J.D. Salinger (1 Viewer)

[sully474]

It seems that you always hear things about J.D. Salinger, or Catcher in the Rye, all over the forum, so I decided to start a thread for him.

 

[Vixen]

I found the book both addicting and disturbing, and I wonder, who was the author? Did he write anything else?

 

[Webmaster]

Interestingly, he gained his whole reputation on the success of that one book. He did publish some short stories and a couple of other books, but CIR was his claim to fame.

 

[eleutheromaniac]

I found the book both addicting and disturbing, and I wonder, who was the author? Did he write anything else?

Nine Stories, Raise High the Roof Beam Carpenters with Seymour, and Franny and Zooey.

Cathcer in the Rye is his claim to fame, but I think his short stories are his best work.

 

[sully474]

I found that Catcher in the Rye was really strange. It wasn't, to use a word from the book, phony. It seemed like it really could have been a person, because he wrote the way that no other writer writes.

 

[Cipher2]

I'm a big fan of Catcher in the Rye. It's the novel everyone knows Salinger from. I read on a Salinger web-site that his other works are becoming more recognised and might in time be considered up there with Catcher in the Rye. That killed me. It really did.

 

[A_MacLaren]

He's got a good sense of the adolescent voice, I think. And it's strange to read a boo where there's no plot, just character.

 

[NoWorries]

Anybody watch Oliver Bean? They went off on Salinger, 'cuz the show is based in the '50s, and they had an actor playing Salinger on there, and he was getting blasted because it'd been a few years since anything new had come out. Really pretty funny considering...

Anyways, what's that movie, Finding Forester I think, with the captain from Hunt for Red October/James Bond? Anybody think the writer character was loosely based on Salinger?

 

[Gracie]

I tried to get The Catcher in the Rye out from the library, but it already out. So, I got Franny and Zooey. I haven't started it yet. Is it good?

Grace

 

[strangedaze]

I've read all four of JD's published books, and I'll give you the skinny on all of them.

Catcher in the Rye seems to be the overall favorite for most readers, but I thought Nine Stories was his best. Very subtle. His characterization is hot. If you aren't much into thinking about your fiction, you might want to stick with Holden. I thought that Franny and Zooey was fantastic; not physical action, but there's a lot going on upstairs. Raise High/Seymour was decent, though I had trouble staying awake during the second half.

As I say, Nine Stories is my favoritest. It's amazing how different his writing style is beyond Catcher. I was surprised by how brilliant his aesthetic style is. Sometimes I wonder whether or not authors of first-person narratives in the vein of Catcher are one trick ponies who can only write in one style - let me assure you, Salinger is not one of those writers.

 

[demonic_harmonic]

Tis a lovely day for babanafish!!!


*joyfully picks up gun and shoots self in head*

 

[evil octavia]

Hiya, newbie here... practically forced here by demonic.... but anyway I just picked up Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger and I really love his writing style... and the end of Bananafish... I just stared at the last page for a bit after I read that... oh, well, that's my tribute to this thread!

 

[Bethan]

What I loved about CIR is that every time you re-read it small details jump out at you that you hadn't noticed before. I think its definitely one of those books that need a second reading.

 

[Cipher2]

I've only read Catcher In The Rye but what I like about it is it's cheap appeal as well as it's literary credentials. I've not enjoyed reading many classics as much as this one.

 

[applesweet]

I hated CIR, both times I read it. I hated 8 of the 9 stories (Banana Fish was good.) and I can't get past page 1 of Franny and Zooey.
I think it goes without saying, I am not a J.D. Salinger fan. He is crap.

 

[gohn67]

Catcher in the Rye is one of my favorite books.

And I just read nine stories, and didn't like it. Though I did like the Banana Fish one, and I also like the story about the guy that goes and teaches art. The rest I slogged through. Too under the surface for me.

 

[Kikster]

I loved catcher in the rye... I read it so many times I've lost count. I think that he did a great job at being a teen's voice, and his writing style was extremly unconventional back when the book first came out (I wasn't born yet, but my dad told me all about it and how he loved the book because it was so different)

Raise High the Roof Beam Carpenters with Seymour was good too. not as good as catcher in the rye, but I enjoyed it.

I haven't read his other works yet, but thanks to this thread now I'll remember to buy them next time that I go to the book store!

 

[Ralizah]

I either love or hate his work.

Most of Nine Stories was dull (with a few exceptions!). Raise High was a bit tedious, and Seymour: An Introduction is awful.

Catcher was good for what it was; not spectacular, but enjoyable, and it accomplished what it was out to accomplish very well.
Franny and Zooey is my favorite Salinger story. Particularly Franny. But both were great.

 

[Ralizah]

I agree with your assessment of those two books. As he grew older, Salinger seemed to write more and more about less and less. He supposedly has manuscripts from the past 40 years locked in a safe, but I'm afraid they might be about subjects like how many angels can fit on the head of a pin. After he dies, his literary reputation will rest on 3 books: Catcher, Nine Stories and Franny & Zoey -- a small output of very original writing.

Well, the problem is that his stories quit becoming 'writing with individual personality' and become 'stories that are but condensced personality.' The voice in the two stories are great, like the rest of his writing, but he becomes so egotistical about his own form that he forgets what his good writing was all about. I think I caught onto this 'rebellion,' mainly in Seymour, with the ultra-long footnotes and the 'Bouquet of Paranthesis.'

He did almost release a short story about Seymour as a child several years ago (Hapsworth something or other, I forget the exact title), but changed his mind. Some people did obtain copies of that story. It's a letter from Seymour at summer camp as a tot to Les and Bessie about how to properly take care of the other kids (I'd assume Zooey, Franny, etc.) New Salinger is all-dialogue, no-place.