Salinger: If you really want to hear about it ...
Erin Marissa Russell
Issue date: 2/8/10 Section: Entertainment
I was at the doctor's office when news of J.D. Salinger's death came across the wire. I received about 15 phone calls and texts in as many minutes; it seemed like everyone I knew was telling me at once.
"Did you know him or something?" the nurse asked.
I said, "Kind of ..."
Of course I couldn't have actually known him, since he's probably the most reclusive writer in history, but it feels like I did. It's my ultimate goal to study the lives and work of certain authors, and Salinger has always been my favorite.
I kept telling myself I should write him a letter while he was still alive, and last Christmas attempted to hastily assemble a trip to go caroling at his home. While his address is not publicly available, one can deduce his whereabouts with a bit of research. Unfortunately, the trip was canceled due to lack of gas money.
When I told people about it, though, they'd ask why I thought Salinger, of all people, would want to see me.
"Why bother him?" they'd ask. "He just wants to be left alone."
The truth is I wasn't thinking about how he'd feel about it. If I had met him, whether he shooed me away or smiled at me, it would have meant everything to me and nothing to him. It was a selfish wish I was willing to bother an old man to fulfill.
As readers, we often grow attached to certain authors. Most know Salinger best for his only novel, "The Catcher in the Rye," but he also published short stories such as "Franny" and "Zooey" and his collection, "Nine Stories."
In "The Catcher in the Rye," Holden Caulfield says, "What really knocks me out is a book, when you're all done reading it, you wished the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it."
Many readers feel this way about Salinger, so his intense need for privacy seems a bit like the cold shoulder. He's like a cat you'd like to pet that snubs you to groom itself on the windowsill.
In "The Search for the Mysterious J.D. Salinger," Ernest Havemann reports Salinger said, "Here I am, supposed to be writing for the more intelligent reading public and all that most readers got out of 'Franny' was that silly question as to whether or not she was pregnant."
Perhaps, finding himself consistently disappointed in other people, Salinger thought it kinder to leave his readers with an idea of him rather than letting them know the reality.
He closes "The Catcher in the Rye" with the words, "Don't ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody."
I say if this was Salinger's plan, he did it wrong. His stories tell us everything, perhaps not about who he was, but about who he wanted to be, which may be much more important.
"Did you know him or something?" the nurse asked.
I said, "Kind of ..."
Of course I couldn't have actually known him, since he's probably the most reclusive writer in history, but it feels like I did. It's my ultimate goal to study the lives and work of certain authors, and Salinger has always been my favorite.
I kept telling myself I should write him a letter while he was still alive, and last Christmas attempted to hastily assemble a trip to go caroling at his home. While his address is not publicly available, one can deduce his whereabouts with a bit of research. Unfortunately, the trip was canceled due to lack of gas money.
When I told people about it, though, they'd ask why I thought Salinger, of all people, would want to see me.
"Why bother him?" they'd ask. "He just wants to be left alone."
The truth is I wasn't thinking about how he'd feel about it. If I had met him, whether he shooed me away or smiled at me, it would have meant everything to me and nothing to him. It was a selfish wish I was willing to bother an old man to fulfill.
As readers, we often grow attached to certain authors. Most know Salinger best for his only novel, "The Catcher in the Rye," but he also published short stories such as "Franny" and "Zooey" and his collection, "Nine Stories."
In "The Catcher in the Rye," Holden Caulfield says, "What really knocks me out is a book, when you're all done reading it, you wished the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it."
Many readers feel this way about Salinger, so his intense need for privacy seems a bit like the cold shoulder. He's like a cat you'd like to pet that snubs you to groom itself on the windowsill.
In "The Search for the Mysterious J.D. Salinger," Ernest Havemann reports Salinger said, "Here I am, supposed to be writing for the more intelligent reading public and all that most readers got out of 'Franny' was that silly question as to whether or not she was pregnant."
Perhaps, finding himself consistently disappointed in other people, Salinger thought it kinder to leave his readers with an idea of him rather than letting them know the reality.
He closes "The Catcher in the Rye" with the words, "Don't ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody."
I say if this was Salinger's plan, he did it wrong. His stories tell us everything, perhaps not about who he was, but about who he wanted to be, which may be much more important.
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