Unless you’ve been hiding in seclusion for the past few decades (ironically) you know that J.D. Salinger, great American novelist, has died this past week. Therefore I felt it would be appropriate to take a look at the writer of The Catcher in the Rye, one of our most famous modern works of literature from this country. Salinger created Holden Caulfield, who has grown into one of our easiest to associate with teenage characters. It’s why we have The Catcher in the Rye in so many reading lists across schools in the U.S. The argument is often made that nowadays the character can not be related to as easily with today’s youth. However, there’s always someone out there that has plenty to learn from a young man who is clearly unhappy with the way their life is panning out.
Salinger wrote several novels in his time, but it didn’t take long for him to go into a sort of self-imposed exile. Meaning we don’t really have any interviews, television appearances, or anything really that told us that Salinger was still, you know, alive. But in fairness, it’s probably much better that he never made all those appearances that other authors make. So many others show up on Oprah, and do interviews on Larry King, and have articles showing up in all the mainstream magazines that supposedly mean you’re a good writer. Salinger kind of just pushed back from the table before he ate too much, and for that I respect the man a great deal. Although a counter to that would be “you don’t need to be alienated from everything and everyone just because you don’t want the hassle. But still, it gets pretty hard for someone to escape from the pull of media strangulation, meaning they need to put on the mask and slip into the bomb shelter.
The Catcher in the Rye is an amazing work of fiction, just because of how it can connect to a young person. If given to a person at the right age, it can have a pretty strong impact. Salinger had a brilliant way of illustrating the sense of discomfort and desired change in lifestyle that Holden feels. The need to go on some form of adventure, some change in what is occurring day to day, impacts the reader in a powerful, emotional way. Salinger, albeit a great writer, seemed to be pretty happy when he stopped having things published. He wrote for the sake of writing, which is a beautiful thing.
J.D. Salinger was 91 when he died. Go look up his work and read it, because it’ll be good for you.
