The world of phony people got hit with the news that Holden’s creator, JD Salinger, passed away at the age of 91 of natural causes in his New Hampshire home. The very reclusive writer has not been seen or interviewed in decades but his death has truly brought him out of the woods and I am sure the sales of “The Catcher in the Rye” will sky rocket this year.
I remember the first time I knew about his book was in my English AP class and I had to read it along with other works like “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley and “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding in a 3 week span since my junior English teacher failed to mention that I was accepted in the AP program and had summer reading prior to my senior year. When I read “The Catcher in the Rye” the first time, I hated it. Mainly because I had to rush through it and was filled with anger towards my dimwitted junior English teacher for not telling me to read it along with the 10 other books I needed to read by August of 2002.
However, one semester in college, I was taking literature of adolescence and one of the assigned readings was “The Catcher in the Rye” which I had to buy. This time, I had the right amount of time and fell in love with the book. It is truly one of those coming of age stories that will forever be remembered. This book is so popular on so many levels. It relates to young adolescents, angst-filled college students and has been banned in libraries all over the world. It keeps getting published and that’s a good thing.
Mark David Chapman, the man who killed John Lennon in NYC on December 8, 1980 gave a copy of “The Catcher in the Rye” as his only statement to the cops. John Hinckly, Jr, the man who made an assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan on March 30, 1981 in a strange way to impress Jodie Foster had a copy of “The Catcher in the Rye” in his hotel room prior to the shooting.
I took the photo above at the Obama Rally in Sunrise, Florida. While waiting in line to get some food for my mom and I, I was talking to this guy behind me named Jake who had this tattoo on his arm. It is the carousel from the cover of one of the publications of “The Catcher in the Rye”. Obviously Salinger influenced people on so many levels, including permanent remembrance of his only published novel.
Last night I had a very vivid dream that I was visiting some small motel up north that apparently Salinger lived in. Though we all know he lived in his own home. I asked the person in charge if I could look and she let me. It was a small place filled with odd knick-knacks, a small desk near the door and a bed. I started to tear up, though I do not know why. The room was warmly lit and it just had this cozy feeling about it as if, who would want to leave and be seen by the world?
We’ll miss you JD, even though we haven’t seen you in awhile, you still left an impression on everyone.
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