The famous author, J.D. Salinger, known most for “Catcher In The Rye” passed away yesterday, January 28th, 2010.

Salinger, who died Wednesday at age 91, began publishing short stories in the 1940s and became a sensation in the 1950s after the release of “Catcher,” a novel that helped drive the already wary author into near-total seclusion. His last book, “Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour,” came out in 1963 and his last published work of any kind, the short story “Hapworth 16, 1924,” appeared in The New Yorker in 1965.

“Catcher In The Rye” startled yet excited a world Salinger disliked greatly. “Catcher” was one of the ONLY books I actually read in high school. I was big on Cliff’s Notes and getting other people to do my work. I really liked the book a lot, but haven’t read it in years.

I think the only bad thing about it is that we were all born well after it was published and popularized so it’s like we grew up seeing TV shows and reading other books that borrowed from it. So unless you realize that, it’s hard to appreciate it fully.
It’s like any classic movie I try to watch, yet I know what is going to happen because it’s a typical, predictable plot, that I have seen in other movies. That’s because the other movies I see came out 30 or so years later and ripped this classic off.
Another thing… I never realized how big of a douchebag Holden Caulfield was when I was younger.

Holden Caulfield – The protagonist and narrator of the novel, Holden is a sixteen-year-old junior who has just been expelled for academic failure from a school called Pencey Prep. Although he is intelligent and sensitive, Holden narrates in a cynical and jaded voice. He finds the hypocrisy and ugliness of the world around him almost unbearable, and through his cynicism he tries to protect himself from the pain and disappointment of the adult world. However, the criticisms that Holden aims at people around him are also aimed at himself. He is uncomfortable with his own weaknesses, and at times displays as much phoniness, meanness, and superficiality as anyone else in the book. As the novel opens, Holden stands poised on the cliff separating childhood from adulthood. His inability to successfully negotiate the chasm leaves him on the verge of emotional collapse.

Regardless, it was a great book and he was a great author. Check out this article about how his book sales for “Catcher In The Rye” sky rocketed yesterday. It is unbelievable how much sales go up when you die. Maybe authors/musicians/actors/artists will start faking deaths to boost sales. I think it sounds like a pretty good idea.

R.I.P. J.D. Salinger 1/1/1919-1/28/2010

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