J.D. Salinger passed away this week, and I was a little distraught. Dude was ninety one years old. He lived a very long life. He wasn't exactly a model for being a good husband or father, but his writings were wonderful. When I think of the books I want to re-read, his are always at the top of the list. One reason I think his books are great is because there were so few of them. He didn't find it necessary to write a dozen books revolving around one or two characters. The quality of the books was never diluted.
One novel and a bunch of short stories were all that was published out of everything that he wrote. That novel was a huge impact on my younger life. I first read The Catcher in the Rye in high school, like most people in this country, and I attached myself to Holden Caulfield. It was easy to do as a sixteen year old boy. Even now, as I near my twenty eighth birthday, I still find myself drawn to his sense of rebellion. I know he was conceded and self serving and extremely opinionated, but still I love this character. His anti-everything sense of self is what still endears me to him.
The style of writing that Salinger had I loved. It was very conversational. As I read his books, I could hear the words coming out of his characters' mouths. He wasn't the greatest person in the world, some may even go as far as to call him a bit of an asshole. It is hard to argue the facts. The best thing he ever did was to say fuck off to anyone who wanted to turn Catcher in the Rye into a movie. I hope above all hopes that his family continues to hold to his stubborn ways about this book being turned into a movie.
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