J.D. Salinger Is Dead at 91

January 29th, 2010

Benjamin Franklin wrote, “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Had this Founding Father been a high school student in the 20^th or 21^st centuries, he would probably have added “reading The Catcher in the Rye” to the list.

The literary world is mourning the loss of J.D. Salinger, author of The Catcher in the Rye and hero of many an angst-ridden teen. The reclusive author, who had not published in over 50 years, died yesterday at age 91.

Conservative schools banned or burned the book, while more liberal schools—including my own Catholic high school, oddly enough—embraced the classic as a permanent part of the English literature curriculum. The novel’s famous antihero, Holden Caulfield, became the poster boy of many a restless teen trying to find their way in the world.

I was a sophomore in high school when I first read The Catcher in the Rye. As an aspiring writer, I thought it one of the most well-written books I had ever read, but was disappointed that I wasn’t as in love with Holden and his sarcasm as some of my classmates were. Still, I recognized that Holden was a force to be reckoned with, as was Salinger’s insightful prose.

The strange thing about Salinger’s death is that just the other day, I bought another copy of Catcher, as my high school copy has been long lost. I felt the need to revisit the book from a fresh perspective, and now that Salinger is gone, I have a feeling that many other people will be doing the same. In fact, I’m fully expecting the novel, as well as Salinger’s Nine Stories and Franny and Zooey, to reappear on best-seller lists in the upcoming weeks.

But of course, this is exactly the kind of fanfare that drove Salinger to become such a recluse. He hated his fame, and although he continued to write each day, he never published again. In today’s pop culture, where there are too many people who are famous for being famous, Salinger’s legacy is like a breath of fresh air—he achieved fame for hating fame.

If you’ve already read The Catcher in the Rye for high school English, drag the book out and read it again. If you haven’t already, get going on it. At the risk of offending Salinger, it is one of the greatest books of our time.

–Barbara Bellesi

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