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#1
01-28-2010, 02:05 PM
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J. D. Salinger, 91
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...012803177.html
J.D. Salinger, 91, a celebrated author and enigmatic recluse whose 1951 novel "The Catcher in the Rye" became an enduring anthem of adolescent angst and youthful rebellion and a classic of 20th-century American literature, has died at his home in Cornish, N.H. The author's son, in a statement from the author's literary representative, confirmed the death to the Associated Press. Mr. Salinger died Wednesday, according to the AP, but no cause of death was immediately reported. To generations of men and women in the years after World War II, "The Catcher in the Rye" was the singular, tell-it-like-it-is story about the mind-set of a sensitive youth: cynical yet romantic; disdainful of hypocrisy, social convention and conformity; self-conscious and uncomfortable in his own skin; confused and pathetic but also loveable. The novel is about the adventures and misadventures of a disillusioned 16-year-old who knows he is about to be expelled from his boarding school, Pencey Prep, and decides to run away instead. Over three days in New York City, he has a run of weird encounters with taxi drivers, nuns, an elevator man, three girls from Seattle, a prostitute and a former teacher. In his eyes, the world is controlled and dominated by "phonies," whom he cannot abide, and he struggles with limited success to come to terms with love, sex and, ultimately, himself. In an encounter with his kid sister, Phoebe, he finds affection and salvation. In the more than half-century since the novel's publication, its protagonist, Holden Caulfield, has joined the ranks of such literary legends as F. Scott Fitzgerald's Jay Gatsby and Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn as a folk hero of American fiction, with near-universal name recognition.
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All ambitions are lawful except those which climb upward on the miseries or credulities of mankind. ~ Joseph Conrad A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right. ~ Thomas Paine Don't let anyone tell you that your dreams can't come true. They are only afraid that theirs won't and yours will. ~ Robert Evans The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command. ~ George Orwell, 1984. 
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#3
01-28-2010, 05:33 PM
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"Boy, when you're dead, they really fix you up. I hope to hell when I do die somebody has sense enough to just dump me in the river or something. Anything except sticking me in a goddam cemetery. People coming and putting a bunch of flowers on your stomach on Sunday, and all that crap. Who wants flowers when you're dead?"
~ JDS For giving us Holden Caulfield, thank you (and good night).
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#4
01-28-2010, 07:02 PM
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RIP though pretty much that's how he lived.
Last edited by dellinger63 : 01-28-2010 at 07:13 PM.
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#5
01-28-2010, 08:37 PM
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Catcher is obviously his most popular book - and it certainly is VERY good - but I actually prefer Franny and Zooey. The fact that it contains so little plot means that it might not exactly be everyone's cup of tea, but it is probably my favorite book of all time. It is pure literary brilliance from the first page until the last, and the Glass family is perhaps the most interesting group of characters in the history of American fiction.
As far as I am concerned, Salinger was the best writer of the 20th century.
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