(CNN) -- J.D. Salinger, the famously reclusive author whose 1951 novel, "The Catcher in the Rye," became a touchstone for generations of readers, has died. He was 91.
The author died Wednesday of natural causes at his home in New Hampshire, according to a family statement that his literary agent, Phyllis Westberg, provided Thursday.
I know it's clichéd to say, but I liked Catcher in the Rye. It was assigned reading in my freshman English class, and reading the verisimilitude-infused, profane, modern novel after struggling with Thomas Hardy and William Shakespeare was an eye-opener. The protagonist Holden Caulfield was a prep school kid - like me - who didn't fit in at the school - like me. Holden was the embodiment of the rebellion I felt inside, yet was too scared to act upon. It wouldn't be until I left for college that I looked back and realized that rebelling simply for the sake of rebelling is a pointless and most often futile gesture.
Rest in Peace, Mr. Salinger.
That is all.
5 comments:
I tried reading that book just last year, and found it excruciating as H-E-Double hockey sticks to get through. I guess you have to read it at a certain age...
Concur. RIP Sir.
Just cuz it's futile and pointless doesn't mean you shouldn't do it.
One of Da Rulez I learned in public school: no work that critics describe as a "classic of English literature" is worth a damn. Every "classic" I ever read, I hated. Hawthorne, Dickens, Melville, several others I've since blotted out of memory -- all a complete waste of time.
The only exception is Shakespeare ... and then only when you see it actually performed live on stage. The rest of 'em -- feh. I'd rather have a good SF novel any time.
Yep and the literary world looks the other way with authors like Chuck Paulanuik, and Stephen King (Specifically talking about "The Green Mile" and "Hearts in Atlantis" among others....of course his standard slashers and ghouls are litteray trash, albeit entertaining)
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