I am very sad to report that the author of my favorite book of all time (and everyone who went to high school’s favorite book of all time) Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger, has passed away. Salinger, who had been reclusive since roughly 1965, passed away at the age of 91, alone at his home in Cornish, New Hampshire. The fact that he was alone when he died would be much sadder if he had not intended for it to be that way.
As the New York Times points out, a great deal of Salinger’s hesitance to be out and about over the years had to do with how much he related to one of his most famous characters, Holden Caulfield. They pointed to this passage from Catcher in the Rye, in which Holden talks about death:
Boy, when you’re dead, they really fix you up. I hope to hell when I do die somebody has sense enough to just dump me in the river or something. Anything except sticking me in a goddam cemetery. People coming and putting a bunch of flowers on your stomach on Sunday, and all that crap. Who wants flowers when you’re dead? Nobody.
Because Salinger wasn’t a public man, it would be somewhat gross for us to wax poetic about the details of his personal life. It’s tempting to talk about the kind of strange character that would write these amazing works of literature and then lock himself in his Back Bay brownstone for all eternity, but instead let’s focus on the work he did that moved us all. Catcher in the Rye (a book I’ve been reading annually since the age of fifteen), Franny and Zooey and his amazing collection of short stories Nine Stories are a good jumping off point.
:(
Don’t forget Raise High the Roofbeams, Carpenters and Seymour, An Introduction. We English Lit. majors worshiped the guy.
Heck yeah. It’s a sad day for the Literati.
Most over rated “book” in the history of bookdom. Suck on some Flannery O’Connor for long-lasting flavor.
Well said Kat. I’m an English Chair for a school district and Salinger is my favorite author. Raise High the Roofbeams has my favorite opening of a book. It’s perfect in every way – made me look at beauty in a whole new manner.
Rest in Peace J.D. Tell Maurice we understand.
By the by, I adore this site. Great tone. :)
Never read a single work by him, and I majored in English literature as an undergrad. I feel like my degree is a sham or something.
Don’t feel bad. His work isn’t commonly studied at the college level. Either you read Catcher in the Rye as a freshman in high school and all his other (much better, utterly delightful) books on your own, or you wouldn’t necessarily read his work. But it’s not too late! I highly recommend any of his books (although Catcher is a bit adolescent for my tastes now. Go with Nine Stories if you want a taste of his brilliance).
I HATED Catcher in the Rye. Holden Caufield was a whiney little bitch. Oh and Mark David Chapman was holding it when he assassinated Lennon. FUCK. THAT. NOISE. (or should I say lack there of?)
Well played.
I’m glad you said that, I LOATHED the book especially after it became the handbook to serial killers and psycho stalkers.
I agree with all of the above. I EFFING HATED THIS BOOK. What a narcissistic piece of garbage it was. I will never understand the literary praise heaped on it, but as always, to each their own..
Aahh this saddens me so much, I love all his books. I heard somewhere that he had consented to having all the writing he’s done since his reclusion published posthumously on the event of his death, but I do not know if that’s true. If so, and I hope so, maybe he will live on in a much larger body of work.
Between JD Salinger and Zelda Rubinstein, today is a shitty day to be famous. I hope this year isn’t like last, with great big groups of famous people dying every five minutes.
“I am a kind of paranoid in reverse. I suspect people of plotting to make me happy.” -J.D. Salinger
I always wanted to talk to him and find out what went on his head. His books were amazing and he’ll always be my favourite author. This some pretty tragic news…RIP
I don’t even think that he knew what went on his head. He was pretty messed up.
His daughter accused him of extreme abuse and also said he drank his own pee-pee. His lover from the 70s wrote a book about her time with him. I didn’t read the book, but I caught her on C-span about ten years ago talking about the book. She accused him of physical abuse, mental abuse, alcoholism, kinky sex, and of course he popped her cherry. She was a college student (I think she may even have attended my alma, not sure) and was half of his age.
I have read The Catcher several times. I have never read any of his other works. I’ll have to check them out.
Hat tip to the Molls for the slug. Guess he finally got what he wanted.
:( Franny and Zooey changed my life.
“Among other things, you’ll find that you’re not the first person who was ever confused and frightened and even sickened by human behaviour. You’re by no means alone on that score, you’ll be excited and stimulated to know. Many, many men have been just as troubled morally and spiritually as you are right now. Happily, some of them kept records of their troubles. You’ll learn from them—if you want to. Just as some day, if you have something to offer, someone will learn something from you. It’s a beautiful reciprocal arrangement. And it isn’t education. It’s history. It’s poetry.”
Oooh! Yes! This! Franny and Zooey was my favorite of his, since I really wasn’t an enormous fan of Catcher. F&Z spoke to me in a much clearer and less narcissistic way.
that’s the exact paragraph that i love!