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J.D. Salinger1919-2010
Beaks here...
"Don't ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody."
J.D. Salinger, arguably the most influential writer of the second half of the twentieth century, passed away on Wednesday, January 27th, 2010, at the age of ninety-one. He left an indelible imprint on the culture with his first published novel, THE CATCHER IN THE RYE, and became a mythic, wildly idealized figure when he withdrew from public life in 1953. He later renounced the act of publication, claiming that he wanted only to write for himself - which led his admirers to agonize over the many, potentially brilliant new works that were, page by page, traveling straight from the typewriter to the drawer. Some refused to respect Salinger's privacy; this usually resulted in bitter litigation.
Now that Salinger is gone, it is only natural to wonder whether his estate will allow these private works to go public - or whether they'll continue to withhold the film rights to all he did publish. Nothing I've read today indicates that they are leaning one way or another. I doubt I'm alone in fervently hoping that there is never a film of THE CATCHER IN THE RYE; it remains one of the few literary classics high school students can't cheat their way around by watching some Hollywood bastardization. Also, the track record for transferring twentieth-century American masterpieces to the screen is, to put it charitably, spotty (see THE GREAT GATSBY, SISTER CARRIE*, THE SHELTERING SKY, CATCH-22, SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE, PORTNOY'S COMPLAINT, REVOLUTIONARY ROAD, RABBIT RUN, THE BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES, etc.). Please leave THE CATCHER IN THE RYE to our imagination.
On another movie note, the character of Terence Mann played by James Earl Jones in FIELD OF DREAMS was, in W.P. Kinsella's novel SHOELESS JOE, a fictionalized version of J.D. Salinger.
My apologies for the delay in acknowledging the passing of Salinger. For a much more thorough account of the author's life, head on over to The New York Times.
If you've got a New Yorker subscription, Salinger's short stories are available to read online.
For more on a potential movie adaptation of THE CATCHER IN THE RYE, check out this WSJ blog entry from Steven Kurutz. By the way, while I agree in theory with Walter Kirn's take on how a filmmaker should approach Salinger's novel, a movie that successfully captures the tone would still be a less emotionally fulfilling experience. I just don't understand why anyone would bother.
As usual, no one does it better than The Onion.
Now that Salinger is gone, it is only natural to wonder whether his estate will allow these private works to go public - or whether they'll continue to withhold the film rights to all he did publish. Nothing I've read today indicates that they are leaning one way or another. I doubt I'm alone in fervently hoping that there is never a film of THE CATCHER IN THE RYE; it remains one of the few literary classics high school students can't cheat their way around by watching some Hollywood bastardization. Also, the track record for transferring twentieth-century American masterpieces to the screen is, to put it charitably, spotty (see THE GREAT GATSBY, SISTER CARRIE*, THE SHELTERING SKY, CATCH-22, SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE, PORTNOY'S COMPLAINT, REVOLUTIONARY ROAD, RABBIT RUN, THE BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES, etc.). Please leave THE CATCHER IN THE RYE to our imagination.
On another movie note, the character of Terence Mann played by James Earl Jones in FIELD OF DREAMS was, in W.P. Kinsella's novel SHOELESS JOE, a fictionalized version of J.D. Salinger.
My apologies for the delay in acknowledging the passing of Salinger. For a much more thorough account of the author's life, head on over to The New York Times.
If you've got a New Yorker subscription, Salinger's short stories are available to read online.
For more on a potential movie adaptation of THE CATCHER IN THE RYE, check out this WSJ blog entry from Steven Kurutz. By the way, while I agree in theory with Walter Kirn's take on how a filmmaker should approach Salinger's novel, a movie that successfully captures the tone would still be a less emotionally fulfilling experience. I just don't understand why anyone would bother.
As usual, no one does it better than The Onion.
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Sorry, he's gone.
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What did Salinger do for movies? And STILL no obit for Disney? Granted Salinger was a great author, but really?
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Yet, I get the feeling he's finally at peace, because he just seemed like the type of person who wanted nothing more than to leave this earth to escape this world of cretins...so in some ways, there's no reason to be sad. In addition to James Earl Jones in Field of Dreams, I'm pretty sure Sean Connery's character in that stink awful film Finding Forrester was based on Salinger...and he delivered one of the worst movie quotes of all time with Connery yelping, "You're the man now, dawg!" Ugh.
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Let's hope there's a pile of cool manuscripts in your bunker.
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...that reminds me of Salinger's work. And like Catcher in the Rye, I don't think it would translate well to the screen; it's the strength of the writer's voice that makes it a great read, and that's a difficult thing to pull off on film. The mechanics of the plot are secondary.
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was obviously influenced by Catcher.
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...and I saw another 'Fuck you' on the wall. I tried to rub it off with my hand again, but this one was scratched on, with a knife or something. It wouldn't come off. It's hopeless, anyway. If you had a million years to do it, you couldn't rub out even *half* the 'Fuck you' signs in the world. It's impossible.
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in Franny and Zooey is my favorite passage.
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Seriously though I read this years ago and was not at all impressed. The work just didn't strike me as anything major at all, just a competent mid-century story of malaise. Nothing to shoot a Beatle over, certainly.
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That's what destroyed Mendes's REVOLUTIONARY ROAD. Without the characters' interior dialogue, it was just two random suburbanites screaming at each other for two hours. There's a reason the book was left untouched for nearly fifty years.
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This list of things influenced by Catcher is huge. I hope they release the books he wrote, anyway. Like Kafka, he'd probably be better off.
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The Ice Storm
Wonder Boys
BOTH featuring Tobey McGuire, ironically. -
I agree. Some novels shouldn't be filmed. Just savored in their literary form. "Catcher in the Rye" and "Saving Anglefish" are two examples. Although it would have been interesting to see either author take a crack at writing an original screenplay (not based on one of their novels).
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true about the scope of his influence. I hope they respect whatever his wishes were... I fear his writing was going downhill, as his later stories in the New Yorker show to be the case... Kerouac should have stopped after 5 books, then again it was alcohol that did him in.
I don't know if Salinger had anything left to say.
Whatever the case, I hope his last wishes are respected no matter what they were. -
...and I was allowed to discover it on my own. Great book.
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...THEORY finally reminded me that I need to read Catcher in the Rye.
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and Seymour, an Introduction are my 2 favorite. however I reread Catcher every Christmas season going on 13 years. can't pass a pond in Central Park in winter without thinking about what the ducks do.
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Thomas Pynchon's dead! Wait. What?
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But if they do make a movie, for the love of god please set it in 1950. The thought of a 21st century Holden Caulfield text messaging and Facebooking and dropping the iPod he bought for his sister instead of the record just doesn't sit right with me.
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Ed Harris's character (Don Holden) in the movie Winter Passing.
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He hung in ther a long time
Bob Hope hols the record though with 100 years
Gonn a miss this guy
They don't make 'em like they ustah -
At first I thought "Harry wrote an obit for that asshole Salinger" but then I remembered that Headgeek don't read books without pictures. So, my next suspect was Beaks. And it was honestly ONLY Beaks because everyone else here is a step above the self-loathing crap that is Salinger's writing. Beaks, your beloved hero drank pee and ate babies (allegedly).
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but I think Hope out lasted him by about 15 days or so.
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But how can you miss someone whose been out of sight for almost 60 years?
I hope now, at least, we will be able to see some of what he has been writing all this time. -
outlasted hope by about 15 days
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Well he was.
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http://tinyurl.com/ye9qz2r Written for the AICN guys!
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is somewhat similar and written 50 years before Catcher...
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Clearly the start of my sad, angry, authority despising, man-boy existence.Brotha' goes down...
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thought the Onion piece was the perfect obit
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Rest in peace, JD. I wish you could last forever.
Yeah, I named my cat after Holden, H. Catfield, heh.
BTW, Headgeek loves books. Princess of Mars, Chandler, et cetera. -
He certainly was influencial, but I believe that his influence on 20th century fiction was wholly malign. Thanks to him, "Literary Fiction" is simply self indulgent masturbatory sessions without a sense of narrative or even a point. "Catcher in the Rye" was just one rambling douchebag's self concious whining. But five generations of emo brats have declared it "profound" and "artistic". It's part of the reason I almost exclusively read non fiction or genre fiction today. At least that stuff is ABOUT something.
Whatever, I know I am swimming against the tide here. I didn't know they made a Sister Carrie movie. Now Dreiser, THERE was a writer. -
Really? Is it any good? How come I've never heard of this? It's one of my favorite books.
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I also see the weakness of Salinger's work being its over-indulgence in a certain superficial introspection that never really goes anywhere. I felt similarly about the work of Brett Easton Ellis, whose "Less Than Zero" was painfully tedious and depressing (not due to the subject matter, just because of the mediocrity of the writing itself.) Kerouac at least has some shining passages that really stand out and take a wider view of the cosmos. I think of modern American writers I would put Pynchon, Heller, Roth, DeLillo, McCarthy way above Salinger in a list of best American writers. And none of them -- in fact no other writer I can think of -- ever had such a downright stupid, bordering on sociopathic, attitude about publicity as Salinger.
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Pynchon and for that matter McCarthy are certainly not your typical "book tour" personas. Pynchon is quite crazy when it comes to publicity. NOBODY, not even his publisher, knows where he is... ever. he still publishes, yes. McCarthy also goes to considerable lengths to keep himself out of the spotlight.
If you look at Salinger's subject matter vs the other 2 it is not so strange that the man would want to step away from society.
I also don't remember anyone using Blood Meridian or Gravities Rainbow as an excuse to kill. -
ever think that maybe Holden and the Glass family are not heroes and that Salinger never wrote them that way? that they are people with issues and unfulfilled potential that never go anywhere? Salinger never said Holden was the ideal 15 or 16 year old. Never said that Seymour Glass was right to kill himself. Never said that Zooey Glass was right to piss himself away in introspection.
Read this stuff again as an adult. -
Link away!
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I LOVE Catch 22, though...Alan Arkin can do no wrong. between that and The Russians are Coming, he earned a free pass for life with me.
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Maybe they could make a movie and J.D.'s son Matt, star of Revenge of the Nerds and Captain America, could star in it. No? Okay... I love Conspiracy Theory.
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Isn't he based on J.D. Salinger? And didn't Thomas Pynchon die recently?
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A thread was written..., that Wall street 2 Trailer was okay at best.
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trailer sucked. harry sucks.
quote from Gordon "someone reminded me that I once said 'greed is good', well now it seems its also legal".. what the fuck does that mean!! did Wall Street take place in an Orwellian alternate universe where emotions were illegal? what the fuck. Stone sucks and the movie will too. -
about this?
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and only Malick should even consider CITR.
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that Salinger left instructions for the posthumous publication of his many many hundreds of unpublished works. Some as is, some after editing, etc. I also heard that many of them are about the Glass family. Also I think he was a bit of a prick in real life, but that's just heresay, like everything else on this site and 98% of what is said about Salinger. I kind of wish he'd let his shit get published eighteen years ago when I was sifting through the stacks in the ASU library to find his stories that never got published in book form, and then hitting up the I.L.L. service to obtain copies of he rest... I think I still have a stack of about twenty JDS stories in a file in my attic somewhere. But these days I don't like any stories without muppets so... I guess this is the only time an author I liked died too late...
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Too bad he never got to do his interview on Conan.RIP
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if you don't know who he is/was
Your loss
I'd mock you
But it'd probably be loss on you -
Good day.
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Jan 29, 2010 12:47:59 AM CST
Did someone just say they were never a fan of Salinger?
by the_genteel_gentile
Good night.
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there's a joke about 12 scripts being recycled in holly wood
It's not a joke
It's true
It's all the same fucking story
All that matters is the story teller
Without story tellers we'd all be living in caves
They make the nights scarier and the days brighter
Shame on you for not mourning this man -
carried the ball far futher than you ever will
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and then break their foolish hearts.
He was never short of the spoils was Salinger. He was a chain-fucker. -
that made him a rock star of his time
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Jan 29, 2010 1:41:07 AM CST
Do they still teach "Catcher in the Rye" in high school these da
by skyway moaters
Because that is at least half of Salinger's mystique. It was required reading in almost every 10 thru 12 English course(s), at some point, in the U.S. (at any rate) from 1963 through about 1980 at the very least. Teenage angst given a very powerful voice that has yet to be equalled. I'm Lookin' at you Stephenie Meyer! And JD didn't need no stinkin' vampires or werewolves! RIP Mr. Salinger.
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Jan 29, 2010 1:51:44 AM CST
ONLY the following directors need even dream of adapting Salinge
by the_genteel_gentile
Terrece Malick (Badlands, Days Of Heaven, Thin Red Line) Adrian Lyne (Lolita, Jacobs Ladder) Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather Saga, Apocalypse Now, Tucker) Oliver Stone (JFK, Born On The Fourth Of July, Nixon) Sam Mendes (Revolutionary Road, Road To Perdition, American Beauty, Away We Go) Scott Hicks (Snow Falling On Cedars, Shine, Hearts In Atlantis) Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption, The Majestic) Martin Scorsese (Goodfellas, Taxi Driver, Mean Streets) David Fincher (Fight Club, The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button, Zodiac) Paul Thomas Anderson (Magnolia, Punch Drunk Love, There Will Be Blood) Barry Levinson (Diner, Sleepers, Avalon, Liberty Heights) Mike Nichols (The Graduate, Catch 22) Spike Jonze (Being John Malcovich, Adaptation, Where The Wild Things Are) The Coen Bros. (Barton Fink, The Big Lebowski, The Hudsucker Proxy, A Serious Man)
It'd have to be a bonafide filmmaking genius with just the right sensibilities. Masters of the voice-over and period atmosphere all.
NO phonies like David O. Russell, Alexander Payne, Wes Anderson, Michel Gondry, Richard Linklater, Jason Reitman, Zach Braff, Cameron Crowe, Jake Kasdan, Noah Baumbach or Ryan Murphy. Oh they're alright, but their cutesy hipster sauce isn't near strong enough for Salinger.
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I get why people say that it's whiny and self-indulgent and plotless and all that. But if you look at Catcher in the Rye in the context of when it came out--around 1950--it was one of the first books to be written about the modern teenager.
The idea of a teenager being the way teenagers are now--spoiled and bored and pissed off and confused and all that--was kind of a new thing then. In the 40s the teenagers all had to go to war and in the 30s during the depression everyone was too busy starving and looking for work to worry about teenage bullshit. In the 20s and before the rich were living it up but below that you had kids working in factories and getting their fingers cut off in sewing machines.
But starting in the fifties you had a giant middle class of teenagers that could afford to own cars and go to dances and go to the movies, who had their own disposable income, and who had enough free time that they started to get bored and disaffected by the millions. Then along comes this book that talks about being that kind of teenager and feeling all that stuff like no other book ever had before--it must have been incredible.
Also, what I appreciate about Catcher in the Rye as I get older is that it seems to work no matter what age I am when I read it. When I was Holden's age and I read the book, I was right there with him agreeing about everybody being phonies and all that. Now when I read it I can appreciate the difference between the way Holden the narrator describes his world and the way that Salinger and we the wise adults can see the same world from a slightly different perspective.
I won't really vouch for anything written after this--the Glass stories obviously get more self indulgent as time goes on--but I don't think there'll ever be a time when I don't want to read Catcher in the Rye again. And like everyone else, I'm very curious to see if there are any posthumous publications on the way. -
We have EXTREMELY similar taste in movies.
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How much time do you have on YOUR hands?
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Jan 29, 2010 2:59:35 AM CST
Or wait, you had that ready to go just in case Salinger...
by skyway moaters
Died?!
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and if it gives the rights to catcher to any of his heirs not to be morbid, but the studios are now salivating to get their hands on the rights to the book....which salinger would never allow (at first, cuz he wanted to play holden...even though he was 40 somethin)and who did salinger influence???? everyfuckinbody
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don't understand the reverence here...it was just another book....it just seems to me that your SUPPOSED to like Catcher in the Rye, but meh......
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... EVERYONE...
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"Catcher" is NOT "just another book". Read books much do you?
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I like the Onion article on Salinger
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have you heard of Steven Soderbergh? he's done some damn good films, son. just FYI....
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Who had more in common with the film industry than J.D. ever had. Not that it's a shame Salinger died.
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...and called it 'Rushmore'.I wish someone would film Donna Tartt's 'The Secret History', but that's a whole other thread. RIP Mr Salinger - another of the greats passes, and a generation's voice weakens.
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Catcher movie: Produced by Will Ferrell and starring Jack Black as Holden Caulfield.
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Yes, I remember the argument against him having an obit here is that he was somehow only peripheral to film.
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He just could pull the trigger and do L Ron did.
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coming soon
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If after all this time we find out he's been writing...Calvin and Hobbes?
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... that AICN neglected to post obits for Roy Disney, Ed McMahon, Soupy Sales, Jean Simmons, and Pernell Roberts, it does not cheapen the fact that they chose to post an obit for Salinger. His influence on American/English speaking societies and others via translations; on 20ieth/21st century culture, is hard to over-estimate. Do they teach "Catcher in the Rye" in your high school? Read the damn thing before you bother to spout bullshit.
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Seek help.
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You gonna come by the club to say 'whut' or what? Login not working?
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that Salinger, what a hack
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...apparently J.D. had many affairs with very young women whom he met by sending them letters, and after an exchange of several letters, they would eventually hook-up. That's how he met the 18 year old author of an article in Seventeen magazine (what man reads Seventeen?). This was all pre-internet....so I would guess that post-internet, J.D.'s letter writing was simplified and made easier with a home computer which allowed him to remain a recluse while pursuing young women from the comfort of his home, and using his fame to seal the deal.....
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Jan 29, 2010 7:59:17 AM CST
arguably the most influential writer of the second half of the t
by aragorn ii
VERY arguably.
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Salinger was a hell of a good writer. It is unfortunate that just a couple of assassins made his name synonymous with obsessive psycho. Wish he had written more short stories..!!
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Clearly they are emphatically NOT the same person. In addition: teen angst is boring; especially when it's middle aged people still experiencing teen angst. In other words, Salinger is overrated. Almost as overrated as Bob Dylan. Almost.
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and didn't read it til i was 24 or so, and i STILL wanted to run away from everything i knew and loved when i was done. i cannot imagine what i would have done had i read it in my teens.truly one of the most affecting books i have ever read.i can't say i'll miss the guy, cuz he's been out of the spotlight longer than i've been alive, but i'm glad as hell that he lived and wrote, and that i was lucky enough to read his work.
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When they called him Camus.
JK. Salinger was a legend. RIP. -
Jan 29, 2010 8:40:45 AM CST
Catcher in the Rye would make a great film in the right hands
by slone13
To suggest it can't be done, or even shouldn't, just seems foolish to me.
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Salinger's output is pretty much unfilmable (unless you want to be charged with high heresy in the court of public opinion), but HE gets an RIP? Shee-yit.
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He's the Kurt Cobain of authors, famous for essentially one piece of work. Yes he wrote other stuff, but only hardcore fans could actually name them. Besides, from what I've read he was an asshole and a terrible husband and father so good riddance. I'm more upset about the Poltergeist lady dying.
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If you're a Rye fan, read 'Rule of the Bone' by Banks. Very similar themes throughout both books, but the boy in 'Bone', Chappie, is so much more infinitely likable than the character of Holden ever was.
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Are complete assholes, from what I've seen.
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was absolutely modeled on JD Salinger, but really only because Salinger was and is the archetype of the reclusive genius - achieving fame, which so many seek, and then completely walking away from it. It exerts a great deal of fascination within our fame-obsessed culture. And actually, "Finding Forrester" was a pretty good movie. A bit contrived and maudlin in parts, but really not bad. I think someone above wondered if Thomas Pynchon is dead, the answer is no unless he died very, very recently - he actually published a new book last year called "Inherent Vice." I haven't gotten to it yet, but from what I understand it's highly accessible by Pynchon standards and actually fairly short. Alas, I never got to "Catcher in the Rye" until I was well into adulthood. It just wasn't in my school curriculum, even though I had a pretty zany high school teacher for two years who loved Led Zeppelin and could've slipped it in there somewhere. When I finally got around to it, it just didn't have the same impact and came freighted with outsize expectations that are a product of its many decades as a literary standard-bearer. What I found was an interesting but not particularly revolutionary story - I can only imagine the impact it must've had when originally published.
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Not only did I find that movie horrible cliched, but this was Gus Van Sant's follow-up to Good Will Hunting....it make it all the more obvious how formulaic it was. Instead of a brilliant poor white boy being mentored by a psychiatrist, it was a brilliant poor black boy being mentored by a writer. And the elder person learns just as much from the younger...blah blah blah. Add in the horrible dialogue in parts ("You're the man now, dawg!") and it's really unwatchable beyond the first viewing.
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Haven't read Inherent Vice, but am looking forward to. At one point there was speculation that they were the same person. They're not and you can tell because Pynchon is one of the brilliant, confounding, amazing writers of all times and Salinger wrote one decent (though absurdly overrated) book about an angst ridden teen that is profound to 14 year olds and kinda corny and overwrought to anyone over that age.
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I really dig that movie. Same goes for Slaughterhouse-5.
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But that's just me.
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I feel the same way about "On the Road." Can't believe someone (Coppola, still?) is trying to bring that one to the screens. It will not work. It has no hope of working. Leave it alone, you'll only embarrass yourself.
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... thing is a little silly to me. as if that discounts what that person accomplished. as if that matters if everything after that one thing was effected by it.most of us will never be famous for anything, much less something great. the idea that Salinger wasn't a bad ass, just because only one of his books is well known, is just ignorant. its still a brilliant piece of literature that captures not only the state of the character's mind/life, but also a place in America's history.
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Actually, I did forget my log in, etc. I would have to re-join. I have been very busy lately, but I will try to come by. Thanks for asking.
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I am not a COMPLETE asshole...
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First Ted Kennedy, now this numbnuts... Will still take decades to undo the damage, though...
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This seems like one of those books where is is obligatory that you like it and think it is amazing. I agree with mraig saying at the time of publication the book was a big deal. But, I think it has lost most of it's impact, so that is why I find it interesting when people read the book now, and praise it. However, I am not trying to convince anyone that they shouldn't like it, I am just saying all those people that talk about how amazing the book is might be a bunch of phonies....J/K.
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I had a feeling this is why the DVD column hasn't been getting done. I guess Harry will have to write it himself now..Or maybe get a ghost writer...he-he
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Um, the Me-Generation refers to Baby Boomers; you know, people born after WWII? Neither Kennedy nor Salinger were born post-war.
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Just curious, in lieu of the allleged "damage" caused by Baby Boomers, what would you suggest should be the way to lead the world into the future? Please, do share. I bet it's thrillingly terrifying.
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... and 12 year old girls who blog. "The Catcher In The Rye" was abominable Baby Boomer swill (not the author, the audience), a self-important, overindulgent shitstain of a novel. Hemingway and Faulkner could out-write Salinger any fucking day of the week. If you claim that "The Catcher in the Rye" totally changed your life, you are in the running for World's Biggest Fag. FYI.
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And not made into Oscar bait? I read it, liked it, but it didn't change my life.
And "Me-generation?" Doesn't that refer to kids today? More technology coming out than you can imagine, all designed to better their lives and but themselves off from each other even more. Instant downloads of music, movies, even books, for chrissakes. All for me, when I want it, as fast as I want it. And I'd love to hear Mr. Wookie's plans for our world, too. I love science fiction. -
I wouldn't go quite that far, but it is overrated; basically adolescent angst fiction for adolescents. Which is cool, everything in it's right place, right? I liked it when I was 14, re-read it in my 20s and thought it was hilariously over-wrought and more than a little pretentious, but it's still decent little book... for teenagers.
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rip. got killed off by disney. will harvey and bob take it over. i wonder.
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You know it. I know it. Stop the bullshit.
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Both were sentimentalist slop.
I prefer a story about ninja-commando framed for a crime he didn't commit because he wouldn't kill civilians as part of weapons-dealer plot with government traitors and he breaks out of prison and brutally destroys the crime syndicate.
But maybe that's just me. -
about other people whining. it makes me laugh and immediately disregard anything they have to say as hypocritical nonsense. its a great indicator. keep it up.
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the movie's being made (i.e.- Adaptation, or the Seinfeld Reunion on Curb). This way you can hit the broad strokes of the mood of the book, and show how hard it is and the angst the filmmakers are going through to try and adapt it. It won't piss the purists off too much because it's not a direct adaptation and it could open up the possibility of a real adaptation later on. Anyway, that's my two cents...
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How could I have forgotten that classic?
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WHAT THE FUCK ARE WE GONNA DO NOW? We all might as well just crawl into our pine boxes and set ourselves on fire right the fuck now!
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But before the Baby Boomers were even conceived there was ANOTHER 'Me Generation.' The mini-boom following WWI produced a generation of self-absorbed douches as well;their fathers had seen unimaginable horrors in the trenches of France and decided that their children would grow up insulated from want & fear. J.D. was of this generation. I know how it pains Baby Boomers to hear this... Bu there WAS a world before you. As for repairing the damage? Less self-indulgence, and a little more 'Duty Now For The Future.'
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I'm not a Baby Boomer, btw, I was born in the 70s. Gen X, muthafugga! The last generation that actually mattered.
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What would you qualify as "self-indulgence"? And what does "Duty Now For The Future" mean?
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I mean, let's face it - out of sight, out of mind. Right?
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Ensuring a sustainable environment for our species by adopting green conservation policies and reducing harmful emissions? Do you also mean investing more resources in education so that today's children will be more ready to meet the challenges of the future? Those kinds of duties to future generations? If so, yes, I agree, that is important.
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Instead of filming it, the skip the story and film the sequel (to the book).Holden is a 30-something with not much going for him, except for a renegade ex-merc sent from the future with one mission... turn Holden into the only man who can save humanity from a future alien invasion.The Catcher of the Die: Holdens Providence.
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for Mr. Salinger. Great author of his time.
Guess Mark David Chapman really has nothing to live for anymore, right? Go ahead, Mr. Chapman- off yourself. Fuckhead. -
Salinger, himself, was influenced by Catcher. He predicted his own future. Writers were influenced by Nine Stories. Prior to Salinger, it was rare to hear a character speak like a human being. Dialog in modern books--and, yes, in TV and film--owes a great deal to Salinger. RIP, you hermitic bastard.
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and quite literally. The man apparently wrote all the time, and never planned on any of it getting published. He said that publishing was "an invasion of my privacy" and that he wrote for "myself and my own pleasure." Really, that's rare to hear of, just some person writing for the sake of writing. Marvelous, really.
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They're called diaries. Writing is about expression...personally, I don't buy the whole writing for himself line. Either he wrote for himself and felt that his early work was so widely acclaimed that he could never write anything superior to what had been published and fear that he would be criticized as being overrated...or he didn't want the publicity, as stated, but it would not make sense unless he planned to have it released posthumously after his death...when the publicity could no longer bother him.
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Could be, could be. It would make sense, though few people would have the patience to wait for something to be published after they're dead. Still, I agree that he might've only been saving these manuscripts for the day no one could touch him.
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Yep, that's pretty much what mean. RESPONSIBLE Stewardship of the planet; the idea of 'green' as conservation (progress can still happen in a green system). Education as well, but not just throwing money at the public school system (a lot of high-dollar-per-student districts are in the dead-last running because the money never actually gets to the classroom due to 'overhead'). Duty now means making the tough decisions: knowing what we want, and wanting those the=ings that will benefit future generations.
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maybe after Tree of Life ... remember:
http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=11191 -
No joke, he used to come into where I work from time to time, and he was around the local area in bookstores or whatever. I had no idea who it Was, mind you--but when they showed those two recent pics of him all white haired and 80ish, that sticky out nose etc--yuppers that was him. Hard to forget that face. As I basically hated 'Catcher in the Rye' can't say I cared all that much about the Cornish Whackjob, but he was who he was and the locals protected his *coughLangRoad* residence as best they could for years.
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Bunch Of Phonies Mourn J.D. Salinger -- http://www.theonion.com/content/news/bunch_of_phonies_mourn_j_d
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He obviously would have wanted it that way, so we should respect his wishes.
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Jan 29, 2010 9:41:57 PM CST
"Pynchon is one of the brilliant, confounding, amazing writers o
by burnhollywood
Don't forget STONED. Once that realization hits you, you can finally quit giving yourself migraines trying to analyze GRAVITY'S RAINBOW.
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another overblown piece of crap literature.
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and I'll give you a hearty laugh. Every time. There's nothing like it. It's like American Psycho without the gore...
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Why should we respect him, I worship Buddha, at least he was an optimist
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One would think it's as spectacular or relevant as L. Ron Hubbard's Dianetics. *sarcasm ensues*
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Especially in regards to that Craptain America Movie back in the 90's. So lame that it never made it past VHS Rentals.But better than Roger Corman's FF which aint saying much.
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http://www.luminomagazine.com/mw/storyimages/349_wide.jpg
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Jan 30, 2010 10:19:59 AM CST
To the MORON introducing the slang word 'emo' to this talkback
by sick fixx
Good job on missing the ENTIRE FUCKING POINT of what Salinger represents. Outsiders have ALWAYS existed in society, and Holden Caulfield is neither emo or goth. I swear, in this overmedicated society, showing any kind of passion or belief in anything gets you labelled 'emo'. You, sir, and I use that term loosely, are exactly the kind of phony Salinger wrote about in Catcher in the Rye. YOU'RE THE PHONY, to a fucking T!!!!
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why do all AICN obits begin with "sorry for being so late with this, but..." followed by an excuse as to why the obit took a full week to post.
I cant wait to see the epic length of the "sorry for being so late..." that kicks off the upcoming Roy Disney Obit. That is going to be a riveting read. -
You know the guy who wrote the Spenser books!? Someone really important!
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My Dad said: "God must have loved assholes, cause he made so many of them." And boy AICN is loved by god. Jerome David Salinger was a WW II vet, the man saw hardcore combat at Normandy, and was in the US Army Signal and Counter Intelligence Corps. He fought fucking Nazis!! He fucking wrote one of the best books ever!!
I don't give a shit if anyone liked him, but give the guy some fucking respect. God what a bunch of whiny assholes. Salinger fucking ruled. -
Jan 30, 2010 9:22:43 PM CST
Dark Doom: While you're deepthroating Salinger's still-warm cock
by menstrual_bloodfart
... make sure you juggle the nuts and soothe prostate. What a spectacularly gay post of yours. "Salinger fucking ruled"... pussy.
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You've just been insulted by a dipshit that actually calls himself Menstual_Bloodfart. Man, I'll bet that really took the wind out of your sails. I love how this homophobic (read: secretly gay) douchebag whips out Faulkner and Hemingway as if he ever actually read their stuff. Hey Menstrual why don't you follow Papa's lead and blow what little fucking brains you have out. I doubt anyone would miss you except the trucker you blow on the D.L. each week at that adult bookstore 'cross town.
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Wow you have real self esteem issues. With a name like that . . .
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Apt name.
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The guy made me hate Holden Caulfield like I never hated any other literary creation. That's gotta count for something. Fort what it's worth, I probably enjoyed Sinclair Lewis' Main Street a little more. I mean sure the protagonist was an irritating shit, but she was at least capable of learning. And I probably will always like Paul's Case more just because I enjoyed the pay off at the end, lol...
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Just saw that Josejones pointed out Paul's Case. Always have wondered why no one ever questioned the fact that JD pretty much ripped it off for his genius story. Just wonderin'...
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I'm just too disillusioned with everything to care...
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I liked his stuff, what little there was of it, but I still believe he is one of the most overrated writers in the modern era.
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"Haven't read Inherent Vice, but am looking forward to. At one point there was speculation that they were the same person. They're not and you can tell because Pynchon is one of the brilliant, confounding, amazing writers of all times and Salinger wrote one decent (though absurdly overrated) book about an angst ridden teen that is profound to 14 year olds and kinda corny and overwrought to anyone over that age."
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but the gist is there.
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ethos like I did. Holden caulfield. works. I wanted to be holden caulfield. and Wanted to escape the catholic ethos stragihtjacket philosophy our school had. there was a piece on jd salinger on the glaswgow based review show with kirsty wark on the bbc. Paul Morley said that what salinger was was a genius at branding. he pratically invented the rebel teenager. then when that product got old in the sixties. salinger headed for the hills and never published anything ever again.
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... you probably won't see this, as thread is quite old in the context of what AICN has become, *shudder*. But if it's any help, your CA handle is "bjarki56". Of course I have no idea what your password is, and wouldn't print it here even if I did. Can you imagine the scale of the Troll invasion of our civil little 'supper club'? LOL! Anyway, unfortunately, the new account setup function was disabled years ago due to heavy Troll traffic, and raw_bean, (former CA webmaster) has since abandoned us (after writing all the code) and there's no simple way to add a new account for you. Do you have my old e-mail addy? If so use the same user-name @gmail.com and I'll see what I can do if you are interested. Whatever-the-case: CHEERS MATE!
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Feb 01, 2010 2:09:29 PM CST
??? Someone with the screen-name: "Menstrual Bloodfart"
by skyway moaters
Actually has the stones to call ANYONE a "whiney fag"??? I seriously may die LAUGHING!!! HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!
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Catcher in the Rye that is, Franny and Zooey's much better and even For Esme.../Nine Stories is more interesting. Although having said that, he does keep up the irritating pseudo-speech thing throughout. Whoever up there was trying to claim the 'realistic speech for characters' thing for him was way, way off.
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Thats gotta count for something, Catcher in the Rye did weird cool things. Classic moment.. Guess ya gott be catholic to get it. IIRC Salinger wasn't was he? Great writer.
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