So we are almost done with Banned Books Week, but not quite. Yesterday, for Writing Wednesday, I wanted to include a complete list of banned books on my blog. I spent all day yesterday (almost) compiling a list of banned books when I thought to myself, um…this is stupid. Lists are not fun at all, especially when you can get all the information about banned books here. So, I decided to post an article about Catcher in the Rye, an infamously banned book, that I wrote when JD Salinger passed away. It was first published on Examiner.com when I was still the National Young Adult Book Reviewer. Check it out!
A legend died this week. J.D. Salinger passed at the age of 91. His greatest contribution to the literary world, Catcher in the Rye, was released in 1951. He settled in Cornish, New Hampshire shortly after and was an obsessive recluse. Brilliant write ups have been done in the New York Times about his past, his writing career, and questions that remain even after his death.
People have constantly attempted to embody his characters and his brilliant story, as previously discussed in one of my earlier articles. Most teenagers find him the bane of their existence because they are forced to read through his labored prose in high school English classes. However, despite their irritation with Holden and his sometimes whiny personality, even high schoolers can’t ignore the sheer brilliance of Salinger’s writing.
To celebrate his greatest work, I’ve posted a few quotes below. You will forever live in my heart, and the heart of so many other authors, Mr. Salinger. May you find all the happiness in your after life that I believe you deserve.
If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.
The Catcher in the Rye
Chapter 1, opening words of book
I was half in love with her by the time we sat down. That’s the thing about girls. Every time they do something pretty, even if they’re not much to look at, or even if they’re sort of stupid, you fall half in love with them, and then you never know where the hell you are. Girls. Jesus Christ. They can drive you crazy. They really can.
The Catcher in the Rye
Chapter 10
Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody’s around – nobody big, I mean – except me. And I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff – I mean if they’re running and they don’t look where they’re going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That’s all I do all day. I’d just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it’s crazy, but that’s the only thing I’d really like to be.
The Catcher in the Rye
Chapter 22
