Salinger
Flickr: eraritjaritjaka
No, I’m not going to try to eulogize him — there are many others more qualified and eloquent than I who will do that. But I couldn’t let the man’s passing go without a post and a few words.
I’ve said before that Salinger is an influence on my work. I suppose that’s a trite thing to say, though. Anyone who writes about teenagers and who wants those stories about teenagers to be taken seriously, to be more than just another “teen novel,” has to acknowledge Salinger as an inspiration and influence. He showed that an author can write about teenage angst and alienation and still create a work of literature that ranks up there with just about any other great novel you can name.
And it’s because he captured the essence of that teenage alienation that the work managed to take on a life of its own and gain the reputation that so oppressed its creator. Yeah, a lot of the slang is dated (does anyone still call people “phonies”?) but it’s also true. Most adults are phonies, and it seems like the only ones who can see it are under the age of 20. It’s the truths that his novel communicates that people still relate to and identify with.
The Catcher in the Rye is the kind of work that I aspire to write. It’s a shame that he spent most of his life hiding from it, when I, and many other writers, would love nothing more than to put our names to a work that has the same sort of impact on its readers.
Have you read Franny & Zooey? More teen angst and breakdown. Pretty good stuff from Salinger.
I understand that despite his withdrawal from public life, he continued to write and that he had at least two full novels finished but unpublished. Perhaps in the years to come, we’ll see more of his original work.
I’m embarrassed to say that I have only read Catcher in the Rye. I do need to read the rest of Salinger’s work. And I think it will be exciting to see his unpublished work finally be released too. I’m sure there’s a lot that’s been sitting there collecting dust.