Special thanks to __Carrots__ for the recommendation.
“An artist's only concern is to shoot for some kind of perfection, and on his own terms, not anyone else's.”
~J.D. Salinger
Jerome David Salinger (January 1, 1919 – January 27, 2010) was an American author, best known for his 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye, as well as his reclusive nature.
Raised in Manhattan, Salinger began writing short stories while in secondary school, and published several stories in the early 1940s before serving in World War II.
In 1948 he published the critically acclaimed story "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" in The New Yorker magazine, which became home to much of his subsequent work.
In 1951 Salinger released his novel The Catcher in the Rye, an immediate popular success. His depiction of adolescent alienation and loss of innocence in the protagonist Holden Caulfield was influential, especially among adolescent readers. The novel remains widely read and controversial, selling around 250,000 copies a year.
The success of The Catcher in the Rye led to public attention and scrutiny. Salinger became reclusive, publishing new work less frequently. He followed Catcher with a short story collection, Nine Stories (1953), a collection of a novella and a short story, Franny and Zooey (1961), and a collection of two novellas, Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction (1963). His last published work, a novella entitled "Hapworth 16, 1924", appeared in The New Yorker on June 19, 1965.
Salinger's choice of teenagers as a subject matter was one reason for his appeal to young readers, another was a consciousness, [among youths] that he speaks for them and virtually to them, in a language that is peculiarly honest and their own, with a vision of things that capture their most secret judgements of the world.
Salinger's language, especially his energetic, realistically sparse dialogue, was revolutionary at the time his first stories were published and was seen by several critics as "the most distinguishing thing" about his work.
Salinger identified closely with his characters, and used techniques such as interior monologue, letters, and extended telephone calls to display his gift for dialogue.
Recurring themes in Salinger's stories also connect to the ideas of innocence and adolescence, the disconnect between teenagers and adults, and the perceptive, precocious intelligence of children.
Salinger died of natural causes on January 27, 2010, at his home in Cornish, New Hampshire.
Discussion Questions :
The Catcher in the Rye has often been compared to Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Both are considered classics in the coming-of-age books. What are your favourite reads in coming-of-age genre?
The Catcher in the Rye portrays the theme of adolescent alienation, a sense of not belonging, of being an outsider, to feel cut off from the world.
What are your thoughts on the relevance of this theme in the present times?
Always open to additional comments and discussions on J.D. Salinger and his works.
If there is another author you would like to see a discussion on, please post your suggestion in the comments below for a chance to be featured in a future chapter!
Resources: