J.D. Salinger, the celebrated author of The Catcher in the Rye and Franny and Zooey has died at the age of 91. Having outlived his reputation, but never having quite escaped it, Salinger spent most of the latter half of his life as recluse in New Hampshire, pestered occasionally by fans and by Joyce Maynard, but otherwise apparently profoundly unproductive.
Great author or one-hit wonder? Let’s have your overnight thoughts…
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33 Comments
I hope people can hold on to a little dignity here, I've seen a lot of awful things written about the man in comments sections and it's always sat poorly with me when people speak ill of the dead. At the very least, the man had the good sense to flake off and be left to his own devices.
Me too.
I wonder what Salinger's will requires to be written on his headstone?
"The Catcher in the Rye" is one of my favorite books. I wish Salinger had made more classics like it.
"Brando, The King and I and The Catcher in the Rye"
Having read this book with 3 of my high school children, I hate this book. And it just gets worse with each reading, I have always thought that Caulfield was whiny jerk who couldn't tell the truth if he had too. The whole teenage angst thing has always baffled me. I do not recognize any of his characters in the people I know. A totally overrated book. That and a "Separate Peace"
I am from Cornish and have been acquainted with Salinger for years. A decent man I suppose, but so what? An oddball for sure.
I'm guessing his grave will not become a shrine for today's detached and indolent youth (not that they all are). What did he communicate to me? I seem to recall a passage about a girl showing off her body in a short skirt while ice skating, however that's the sort of landscape detail I was going to notice anyway. Why did this book find so much favour over so many years?
I agree with you fully. I've been biting my tongue since I read of his passing. I'll give it a few months for his fans to mourn. At that point I will let the Vogon poetry comparisons fly.
Everyone is focused on Catcher- a brilliant book to be sure. But his short stories deserve much attention as well- A Perfect Day for Bananafish is haunting, and For Esme, With Love and Squalor is beautiful. Much more than a one hit wonder, his short stories are as brilliant as Catcher.
I think "The Catcher in the Rye" is highly overrated, but it does go to show how the left heaps endless praise upon those who are considered landmarks in their fight against conservatism. "The Catcher in the Rye" reminds me of the film, "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," they are both stream-of-consciousness essays about juvenile philosophies against adulthood and responsibility, taking place while skipping school. Salinger may be considered the originator of teen angst for publishing "The Catcher in the Rye" in 1951, years before the film, "Rebel Without a Cause," years before the debut of Elvis and rebellious Rock-n-Roll teen music. After the post-WWII prosperity boom in the USA, I think it shows the dangers of being too successful in society, that the kids start becoming resentful over being spoiled too much, or maybe they did not start to be spoiled materially, but rather they were the first generation that could afford enough idle time to be able to become self-reflective. Life has always been hard! Older generations were too busy trying to merely survive to be able to contemplate about how hard life is. Salinger's book hit as the voice of a generation, but is it a good voice to follow? No. It is the voice of negativity and immaturity, hailed for flying in the face of perseverance and responsibility, which is the main point — reject responsibility and growing up, be a dependent child your whole life and gripe about the hand that feeds, too. What does the Bible say about this? "Lord, don't make me too desperate that I must steal, or so successful that I forget about God." We have a nation that wants to forget about God. To many, too many, "The Catcher in the Rye" is THEIR holy book of meaning, precisely because of its statement of meaninglessness in life.
Rev, agree that the left appropriated (stole) Salinger's book for their own purposes and made Caldwell a hero, instead of a jerky kid one hoped would grow up into a decent adult. Gave kids an excuse to feel alienated.
Not that, no Vogon poetry, please. Oh wait, you were going to compare it to Vogon poetry, not read Vogon poetry.
Never mind.
I totally hated this book and never understood what the fuss was. Read it in my early 20s (I'm in my mid 30s now), and thought the kid was such a jackass I didn't care what the hell happened to him.
So, I'm not on the whole J.D. Salinger was an amazing writer bandwagon. I'll stick with the true master: Hemingway.
The Catcher and the Rye was one of my first favorite books. I grew beyond it quickly but enjoy my first read of it still as a once in a lifetime experience.
Salinger was fully human; not a phony. I was just researching him the other day and was glad to hear he was still alive.
R.I.P.
I had much the same experience in high-school. I read the first few pages and had no interest in going any further with it. I have no interest in inner-city living, so much preferred to read Ruark, Hemmingway, Sinclair, and Gann for fiction.
I don't stand for bad attitudes in person or in any entertainment medium, anyway.
I read this book about 20 years ago when I was in high school, and I didn't get it, and never read it again. I totally cannot understand why my parent's generation, who also read this book in high school, had their minds blown by the book.
On the same note, I never got "American Grafitti" either, so I'm probably not a good judge of boomer entertainment.
Ditto…Why all the fuss was completely lost on me…And I read it recently, as an adult…So many better reads..Thankfully very short….Salinger went recluse so he wouldn't have to write any more and embarrass himself further.
I was an alienated teen, and I didn't relate to Holden Caulfield in the slightest.
Salinger was, I'm afraid, a terrifically overrated writer who seems as "phony" as all of those whom that Ur-twerp Holden singled out. I read all of Salinger's books; I suppose that I was impressed. However
"When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things." I put away Salinger's ouevre damned fast, believe me!
So, let the flag fly at half-mast at the once great New Yorker, where John Cheever, Salinger's better by light years, stewed over the success of our recently departed "master" ( see Blake Bailey's terrific biography of Cheever). I wouldn't think of assigning "Catcher" to my college freshmen…but enough from me. I await comment fromTom Wolfe, whose disdain for the type of writing exemplified by Salinger is well known.
We have to decide if he was a Great author? I'll go with one hit-over-the-head wonder. His book was a good look at the inner life of a psychopath, but hardly worth finishing. I found it interesting up until he got to New York, then it felt like the book should have ended at that point. The protagonist made it to his destination and then fluttered around without cause.
I hated Catcher in the Rye in high school, and I hated it again in my late 20's when I gave it a second chance at a friend's urging. On the other hand, I liked a lot of Nine Stories, and am interested to see what sort of stuff he wrote all these years in seclusion. I don't believe for an instant that he just stopped writing altogether.
debbie, couldn't agree more, but I loved "Franny & Zooey" and plan to re-read it in his honor. I hope they find a cache of Salinger's writing tucked away someplace.
Once again about "Catcher in the Rye" — I believe one of reasons he became a hermit is that he disagreed with the left's interpretation that his book was the harbinger of the alienated youth of 60's and all the rest of the cr*p written about it and him since then.
RIP JD, you earned it.
Ugh! Blech! "Catcher in the Rye" was the most godawful, worthless book I've ever wasted my time on! I read it after high school, on my own, because of its "classic" status. A self-absorbed, privileged loser who uses a lot of profanity–hey, maybe he could've had a career in politics!
"Catcher" is a terribly overrated novel hyped by the generation that hated their parents for spoiling them so much. Well Hello, Holden!
I had to read the book in school. I hated it. The main character was very X generation with the me, me, me attitude and a chip on the shoulder. It was perhaps one of the worst books that I ever had to read.
What a contrast to read the timeless Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. I could relate so much better to her characters. Another book I had to read, which was again superior was "All the Green Year". It was a really nice book with characters that had far more depth than could be found in "Catcher in the Rye".
No way that I can explain that except that it was on the required reading list in school – everyone in the state of Victoria Australia had to read that trashy book.
does it help to know that this 55 year old woman had to read the book at the age of 17 and hated it? In fact I still hate Catcher in the Rye.
might be worth speaking to your parents about whether or not their minds were blown by this book. I had to read it in school because we had to read it for end of year exams. Otherwise I would not have gone past the first few pages. I read other better books that year that were more to my taste in books. By the age of 17 I was very widely read, and the books I read included 1984, and even things like Lady Chatterly's Lover (not sure I finished that one) as well as Thomas Hardy's Far from the Madding Crowd (another school book), A Separate Peace, To Kill a Mockingbird and many, many other books. All of them were better than Catcher in the Rye.
I totally relate to your reaction
I saw a photo of an actor, Rob Pattinson, 23 years old, carrying the book "Nine Stories", and as I have a (very old) copy, I read parts of it, because back in MY day, Salinger was the head sensitive writer. The first, *"Bananafish…", stars Seymour, whose memory is a constant reference in other stories, on his honeymoon, post war, I guess he is suffering. So, after an affecting scene with a little girl (little girls all innocence and lovely tend to recur in Salinger stories), Seymour goes up to the hotel bedroom. His new wife (who is shown as being insensitive) is sleeping. Seymour takes his gun and blows his head off. Nice.
Salinger's heroes are urban, go to ivy league schools, dress in an upscale manner (I remember something about a camel hair coat ??); they are awash with isolated angst, and they hate 'phoniness'. They are world weary and bored. And sad, too. And bored. One of the stories features a couple of young women getting drunk one afternoon. The usual child is there of course. One of the women is really mean to her (black) cook, but we are supposed to understand that she is suffering from an unrequited love affair.
If you are a depressed teenager who wants to be an intellectual, then Salinger was just the ticket!
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