him only to make an appointment with a psychoanalyst. Holden is left alone, gets drunk, and heads to Central Park to check out what is really going on with the ducks in winter, but on the way he is wounded.
The novel is written on behalf of seventeen-year-old Holden Caulfield, who is being treated in a clinic: he tells the story of what happened to him last winter that preceded his illness. The events he recounts unfold in the pre-Christmas days of December 1949.
The young man's recollections begin on the last day of his stay at the closed Pansy School, a boarding school in Agerstown, Pennsylvania. He flunked four out of five subjects on his exam, and his history paper was so unsatisfactory that he was expelled, allowed to stay in residence no longer than until Christmas break. He plans to return home a few days later, before his parents receive notice of the expulsion, so they have time to "boil over." Holden is invited to the home of his history teacher, Mr. Spencer, who tries unsuccessfully to talk sense into the teenager. Spencer is old, sick, and disgusted with Holden, yet he does not blame him for the expulsion.
Holden returns to his dormitory wearing the red hunting cap he bought in New York for one dollar. His dorm roommate, Robert Ackley, unpopular among his peers, bothers Holden with his pestering questioning and bad manners. Holden, who feels sorry for Ackley, tolerates his presence.
Later, Holden agrees to write an English essay for his roommate, Ward Stradlater, who is away on a date. However, Holden is distressed to learn that it is a date with Jane Gallagher, for whom Holden previously had romantic feelings. He still writes an essay for Stradlater, but instead of describing the room, he makes a description of his late brother Allie's baseball glove. When Stradlater returns hours later, he harshly criticizes the essay and refuses to say whether he slept with Jane. Enraged, Holden punches him, but Stradlater easily wins the fight, breaking Holden's nose and nearly knocking him out. Holden leaves school earlier than he intended. He sells his typewriter and takes a train to New York. Holden intends to stay away from his home until Wednesday, when his parents receive notice of his expulsion. On the train, he meets the mother of a rich, narcissistic and aggressive student, Ernest Morrow, but instead of speaking the truth about him, he lies without meaning to, describing him as the most dignified and humble student in the school.
In a cab, Holden asks the driver what happens to the ducks in Central Park Lake in winter, a question he is seriously concerned about, but the man doesn't know what to answer. Holden checks into the Edmont Hotel. He spends an evening dancing with three Seattle women in the hotel lounge, noting in one of them a good dancer and an utterly worthless, uncommunicative personality. At night, elevator worker Maurice offers him a prostitute named Sonny; Holden agrees to her visit. His attitude toward the girl changes when she enters the room: she seems to be the same age as him. Holden refuses intimacy and pays the agreed five dollars just to talk, but she becomes annoyed and leaves. Although he has paid her the right amount, she returns with her pimp, Maurice, and demands more money. Maurice beats the teenager and Sonny takes another $5.
In the morning, Holden contacts his girlfriend Sally Hayes and invites her to the theater, to a play with Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne. Afterwards, he leaves the hotel, deposits his luggage in the luggage room, and goes to breakfast. At the restaurant, he meets two nuns, one of whom is a literature teacher, and discusses with them the books he has read, particularly Romeo and Juliet. After eating breakfast, he goes to the music store, hoping to buy a record for his little sister with a song he likes called "Little Shirley Beans," and on the way he hears a little boy singing: "If you've been catching somebody in the rye in the evening...". The boy's song lifts his spirits a little, and he thinks about calling Jane Gallagher, of whom he has fond memories, but postpones the idea. The play he goes to with Sally disappoints him. Following the play, he goes with Sally to the skating rink, and after this he "bursts": he impulsively confesses to Sally his disgust for the school and everything around him. He ends up insulting Sally, and she leaves, crying, despite his belated attempts to apologize. Afterward, Holden tries to call Jane, but no one picks up, so he goes to the movies. Toward evening, he crosses paths with his acquaintance Carl Lewis, an arrogant student who thinks Holden is too infantile and, in response to his outpourings, advises him only to make an appointment with a psychoanalyst. Holden is left alone, gets drunk, and heads to Central Park to check out what is really going on with the ducks in winter, but on the way he is wounded.
The novel is written on behalf of seventeen-year-old Holden Caulfield, who is being treated in a clinic: he tells the story of what happened to him last winter that preceded his illness. The events he recounts unfold in the pre-Christmas days of December 1949.
The young man's recollections begin on the last day of his stay at the closed Pansy School, a boarding school in Agerstown, Pennsylvania. He flunked four out of five subjects on his exam, and his history paper was so unsatisfactory that he was expelled, allowed to stay in residence no longer than until Christmas break. He plans to return home a few days later, before his parents receive notice of the expulsion, so they have time to "boil over." Holden is invited to the home of his history teacher, Mr. Spencer, who tries unsuccessfully to talk sense into the teenager. Spencer is old, sick, and disgusted with Holden, yet he does not blame him for the expulsion.
Holden returns to his dormitory wearing the red hunting cap he bought in New York for one dollar. His dorm roommate, Robert Ackley, unpopular among his peers, bothers Holden with his pestering questioning and bad manners. Holden, who feels sorry for Ackley, tolerates his presence.
Later, Holden agrees to write an English essay for his roommate, Ward Stradlater, who is away on a date. However, Holden is distressed to learn that it is a date with Jane Gallagher, for whom Holden previously had romantic feelings. He still writes an essay for Stradlater, but instead of describing the room, he makes a description of his late brother Allie's baseball glove. When Stradlater returns hours later, he harshly criticizes the essay and refuses to say whether he slept with Jane. Enraged, Holden punches him, but Stradlater easily wins the fight, breaking Holden's nose and nearly knocking him out. Holden leaves school earlier than he intended. He sells his typewriter and takes a train to New York. Holden intends to stay away from his home until Wednesday, when his parents receive notice of his expulsion. On the train, he meets the mother of a rich, narcissistic and aggressive student, Ernest Morrow, but instead of speaking the truth about him, he lies without meaning to, describing him as the most dignified and humble student in the school.
In a cab, Holden asks the driver what happens to the ducks in Central Park Lake in winter, a question he is seriously concerned about, but the man doesn't know what to answer. Holden checks into the Edmont Hotel. He spends an evening dancing with three Seattle women in the hotel lounge, noting in one of them a good dancer and an utterly worthless, uncommunicative personality. At night, elevator worker Maurice offers him a prostitute named Sonny; Holden agrees to her visit. His attitude toward the girl changes when she enters the room: she seems to be the same age as him.