The entirely predictable post about J.D. Salinger.

A late post today, and a short one, as I have been even lazier than usual today.

You know, I'm a little bummed about the passing of J.D. Salinger. Not just because I loved The Catcher in the Rye (which I did; I read it in college* and still have my old copy, which I earnestly highlighted on the second or third pass through so I could easily find all my favorite Holden moments), but because the man was such a puzzle. Have you ever read his novel Franny and Zooey? No kidding, along with Norman Maclean's A River Runs Through It, it is one of my primary secular religious texts. His stories about the Glass family are also wonders of family dynamics; I have multiple older siblings myself, and although I love them all (as Franny does, in Franny and Zooey) sometimes they can be a little over-interested (in the most kindly meant ways, of course). If I hadn't loved Holden, my love for the Glass family would have made me a Salinger fan for life anyway.

But it did always puzzle me that the man who could write so beautifully and yes, profoundly**, could also be such a jerk. It is probably not fair of me to think he's a jerk, and I haven't even read his daughter Margaret's memoir (Dream Catcher, which evidently gives some scary evidence of his jerk nature as well), but I did read Joyce Maynard's memoir about her ten-month love affair with him titled At Home in the World, and that was quite the eye-opener. I can't even remember what he did that was so jerkish, but I do remember thinking after I read it that he may not have been the kindest man.

Anyway. That's all I've got. Rest in peace, anyway, J.D. In other news, Howard Zinn (author of A People's History of the United States) died this week as well. I don't know very much about him, but I can steer you to a fabulous and recent interview he did with Bill Moyers.

*Thinking about The Catcher in the Rye makes me miss mass culture a little bit too. Remember whenever you saw the red paperback copy with its yellow title, you knew just what book it was? In fifty years, what will be the book we all, even high school and college students, will have read? The Da Vinci Code just isn't quite the same.

**I'm pulling out all the big lit crit words today.

Comments

[Jessica]

So, do you think he had any unpublished manuscripts hidden away? Or do you think he just quit writing completely?

[laura]

I can't really recommend Dream Catcher as a book, but it did not make me think any more of Salinger as a person. But the Glasses and his writing are so deeply a part of me that I can't forsake them, even if their author was a less than stellar human being.

[Citizen Reader]

Jessica,
I don't know, really--I would guess he had a couple manuscripts around. Why not, especially if he could do it for fun and didn't need to publish for the money? I wonder if the question isn't more a case of, but did he destroy them if he knew the end was coming?

Laura,
Yes, I never really got around to "Dream Catcher." "At Home in the World" was a stupendous book, though, interesting even without the Salinger stuff, and made me a fan of Joyce Maynard.

I don't mind really when authors are less than stellar human beings (Thomas Friedman comes to mind). I still just think it's weird that anyone who could write a book as comforting as I find "Franny and Zooey" could be probably the antithesis of comforting in his personal life. It's a stumper to me.

[Rachael]

This is the part where I admit I've never read him. I don't know when (or even if) I'll ever address that gap in my reading career. Hmm.

[Ruthiella]

Rachael,

You never read "The Catcher in the Rye" in high school? You can easily remedy that by reading it now. It is a short book and very easy to read. Those facts, plus Holden's angst and rebelliousness explain (to me anyway) why it is so popular among high schoolers. My junior year English teacher polled the class at the end of the year as to what work we most enjoyed reading that year. And 99% of the class responded "The Catcher in the Rye". He was disappointed that none of us picked Kafka's "The Trial" (which I admit, I hated, hated, hated).

[Citizen Reader]

Rachael,
Yeah, I believe that. I think for a lot of people, if you didn't get it in high school, you just didn't pick it up. I had a lot of time to kill my first year of college (easy classes) so I think I very consciously went and found it because I hadn't read it in high school.

I don't know whether to tell you to read it or not. A certain part of me wonders if you just get too old for The Catcher--if you do read it, I'd love to hear what you think. Interestingly, as Laura says, it's his Glass family narratives that stay closer to me as I age--I read Franny and Zooey and Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters at least once a year.

Ruthiella,
Well, you've got me on that one. I've never read any Kafka. What the hell was I learning in high school English? I seem to remember Herman Hesse's Siddartha, and some Jane Austen, but the Austen was on my own, I think, for extra credit. Oh, I remember Great Expectations too--bleah.

[Ruthiella]

Believe me, I only read “The Trial” because I had to for junior year English. And its not even originally in English! Siddartha, huh? I have a copy of that somewhere. Never read it, but others have told me I should.

[Tripp]

I like your comment about the mass culture that once existed. The same of course was once true of music, but that is less the case. Right now the book everyone will recognize will be Harry Potter, and I wonder if some other YA books are the ones that people will most recognize.

[Jessi]

I agree with Harry Potter as mass culture. I often have people of all ages strike up HP conversations when they noticing me reading along. Please God, just don't let it be Twilight!

[Sarah]

Oh yes, Holden Cawffle. I was so fascinated by upper-middle-class life in NYC, living in an apartment, prep school, and the like. As for being a jerk - well, he seems pretty anti-social, so maybe that had something to do with it. I don't like people all of the time . . . ;-)

Howard Zinn's histories are now in graphic novel format, so hopefully a new audience will find them.

[Citizen Reader]

Ruthiella,
"Siddhartha" was okay, but it doesn't really stand out in my memory as a great read or anything. You may want to give it a miss.

Tripp,
That's a good point, about the music, and I think it's happening with films a bit too. An excellent point about Harry Potter--which makes me feel a little better, thank you. If a book's going to be remembered, that's a good choice. But can you think of any adult books we'll all still be remembering fondly fifty years from now? Somehow "The Kite Runner" just doesn't seem to fit the bill.

Jessi,
Ha, "Twilight"! Well, that'll probably be the book all the teens remember. I agree, I'd prefer to talk Harry Potter myself.

Sarah,
That's why I loved about The Catcher... too! Who lived these kinds of lives in high school where they could run away and wander around New York City? I love when he goes to the natural museum history too--I hadn't even been to NYC when I read it first but I must have already known it was my kind of place. Oh, Holden. Sure, he was a jerk, but he was sad that somebody always saw the need to write "fuck you" on walls, and there would never be enough time to go around and erase them all. You have to love a kid like that, don't you?

Have you seen any of the new Zinn graphic novels? I have yet to read "A People's History," I'll admit it, so maybe I should start with the graphic novel.

[Shox TL1 Shoes]

his novel Franny and Zooey? No kidding, along with Norman Maclean's A River Runs Through It, it is one of my primary secular religious texts. His stories about the Glass family are also wonders of family dynamics; I have multiple older siblings myself, and although I love them all (as Franny does, in Franny and Zooey) sometimes they can be a little over-interested (in the most kindly meant ways, of course). If I hadn't loved Holden, my love for the Glass family would have made me a Salinger fan for life anyway.

But it did always puzzle me that the man who could write