1 Hey, Ace, can we get a Top Headline for Elizabeth's due date?

2 KIDDING! She'd kill me if I did that. I'd tell you though.

3 Free at last.
Free at last
Thank God Almighty
I'm free at last

4 RIP, Mr. Salinger.  I loved your books.  Catcher in the Rye was the first book I ever laughed out loud reading. 

5 Popular book when I was in high school which was a reason why I didn't read it until I was a senior. I ended up liking it quite a bit: The poetry on the catcher's mitt, the trying to save little kids and protecting them from the ugliness of adult life, and being served in bars in Manhattan!!!!

6 I had a different view of Catcher in the Rye.

7 Then the corpse came over and sat on my fucking lap!

8 Loved the book. One of my fav quotes: "If a girl looks swell when she meets you, who gives a damn if she's late? Nobody. "

9 My favorite were his short stories, especially "The Laughing Man," and "For Esme -- With Love And Squalor."

Holden irritated me, and made the undeniably interesting book a bit less impressive. Apparently Salinger was irritating for real.

10 Vermont? 

ahem

11 As for American Jews, I don't blame them. Everything in the Jewish experience teaches them that conservative populism is bad for them. McCain chose Sarah Palin, a conservative populist. QED.

I detested Catcher in the Rye, it was required reading in high school.

Holden Caulfield was an asshole who only needed a thorough ass kicking by someone who felt inclined to shape him up.

Salinger and Bernard Malamud were the most overrated writers of the 50s, and that's saying something since Arthur Miller and Gore Vidal were writing then too.

12 Holden Caulfield was an asshole who only needed a thorough ass kicking by someone who felt inclined to shape him up.

Amen brother.  Amen.

13

Salinger's books were required reading in high school lit classes..

...I think that's the way they ever got read

Talk about teh suck...fucking gawdawful dreck

14 Never read it.

15 I wonder if he has an untalented son named Christopher waiting to destroy any reputation he had left?

16 kbda, you've cut and pasted a quote from the wrong thread..

17

Where did the gaywad HS English teachers get the right to foist the crap he wrote on us?.

...seriously...I remember thinking  "who the fuck cares about these whiny-assed effete douches" ?(or something like that) who were the protagonists in every fucking thing he wrote

18 NOW will you bastards believe me when I say that JD Salinger isn't a pen name?

19 what about this gem, seems appropriate for this lot: "All morons hate it when you call them a moron."

20
I thought this guy died over 30 years ago.

21

18 NOW will you bastards believe me when I say that JD Salinger isn't a pen name?

If I had any sense what-so-fucking-ever, I would have come up with one myself

22 Cliff notes were invented because of writers like Salinger!

23

My favorable is "Nine stories". I  remember as back in USSR I got his book (All novels ans short stories) on black market (paid 18 roubles, 10 times more then oficial price). I remember some deep feeling after reading this book.

Still love his books.

 

24 11 and 12 said it all.

25 Cue the movie studios. The kids will have the movie rights to Catcher in the Rye sold before the corpse is cold. I can see it now:

Catcher in the Rye starring Zack Efron directed by Martin Scorsese.

26 I liked Catcher in the Rye, but I truly believe he messed up Joyce Maynard's life in a very cruel way.

27

I liked Catcher in the Rye, a lot. Not to idealize Caufield. His character, in hindsight, is pathetic, but I think that is the point. It captures perfectly the disillusionment most people feel during the transition from being a responsibility-less freedom of childhood to the crushing reality of adulthood.

 

It is a book that anyone going through that stage in their life can relate to, and those of us that have moved beyond that stage can look back upon  without disdain or pride.

28 Everybody keeps saying "books", plural. What books? The guy wrote one novel.

29 shit i should have proof read before I hit post.

30

Cliff notes were invented because of writers like Salinger!

You sure about that Jack?

31 Why would anyone need Cliff Notes for Catcher in the Rye?
I read the whole thing during one long session on the toilet.

32 sleep tight ya morons!

33

28 Everybody keeps saying "books", plural. What books? The guy wrote one novel

In addition to the fucking painful Catcher in the Rye, I remember having to read Franny and Zooey, too...which was even worse

34

Why would anyone need Cliff Notes for Catcher in the Rye?
I read the whole thing during one long session on the toilet.

Yeah I was suprised by that comment. The book was a short easy read, perfect for toilet reading. However, my collection of Ambrose Bierce's writing currently sits beside my flushable reading chair.

35 Everybody keeps saying "books", plural. What books? The guy wrote one novel.

There were 3 collections of short stories (one was actually 2 novellas).  And, reportedly, he's been writing non-stop ever since he went to ground, all stuff meant for publication after his death.  We could be seeing a lot more of his literary output soon.

36

I liked Catcher in the Rye, but I truly believe he messed up Joyce Maynard's life in a very cruel way.

Lecherous old men can do that. I wrote about it when that putz Salinger was still a pup.

37

Is it just me or does it look like Vermont is 69'ing New Hampshire?

That's right, not only did i use the childish "69", I used it as a verb.

38 I heard he's got reams and reams of manuscripts sitting around the house. He's been writing for years, I guess. Imagine they'll start publishing that stuff soon.

39 Holden Caulfield was an asshole who only needed a thorough ass kicking by someone who felt inclined to shape him up.

Thank god I'm not the only one who thinks that!

40 I wonder if he really was a recluse.

He seems like he wasn't into celebrity, but you shun the media and they brand you a hermit.  It's possible he had a nice life with non-famous friends.

41 @28 4 novels and 9 shorts stories

42

40 I wonder if he really was a recluse

it's all about the image...they said the same about Updike

...makes them seem mysterious..and aloof...which for some reason is supposed to make them more appealing

43

Salinger?

Never heard of him.

44 I'm hoping that the mystery slush pile of unpublished work turns out to be romance novels.

45 Let's be kind, and just say that JD obviously had "issues".

46 Vermont? Vermont? We be insulted....

47 Back when I first read Catcher I was never convinced that I was supposed to sympathize with Holden. The dude is constantly jumping to conclusions about people... there are holes in his logic that you could drive a Mack truck through, and I get the impression that the reader is supposed to notice this -- it's too obvious to be otherwise.

The whole joke of the book is that for all of Holden's talk about phoniness, he's already started down the path to becoming a bigger phony than any of the people he talks about. He clearly sees himself and his sister as Too Good For This Sinful Earth, and his pretension turns out to be the phoniest thing in the book.

48 I never understood his appeal. His books were not good reading.

49 Well, I like Catcher, and ironically just started re-reading it last week. Now shut up or I'll sock ya one.

50

Salinger?

Never heard of him.

Beating a joke into the floor until it's unrecognizable?

Never heard of it...

51

Yeah, Catcher in The Rye was required reading for English class in 10th grade.  I didn't like it.  It felt forced, like Salinger was trying to hard to be rebellious/ironic or something.  I didn't know he was a WWII vet or that he went to Valley Forge Military Academy (where the movie Taps was filmed).  I also didn't know he went (briefly) to Ursinus.  (I grew up in PA, so I know where those two schools are). 

He was definitely a weird dude.  I remember reading an article by Joyce Maynard about their relationship, and yeah he use to make her do colonics (I think he did them too).  He seemed pretty twisted.

52 @11 I'm with you, kb--I finally got around to reading this about three years ago, and I was underwhelmed.  I wanted Holden Caulfield to shut up and quit whining about his terrible rich boy's life.

53 Oh, and don't forget Willam Burroughs for overrated. 

54 38 I heard he's got reams and reams of manuscripts sitting around the house. He's been writing for years, I guess. Imagine they'll start publishing that stuff soon.     "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.  All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.  All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.  All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.  All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy."

55

The teacher who was stroking the kid's forehead while he slept was an easy entree into "gay issues." And it's the first time most people saw "Fuck you" in print. So from a high-school English teacher's POV, there's your Important Novel.

 

56

Count me as another one who never got his appeal. Maybe you have to be an angst-filled yoot to truly appreciate the Holden Caulfield character, I just thought he was a whiney little bitch.

Had pretty much the same reaction to Mailer's "The Naked and the Dead", just couldn't comprehend how anybody could see that (or him) as other than a mediocrity.

57 I always thought Holden Caufield was kind of a dick. But I haven't read the book for a long time.

58 @53 Oh, and don't forget Willam Burroughs for overrated.   Ain't that the truth. He was fucked-up, too.

59 Being a catcher in the rye is far better than being a catcher in prison - rye is far softer on your face than steel bars.

60

@53: "Oh, and don't forget Willam Burroughs for overrated."

In Burroughs' defense, he was on the Horse.  The fact that he was writing at all whilst busily chasing the dragon entitles him to at least miniscule credit.

61

JDSalinger!!?

I got dude taken up and not counting the adrenaline and drugs. ahem

62 There were 3 collections of short stories (one was actually 2 novellas).  And, reportedly, he's been writing non-stop ever since he went to ground, all stuff meant for publication after his death.  We could be seeing a lot more of his literary output soon.

Posted by: Peaches at January 28, 2010 03:18 PM (9Wv2j)

So in other words he wrote one book. A collection of short stories isn't a book anymore than a collection of fliers is a pamphlet.

Don't get me wrong, I like Salinger and I thought CITR was great. But he was a one trick pony. His unpublished stuff is going to be a bunch of insular repetitive BS set in a time period nobody gives 2 shits about anymore. 

Most people don't really get CITR. It's an indictment. If you identify with it you are just another messed up fuck. There are no solutions there.The whole thing, especially about NYC, is just a lot of made up BS.

63 Don't forget the guy got Lennon killed. So there must be something good about him to remember even if you didn't care for the book.

64
A not so perfect day for banana fish.

65 Interesting, you wonder how the war affected his writing of Holden. You also wonder how close his actual personna to Holden really was.

66 I had to read it in my Senior Year in High School. That was 1971-1972. I don't remember much about the book. I have rolled the double nickel now. But it was good enough for a "B" on the paper that was required by Mrs. Margaris. It is the only thing I have read by Salinger. But Catcher in The Rye is his noted work and an American Literary Classic. My sympathies and prayers to his family.

67

I attended three high schools.  All of them had Catcher as required reading, but for different grades, so I was never forced to read it and, indeed, did not read it until I was in college.  I liked it, but it never deeply identified with Holden or adopted it as my personal bible.  I liked Nine Stories better.

#55

The teacher who was stroking the kid's forehead while he slept was an easy entree into "gay issues."

"Just before the War with the Eskimos" also has a gay character, the one who gushes over Jean Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast.

#56

Had pretty much the same reaction to Mailer's "The Naked and the Dead"

At least Salinger had the courage to actually write, "fuck you" in 1951, whereas Mailer could only write, "go fug yourself".

My favorite Dorothy Parker quote, when introduced to Mailer, "So you're the nice young man who can't spell 'fuck'!"