Like a lot of people, I'm sure, Salinger's death has got me looking back at his books. The first day of class my freshman year of college the teacher asked us who our favorite authors were and nearly everyone, myself included, said "Kurt Vonnegut and J. D. Salinger." To which my teacher rolled his eyes. Ten years later I can understand why. (Although I still think Vonnegut is pretty awesome.)The other day I picked up A Catcher in the Rye and skimmed through it, wondering if I should re-read it, but I don't think I could get through it. I don't understand the people who still enjoy reading this book even into adulthood. It was cool when I was 15 but now Holden Caulfield just seems like a pussy. And I'll tell you exactly where the ducks in Central Park go during the winter: they migrate to warmer climates. Any first grader should be able to tell you that.
Anyway, I remember preferring the stories surrounding the Glass family, and I think that still holds true, though I just re-read "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" and felt it was just kind of so-so. I don't want to re-read anything else of Salinger's right now, cause it'll just make me want to get rid of all those plain white books. But if any of the work he has been supposedly writing for the last 40 years sees the light of day now that he's dead, I might check out some of it out of sheer curiosity.
I definitely understand why Holden might come off as annoying, a whiny bastard and a pussy but personally, I'll always have a little place in my heart for myself as a teenager and Holden reminds me of that perfectly. I can also still identify with the feelings of alienation described in Salinger's works and though he might not be my favourite author he'll always be fondly thought of because the 'me against the world' feelings that he describes still touch me, whether it be out of nostalgia or simply a bad day.
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Fair enough! I think the curmudgeonly old lady in me wrote that post.
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