JD Salinger - RIP

[Buck]

91 years old

[FAX]

It's no fun to be yellow.

Salinger was a strange cat in his own right. RIP.

FAX

[Rain Man]

Rats. I always enjoyed getting his Christmas letters.

[Chiefnj2]

Originally Posted by Buck

"The Catcher in the Rye" is one of those books that is a required read in high school that you're thankful they made you read.

I read it in high school and hated it. I read it again 6-7 years ago and it confirmed my original thoughts. Very overrated.

[FAX]

I've always thought it strange that "Catcher In The Rye" became well known as the book that murderous, crazy guys read before capping ass.

It isn't like Moby Dick. I mean, guys didn't read that book and start whacking whales right and left. Or guys offing orphans after stealing a copy of Great Expectations. It's an odd thing. I read the book and didn't feel compelled to kill anybody. I did kick the neighbor's cat, of course, but I do that every day anyhow.

FAX

[blaise]

Originally Posted by Chiefnj2

I read it in high school and hated it. I read it again 6-7 years ago and it confirmed my original thoughts. Very overrated.

I don't know if I would say it's a favorite book of mine or anything. To me, I liked it because it was sort of a bridge from children's books to more serious adult literature. It's not like a book written with a message for kids that you get a lot of when you're young, but the main character is young and so you can relate, plus it's an easy read. I just think of it as a book I read when I was young that made me look at books differently than I had before, in a good way.

[Brock]

sequel watch now over

[Buck]

Originally Posted by Brock

sequel watch now over

That was a long sequel watch.

[JD10367]

I've never read "Catcher In The Rye".

Originally Posted by Mastashake

I think his capturing of the slow decent into insanity is amazing. The guy goes from being cynical, to strange, to messed up, to downright crazy, and it unfolds before your eyes.

Oh, so, basically, it's like a lot of people on a sports message board. Cool, I can pass on it then and just continue my anthropological examination here.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by JD10367

Oh, so, basically, it's like a lot of people on a sports message board. Cool, I can pass on it then and just continue my anthropological examination here.

Yeah, you can just wait a month and read the story here.

[ClevelandBronco]

Originally Posted by Donger

That's two. Who's the third going to be?

Who was the second? The actress or that idiot Zinn?

The other is already the third.

[JD10367]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Yeah, you can just wait a month and read the story here.

Can we get a new indicator added to everyone's screen name, with a meter that rises from "cynical" to "strange" to "messed up" to "downright crazy"? It'd be nice to know at what stage people are at, so you know how to interact with them. More useful than rep.

[Infidel Goat]

"The Laughing Man," one of his works in Nine Stories, is my favorite short story of all time. I actually taught Nine Stories and Franny and Zooey years ago.

I do think that Catcher in the Rye is overrated. I like King Dork, Frank Portman's more recent quasi-corrective of Catcher, considerably more.

[googlegoogle]

He had some obsession with some blonde hollywood actress that bordered on stalking.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by googlegoogle

He had some obsession with some blonde hollywood actress that bordered on stalking.

That applies to 150 million men in America alone.

[Mastashake]

Originally Posted by JD10367

Oh, so, basically, it's like a lot of people on a sports message board. Cool, I can pass on it then and just continue my anthropological examination here.

Its kind of funny. He hates people, yet he longs to be around them. He says they are all phony, but he calls people constantly and even solicits a prostitute for conversation because he is so emotionally and mentally alone. He is completely torn as a person, and it drives him insane. Even at the end he talks about how he can't wait to get back and start talking to people.