BookEnds

Between the years of 1951 and 1993, Salinger wrote a series of letters to his friend E. Michael Mitchell, a graphic artist who designed the original jacket cover of “The Catcher in the Rye” (that famous red horse), and lived next to Salinger in Westport. Two weeks after his death, eleven letters addressed from the author to Mitchell are being prepared for exhibition at the Morgan Library in midtown Manhattan.

From the brief glimpses of the letters in this New York Times article, Salinger’s voice sounds wonderfully familiar. He addresses the first letter, from May 22, 1951, “Dear Buddyroos” and recounts an evening he spent in London, where he had cocktails at the home of Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh: “Naturally…some gin went up my nose. I damn near left by the window.”

I find the fact that Salinger had drinks with Olivier particularly interesting, as I’ve just reached the bit in “Catcher” where Holden criticizes Olivier’s performance in “Hamlet” (though he also calls him “a helluva handsome guy”). I have to wonder what came up during the conversation that night…

The letters also contain mouthwatering clues that Salinger continued to write well beyond his retreat from the publishing world, and that he was keenly aware of developments in pop culture through the years. He describes that his daughter’s delight in discovering that the Sherry-Netherland suite they inhabited on one particular trip to New York had been used by the Beatles, and he mentions the joy of riding the subway. It appears that New York in general, though, eventually lost its charms for him, and he recounts instead the happiness he found riding through his fields in August with “a big dopey tractor.” Even from these brief glimpses, a new image of Salinger emerges; not as a mythical recluse who shunned the world, but a man who merely wanted to enjoy his life on his own terms, out of the prying public eye. Quite understandable.

That said, I know that reading these letters would be an invasion of the privacy he so highly valued, but…I have to admit it. I’m dying to see these.

I came across this article recently about the prospect of filming “Catcher in the Rye”, and whether or not the book really is “unfilmable.”  Salinger naturally refused to sell the rights during his lifetime, but with his recent death comes a renewed swirl of intrigue over the idea of a movie.

Personally, I think it would be a terrible idea — well intentioned and undoubtedly irresistible — but terrible nevertheless. I used to think that seeing Holden portrayed on screen would an interesting and satisfying experience, but since I’ve been re-reading the book, I’ve changed my mind rather drastically. How would Holden’s voice ever be captured on film? The bulk of the novel takes place inside his head, and the plot follows his thoughts as they ramble and meander across the pages — the beauty of the narrative lies in its rambling disorganization, its wonderful digressions. Most of the best lines in the entire book aren’t dialogue, but thought; with the novel, I feel as though I’m literally reading Holden’s mind. What would the result of that be onscreen? The only way to really capture most of the book would be through an actor’s voiceover, which is a tricky technique at the best of times; I suppose if it was really well done, it would work, but the film would run an awful danger of sounding grating and clichéd. And, of course, what actor could play a convincing Holden?

Perhaps I’ve just been burned too many times, watching some of my favorite books be turned into misguided and wrongly-cast screen adaptations (though, to Hollywood’s credit, there have been a few good ones). Or, maybe it’s the fact that it seems like sheer hypocrisy to put a character who despises movies as much as Holden does — “If there’s one thing I hate, it’s the movies. Don’t even mention them to me.” — on the screen. With a bunch of phonies, no doubt.

That’s just my opinion, though (and I admit, I can be incredibly picky). How do you think a “Catcher” movie would fare? And who could play Holden?

Salinger scares up a perfect summation of adolescence in the initial scenes between Holden and his roommate, Stradlater.
Stradlater, who is obviously the ladies man that Holden is not, reveals he has a date with a girl who says she knows Holden:

“ ‘I’m thinking … Uh, Jean Gallagher.’
“Boy, I nearly dropped dead when he said that.
“ ‘Jane Gallagher,’ I said. I even got up from the washbowl when he said that. I damn near dropped dead.”

Holden is overcome with excitement, but at the same time declines to go downstairs and say hi to her.

“ ‘I’m not in the mood right now,’ I said. I wasn’t either. You have to be in the mood for those things.”

More, obviously, is behind his reluctance than not being in the mood. And plenty is behind the rage he unleashes on Stradlater later over the prospect of what Stradlater might have done with Jane on the date — especially since the “very sexy bastard” doesn’t even care how she lines up her kings when she plays checkers.

Illogical and conflicting reactions that make perfect sense. Those scenes are one example, I think, of why ‘Catcher’ will always be the standard for coming of age novels.

There are many places in the book that capture that volatile period in life. What are some that struck you? How about moments in other coming-of-age tales?

I was probably a couple of years younger than Holden’s 17 when I first read ‘Catcher.’ Now I’m 25 years older than he was (is).  It’s been a very long time since I’ve reread the book, 10 years or so. But I’m finding I remember much of it more than most of the books I’ve read in the past year.

Not all of it, though, including what the actual experience of reading it is like. I apparently forgot how flat out funny it is. Take Holden’s description of why he liked the headmaster’s daughter:  “… she didn’t give you a lot of horse manure about what a great guy her father was. She probably knew what a phony slob he was.”

I can’t help but like that kid.

Of course, that word “phony” coming out of Holden is something I remember very well. It’s only a page and a half into the book that Holden’s biggest gripe with the world first surfaces when he offers his perspective on his school’s claim of “ … molding boys into splendid, clear-thinking young men.”

“Strictly for the birds,” he says.

Another thing I forgot was Holden’s physical characteristics — almost 6-foot-3 with gray hair. That surprised me the first time I read it — only a few pages in, I’d had him pegged differently — and it’s jarred me each time since. In my mind’s eye, Holden is a relatively small, wiry guy, and that’s not going to change.

One of my favorite moments so far, and one that I do remember, is Holden standing on the hill, above the football game, trying to feel a sufficient goodbye from the school. I do remember first reading that, and a gong going off in my head. I’d often had the bewildering experience of knowing what my emotions were “supposed” to be in a given situation and wondering what the heck was wrong with me for not feeling them. It was my first real feeling of connection to Holden, and the moment still resonated with me all these years later, although I’ve gained some perspective with age.

(more…)

One of the most distinctive qualities of Salinger’s prose in “Catcher in the Rye” is breezy, colloquial style of the language. In a way, Holden’s mode of self-expression follows in the tradition of Huck Finn’s, and the task of writing in a specific and believable vernacular is, I would imagine, very challenging  — capturing the precise essence of a character’s voice without sounding grating. Mark Twain, of course, mastered it with perfection, and so, I believe, did Salinger.

“I’ll just tell you about this madman stuff that happened to me around last Christmas just before I got pretty run-down and had to come out here and take it easy. I mean that’s all I told D.B. about, and he’s my brother and all. He’s in Hollywood. That isn’t too far from this crumby place, and he comes over and visits me practically every week end. He’s going to drive me home when I go home next month maybe. He just got a Jaguar. One of those lithe English jobs that can do around two hundred miles an hour. It cost him damn near four thousand bucks. He’s got a lot of dough, now. He didn’t use to. He used to be just a regular writer, when he was home. He wrote this terrific book of short stories, The Secret Goldfish, in case you never heard of him. The best one in it was ‘The Secret Goldfish.’ It was about this little kid that wouldn’t let anybody look at his goldfish because he’d bought it with his own money. It killed me. Now he’s out in Hollywood, D.B., being a prostitute. If there’s one thing I hate, it’s the movies. Don’t even mention them to me.”

— “Catcher in the Rye”, chapter 1

I mentioned before that Holden’s voice enthralled me the first time I read it — and I have rarely laughed as hard at any book. I’m curious, though, what everyone else makes of his style. Do you think the use of 1940s and ’50s slang makes the prose sound dated, or do you think Holden’s message is universal? Has Salinger accurately captured the voice of a teenager, and does that voice still resonate? What were your initial impressions of the character?

Incidentally, I’ve noticed that since I’ve begun reading “Catcher” again, the word “phony” has crept into my daily speech with greater prominence…

“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”, opening line

Today kicks off our staff read (or re-read) of “The Catcher in the Rye”, in honor of J.D. Salinger. We will be blogging along the way and invite everyone to join in the discussion.

Personally, I plan on curling up with my high school copy of “Catcher” and a nice cup of tea, losing myself once again in the adventures of Holden Caulfield. This will be my third time reading the book: I first discovered Holden the summer I was 15, and returned to the novel again in my sophomore English class. I loved the book then, and I’m almost certain I’ll love it now, though viewing the words through a filter of several years may shift my perspective slightly. What I remember enjoying most was Holden Caulfield’s voice, clear and resonant, conversational and jaded, honest and original. Throughout my initial reading, I could almost hear him echoing in my head, mixing with my own thoughts. I think this helped me to identify with him, as though we were sharing ideas through the secret medium of the novel — and, as with many of my favorite characters, I couldn’t help wishing that he was real, like another member of my sophomore English class.

I’m looking forward to meeting Holden again.