What's the Big Deal: The Catcher in the Rye
In his review "The Praises and Criticisms of J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye," Eric Lomazoff states "...The Catcher in the Rye will continue to be a point of great public and critical debate. One must remember, however, in the study and critique of the novel, particularly for a researcher or critic in 1996, that the story was written in a different time. If originally published today, the novel would probably create little publicity and garner only average book sales. The fact that a novel of such radical social opinion and observation was written in a time of conservatism in America made it all the more controversial. Some critics scolded the novel as being too pessimistic or obscene, too harsh for the society of the 1950's. Others, however, nominated Salinger himself as the top-flight "catcher in the rye" for that period in American history (Peterson 3). They argued that Salinger's concerns represented an entire generation of American youth, frustrated by the phoniness of the world, just like Holden was. The popularity of the novel and debate over its redeeming social value have never faltered since its initial publication, due in no large part to the fact that J.D. Salinger is now a recluse. It would be conclusive to say that critics of The Catcher in the Rye have legitimate criticisms of the novel, while advocates and supporters of the story's message also have expressed veritable praise."
Read the following articles (3 sites linked below) to better understand the varying opinions of literary critics.
Biography:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/29/books/29salinger.html?pagewanted=all
Analysis:
http://www.levity.com/corduroy/salinger1.htm
http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/29/reaching-holden-caulfields-grandchildren/?ref=books
Your Assignment:
1. Read the literary criticism and bio/eulogy (3 links above.)
2. Write an well developed paragraph (approximately 100 - 150 words.) Explain how your understanding of The Catcher... and/or Salinger has changed, positively or negatively, after reading the posted documents. Embed at least one quote in your discussion and refer (agree or disagree) with a comment made by one of your classmates.
*Please note, The first person to post does not need to refer to another classmate's response.
Enjoy,
Ms. O'Donnell
Read the following articles (3 sites linked below) to better understand the varying opinions of literary critics.
Biography:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/29/books/29salinger.html?pagewanted=all
Analysis:
http://www.levity.com/corduroy/salinger1.htm
http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/29/reaching-holden-caulfields-grandchildren/?ref=books
Your Assignment:
1. Read the literary criticism and bio/eulogy (3 links above.)
2. Write an well developed paragraph (approximately 100 - 150 words.) Explain how your understanding of The Catcher... and/or Salinger has changed, positively or negatively, after reading the posted documents. Embed at least one quote in your discussion and refer (agree or disagree) with a comment made by one of your classmates.
*Please note, The first person to post does not need to refer to another classmate's response.
Enjoy,
Ms. O'Donnell
After reading the analysis articles and more importantly the bio sheet on Salinger, the most interesting thing that I learned was the change in responses of Salinger in respect to the fame he came into. The article states “As a young man Mr. Salinger yearned ardently for just this kind of attention. He bragged in college about his literary talent and ambitions.” Later, after “The Catcher in the Rye” was published, Salinger seemed to dislike the fame. “He told the editors of Saturday Review that he was “good and sick” of seeing his photograph on the dust jacket of “The Catcher in the Rye” and demanded that it be removed from subsequent editions. He ordered his agent to burn any fan mail.” It is interesting how Salinger goes from wanting fame to hating it once he actually got the recognition that he “wanted.”
ReplyDeleteSalinger lived most of his life after the publishing of his novel in reclusion. I find this so fascinating that he did not want to be famous especially after he grew up yearning to have it. It raises the point, What made Salinger go into this state of reclusion? Was it the controversy of The Catcher in the Rye or was it something more? It fascinates me that someone can change so quickly and do into seclusion like JD Salinger did.
Finally, In class the other day it was mentioned that Salinger had a vault of his work that he had not yet published. Especially after the fame and notoriety of The Catcher in the Rye, why did Salinger not want to share his literature with the rest of the world and does it have anything to do with his new hatred for fame. Salinger seems like a very interesting character and i can’t wait to read his most famous novel.
I agree with Alex's fascination of Salinger's hatred of his new found fame. Referring to the documentary that we watched on Friday it mentioned one of Salinger's fans actually finding Salinger and getting a chance to finally speak to him. For the fan it was an absolute honor, but to Salinger it was an upbringing of wrath. Leading up to the point were Salinger's gets in his car and drives away in a fit of rage. This is interesting because the attention that he so desperately wanted only caused him to be belligerent.
DeleteSalinger had a very clear connection with teenagers; others recognized this, shown by the NY Times article:“...its sympathetic understanding of adolescence and its fierce if alienated sense of morality and distrust of the adult world...quickly attained cult status, especially among the young. Reading ‘Catcher’ used to be an essential rite of passage, almost as important as getting your learner’s permit.” To be towards the point of cult status, the novel must exemplify the mindset of a teenager well. I think this would strengthen the connection between Holden and Salinger no matter how much he denies their strong similarities. It’s also reminiscent of Rand since she also has a strong cult following to this day. The connection shows how easily people can be influenced by literature, which touches on what Steinbeck was talking about in his Nobel Prize speech-- the concept that the responsibility of a writer is to teach others. With all of these didactic works, there was strong controversy. But I think that’s the point.
ReplyDeleteAlex raises the point of why Salinger would go into such a state of recluse. I think that part of it is that, although he really likes writing, he didn’t want to publish it any longer. He felt betrayed by his own followers, and, especially since they’re teenagers (the ones who made him build a six-and-a-half-foot fence around his property), he wanted to sync well with them because they have a higher chance of understanding his struggle with phony adults. So maybe he felt that people didn’t deserve his talent anymore. The world must be filled with phonies. He says, “‘There is a marvelous peace in not publishing. It’s peaceful. Still. Publishing is a terrible invasion of my privacy. I like to write. I love to write. But I write just for myself and my own pleasure.’” This supports my guess on how he believes his writing is just for himself.
After reading the three articles, I was most intrigued by the “Praises and Criticisms of J.D. Salinger’s ‘The Catcher in the Rye Article’” by Eric Lomazoff. Lomazoff briefly summarized the psychological challenges in which the main character experiences. According to Lomazoff, “Some have argued that Salinger’s tale of the human condition is fascinating and enlightening, yet incredibly depressing.” Understanding the human condition is a task to which many authors find their own interpretations. Salinger’s psychological approach to his novel’s main protagonist exhibits the deeper timeless consideration in which he had for the youth. Several of the critics admitted to the ‘critical eye’ in which Salinger used to understand the dilemmas facing the American youth during the publication of the novel in 1950. The words within the novel still ring true, as many adults can attest to their perspective and experiences when originally reading the book during their adolescence. Critics and readers alike noted the true understanding to which Salinger had of the relation from youths to adults. Salinger’s very insights were considered ‘thoughtful’ and ‘sympathetic.’ Salinger had truly mastered the psychological perspective exhibited through his novel’s main protagonist, and embodied sympathy in his writing, while still maintaining his critical awakenings to the issues of the American youth. This new understanding of Salinger in which I have received, opens my eyes to the positive aspects of the message in which he portrayed through his novel.
DeleteI strongly agree with Karma addressing Salinger’s connection with teenagers. Salinger understood his audience and his novel had even become a ‘rite of passage’ to many adolescents for decades. She also mentions the similarities that are found between Salinger and Holden, the main protagonist in the novel. Holden embodies and exemplifies all that Salinger had seen the a adolescent version of himself.
I agree with Alex that it seems quite interesting how Salinger went from being a bragger as a college student to being completely against any form of his photo into the books, like “The Catcher in the Rye.” He went from wanting praise to burning all fan mail. Like Alex, I find it interesting that he went from wanting fame to hating it, almost immediately after he got the recognition.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting that Salinger tried to connect to the youth of the day that it was written. “It is a widespread belief that much of Holden Caulfield's candid outlook on life reflects issues relevant to the youth of today, and thus the novel continues to be used as an educational resource in high schools throughout the nation”(2). Holden, the main character in “The Catcher in the Rye,” includes supposedly immoral behavior which all added to the controversial nature of the story. Something else that added to the controversial nature of the book is that Holden is portrayed as being self-centered, making it so that any of the other characters in the book are almost unrealistic characters, having no authenticity. Reviewer James Stern said, because of the depressing nature of the novel, that it has no redeeming value to the reader, meaning that he viewed him in a negative light as a reader. It is interesting that Stern praised Salinger on his ability to write about children. I find that this is an interesting point of view, seeing as if one were gifted at writing about one type of character, you would expect them to be gifted at writing about all characters. However, this is not the case, making me think that Salinger may have had purpose to the characterization, because some characters have in depth characterization, unlike others.
Part of the many fascinating things that stood out to me when reading these three articles is the last article that focused on the opinions of the authors and educators on where The Catcher in the Rye stands today amongst this generation. What I found most interesting is that out of the five people presented; only one truly had high hopes for how this novel impacts our generation today. Some thought it may stick with some teenagers and others thought it is novel only meant for a time in the past and not for today’s times. As Jay Parini points out, “The novel is a period piece, one that had a good run.” Seeing these people who once read this book when they were teenagers during when the book was beginning to be famous, and how they think about it resonating with teenagers today, brings out the question of what else they may think teenagers won’t be able to understand today.
ReplyDeleteLike Karma had pointed out, this novel was meant to be a connection to teenagers for they were probably going through the same things as well, especially with his rebellious side. Salinger himself had placed his trust in teenagers in 1953, and even if they did betray his trust in the end causing him to place a fence around his house, it shows that he really values teenagers.
Admittedly, up until now, I knew nothing of Salinger or any of his work. Much of these criticisms and this biography (which, interestingly enough, did the one thing that Salinger did not want done) was quite interesting to me. However, what struck me the most was that "[a]s a young writer Mr. Salinger was something of a ladies’ man and dated [many]", despite his being something of a recluse, as Nicholas and Alex L. discussed. He married twice and even had a short affair after his second divorce. I cannot say if this strikes me as positive or negative, but more as just interesting.
ReplyDeleteBefore we began to discuss Salinger as a writer I only knew of his piece of work “The Catcher in the Rye” and even still didn't know that Salinger was the author or what the book was even about. However now that I have read the documents I understand that although the book is a great best seller and has made a change in the lives of many of its readers, the novel was not widely accepted because it diverted away from the ideal American dream. This is explained by the article “ The Praises and Criticisms of J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye” when it elaborates “an original and gifted writer, a marvelous entertainer, a man free of the slogans and clichés the rest of us fall prey to" (qtd. in Davis 317). What this quote is saying is that Salinger was different from other writers becasue he didnt give a typical story with a cliche ended. This is a result of Salinger’s time served in the army. The events in his time served in war made him more of a twisted broken man and signs of his mental downfall is shown in hos writing. This deviance made many schools remove the novel from their curriculum because it was believed to be too inappropriate for a school setting, along with the profanity and sexual matter that takes place in the novel. However what I find interesting is that much like other pieces of writing, such as Huckleberry Finn, The Catcher in the Rye was seen as one of the most influential novels to be written because of the the questions that the public wanted answers to and the way it influenced the reader as a whole.
ReplyDeleteAs both Heather and Keshon have stated, I as well had very little knowledge of anything to do with writer J.D. Salinger. The only thing I knew of Salinger was the fact that he had written the book “The Catcher and The Rye”, this was the only aspect I knew of him, and interestingly enough, even that part I had barely a clue about. I didn’t know what the book was about or when it was written, the only thing I knew was that it was a book with a lot of controversy to it.
ReplyDeleteI found many parts to these articles interesting. I found it interesting, as Alex stated already, that he was a Hermit for the latter part of his life, but in the early part of his life he ultimately strived for every bit of attention he could get. From the biography, and I quote, “Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pa. Fellow students remember him striding around campus in a black chesterfield with velvet collar and announcing that he was going to write the Great American Novel.”
I also found it particularly interesting in the fact that he was not at all satisfied with writing for smaller, lesser known publications. He wanted to write for The New Yorker. Salinger was rejected multiple times before he was able to get into The New Yorker, and it fascinates me how he had the strive to come up with stories with enough merit to make it into that publication. Yes anyone would try at least two or three times to get to where they would like to be, however, Salinger was turned down a handful of times and even then he was still motivated to write for what he wanted to be apart of.
ReplyDeleteI find Caleb's comment to be fascinating, as I too saw Salinger as someone with a somewhat flawed aspiration. Admittedly, I didn't really know much about him, but from what these articles depict, it seems as though he's an introvert. During his youth, he grew up in a pretty unstable household, moving between schools and having an abusive father, which ultimately shaped him as a person. When he was young he dreamed of writing the greatest novel and bragged to his colleagues of his writing, since it was his passion. However, once his books started gaining momentum, things took a turn for the worst. “And yet the more he sought privacy, the more famous he became… As a young man Mr. Salinger had a long, melancholy face and deep soulful eyes, but now, in the few photographs that surfaced, he looked gaunt and gray… He spent more time and energy avoiding the world, it was sometimes said, than most people do in embracing it.” Essentially, he enjoyed writing, but was too much of an introvert to embrace his success.
Moreover, he may of also been diffident about his writing, which likely gave him his sullen face. When looking to publication companies he saw many rejections, but to his avail The New Yorker finally sought to review his story “Slight Rebellion Off Madison” in 1941. However, shortly after, the magazine had second thoughts and worried about the message portrayed in the story. In spite of keeping young people in school, they held the stories for five years, and finally published it in 1946 in the back of an issue. This was the prequel to The Catcher in the Rye, a work he and many others deem to be one of the greatest literary work. Having this short story rejected is just one way he may have second guessed his writing and grown to be a gloomy and secluded person.
I have heard of The Catcher in the Rye before but I didn’t know much about its author, J.D Salinger. From reading the three articles, the one that stood out to me the most The New York Times, “Reaching Holden Caufield’s Grandchildren.” Some of the views oppose one another so much, that it sparks my interest in reading the novel even more.
ReplyDeleteIn this article, people reminisce about the time that they read The Catcher in the Rye and how they connected to Hold Caufield. Jay Parini states, “I have a teenaged son, and I doubt that Salinger would hold, for him, the appeal it had for me.” Though he related to Holden at his age, he feels that the book is outdated and that teens nowaday would not relate to the character. Some of the other comments though, such as Patrick Welsh, would disagree to an extent stating that, “but the hilarious, cynical, sometimes tender tone in Holden’s voice is timeless, not only for teenagers but for anyone who gets occasionally fed up with the ways of the world.” With so many different opinions in this article as to if The Catcher in the Rye is really played out or it it’s still relevant, makes me want to read it so much more so that I can form my own opinion.
I agree with that point that Chandra brings up, that if some of those who commented on The Catcher in the Rye and felt that it doesn’t connect much with today’s teenages, then what else do they think we don’t understand. Though times have changed, I feel that there may be things that can still be relatable to teenagers now, as they did back then.
One thing that I found interesting about the new information regarding the Catcher In the Rye is just how much Salinger's life is similar to Holden’s. There are so many parallels that it is almost impossible to ignore that the story is actually about himself even though he denies it and did deny it until his death. Another thing that I found very interesting was how closed off he was to the world. “He told the editors of Saturday Review that he was “good and sick” of seeing his photograph on the dust jacket of “The Catcher in the Rye” and demanded that it be removed from subsequent editions. He ordered his agent to burn any fan mail.” He almost seemed like he was offended by how the novel was criticized, as if he was taking it personally because the novel was actually about himself. I agree with Alex when he said that he seemed to dislike the fame when most people would only look for fame. This is the reason that I believe that he became a hermit. He was so devastated by the way people saw Holden (himself) that he moved to a rural place and never talked to anyone.
ReplyDeleteThe idea that I found most interesting about everything is about how little is known about Salinger life. After reading the biography , it is very long piece about the fact that he kept his life a secret. And as Alex mention, he bragged about his skills of literature and how he is the best. He didn’t want to stay in one place, he would travel with his father to learn about the ham business and then would go back to college, then drop out, and go back to take an evening class. Then the moment that he becomes popular he gets sick to his stomach about the notoriety, goes so far that he asked the publisher to remove his picture off the dust jacket.
ReplyDeleteThe favorit concept of mine which was described in the bibliography, is “validating what you mean by saying less than, or even the opposite of, what you intend.” The reason why I find interesting is because there is so little known about his life and yet you can probably relate to him more than it would if he was out and about. BEcause there's is no false persona that he displays, there is nothing to go off of, and yet people’s imagination would run rampant thinking about his life.
Another interesting point that was raise is his connection with teenager. The articles talks about how Salinger is able to makes this perfect teenage character. That there is no one that wouldn’t be able to relate to Holden. And the only people that was able to get to know Salinger wasn’t the publishers and all the adults, it was 6 teenagers that got him to break down his barriers and take an interview. As he lived on through his life, he was still related the most with teenagers as it was reflective in his books.
I have heard of “The Catcher in the Rye” but never really knew the author of the novel or the actual storyline. Even though the name was mentioned in several pieces of media I never saw it as being something interesting enough that I would want to read it. That is until this assignment; see like what Austin mentioned it is interesting to discover that J. D. Salinger was very cautious and specific on what he wanted done with his novels and how he associated with his fan base. The fact that “he ordered his agent to burn any fan mail” shows his lack of being appreciative when it came to fame and popularity.
ReplyDeleteI found interesting the idea behind Anne Goodman’s remarks in the “Praises and Criticisms of J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye” in which she criticizes the development of Holden Caulfield, the protagonist, because she felt that he was so self-centered that the development of other characters was lacking because of how focused the novel was on the main character. Goodman wrote "Holden was not quite so sensitive and perceptive as he, and his creator, thought he was" (20). What she perceived from the character was that he remained static throughout the novel because his types of decisions were all similar and lacked complexity. By her discussing and criticizing the novel based on the basic format of other novels yet “The Catcher in the Rye” became so popular almost instantaneously brought a sense of irony.
The thing that most surprised me about Salinger was his initial desire for popularity. Having previously read The Catcher in the Rye, I expected that Salinger would have been a more secluded person initially, as he was following Catcher's publication, or at least not actively searching for fame. He obviously had a desire, and possibly an obsession, with the idea of writing the next great American novel. This desire for fame was an idea not very prevalent in The Catcher in the Rye and it was interesting to see someone so compared to Holden to have such different ideas. So different in fact, that he was cited as “striding around campus in a black chesterfield with velvet collar and announcing that he was going to write the Great American Novel.”
ReplyDeleteAs Javier had mentioned, it is as well curious that the only people Salinger had really connected with after moving to New Hampshire were a group of teenagers. It would seem that he is most able to connect with them through his personality as Holden. Likely, Salinger wasn't actively thinking of how he's able to connect with people that he had written for, and the connection was simply a genuinely friendly move. However, the ultimate betrayal that he felt seemed to reinforce his ideas of when he first left the world to become more secluded.
One thing I found interesting about J.D. Salinger was his unstable romantic life. It was evident that throughout his life he desired for consistent companionship but struggled to find it until his last wife Colleen O’Neil. I think seeing war had a major impact on Salinger as it did on many writers such a William Golding the author of The Lord of the Flies. I think this perspective is important because Salinger has seen the true horror of war and in some ways it broke him. After the war he was a clearly different writer but also a different person. It is hard to assimilate back into society after witnessing things like he did. Having interviewed Nazi deserters and sympathizers for years working in the Counter-Intelligence Corps of the Fourth Infantry Division it is easy to see how he would think that most people are phonies. As Austin brings up it is clear to see the parallels between Salinger and Holden, the way that people reacted to Holden, although Salinger may deny it, impacted him because Holden was a reflection of himself. This adds to the point that he would have later denied the fame because he didn’t want the attention of the phonies who couldn’t understand himself or Holden. This perception most likely helped push him to a life of isolation and secrecy.
ReplyDelete