JD Salinger passes away at 91

[Watson]

CNN) -- J.D. Salinger, author of "The Catcher in the Rye" and other books, has died, according to his literary agent, Phyllis Westberg. The author died Wednesday at age 91 of natural causes at his home in New Hampshire, according to a family statement that Westberg provided Thursday.

"Despite having broken his hip in May, his health had been excellent until a rather sudden decline after the new year," the statement said. "He was not in any pain before or at the time of his death."

Salinger has long been known for his reclusiveness, and "in keeping with his life long, uncompromising desire to protect and defend his privacy there will be no service," the statement said.

"The family asks that people's respect for him, his work, and his privacy be extended to them, individually and collectively, during this time."

The author has written other novels and stories, but "The Catcher in the Rye" is considered one of the great American novels of the 20th century, a classic about a cynical and alienated young man named Holden Caulfield.

"Salinger had remarked that he was in this world but not of it. His body is gone but the family hopes that he is still with those he loves, whether they are religious or historical figures, personal friends or fictional characters," the statement said.
"He will be missed by the few he was close to every bit as much as by the readers who loved reading him."

http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/books/01/28/salinger.obit/index.html?hpt=T1

 

[terry78]

Girl, I told you about stealing my thunder, I was about to post this.

Every kid had to read this book at some point.

 

[Watson]

Too slow

Catcher in the Rye is not my favourite of his. I actually much prefer Franny and Zooey.

 

[Sensi]

I do, as well. I think Terry is right in saying we all (in America) had to read and study "The Catcher in the Rye".

 

[Motown Marvel]

wait, JD Salinger was still alive?

 

[Harry_Lime02]

Catcher In The Rye is my fave book.

I heard he was still writing even in his reclusive years, just not publishing any of it. They say it might be published after his death.

 

[Watson]

I just hope they respect his wishes not to make films of the novels.

 

[Lasirius]

^ Agree. Rest in peace, Salinger

 

[SuperFerret]

wait, JD Salinger was still alive?

What he said.

R.I.P. then.

 

[Handsome Rob]

"Catcher in the Rye" was the only book in four years of high school English that I actually enjoyed reading.

 

[terry78]

Salinger was the original emo.

 

[ross2287]

"Catcher in the Rye" was the only book in four years of high school English that I actually enjoyed reading.

No matter how many kids hated reading in high school, this was always their statement about that book.

He was a fantastic writer and will surely be missed.

 

[Sawyer]

I never had to read this in high school. I remember my teacher mentioning it one year, but she never made us read it.

 

[Red Mask]

God speed, Salinger.

 

[david icke]

Yeah, he was one of my favourites, loved all those books, Catcher being my fav, followed by Franny and Zooey, then I would say the short story 'Teddy'.
Someone gave me copies of all the stories he wrote that were published in newspapers but never put in book form, but I don't know what I did with them, I put off reading them as I was thinking they might not have been up to much if he didn't want them collected.
He was supposed to have kept writing about the Glass family, if he did , I would love to read more stories about them, he was kind of obsessed with them, so I wouldn't be surprised.
If anyone has not read it, the bio, 'In Search of JD Salinger' by Ian Hamilton is a great read, it ends with him being taken to court by Salinger, really interesting.

and ok, a film would never do it justice, but who wouldn't be in line on the first day for a Catcher film? I know I would, I think I would be happy either way, if it remains unfilmed, fine, folk have to read the book and get the full story, if a decent film is made, cool, I can flick it on as an added extra, like the Watchmen movie.

There was an interview with Jay McInernay on the bbc news site today, and he was saying that he thought the days of Catcher speaking to the younger generation were over, he gave a copy to his 13yr old son, and he really enjoyed it, but in this day and age of the net, kids maybe don't relate so naturally to the book. He also made the very pertinant point about how the book came before Elvis, Rock n Roll, 'Rebel without a Cause', and all these other ingredients of the youth revolution, so it was a lot more shocking and revolutionary to read to that generation then any other, although for generations, it was still kind of a shock to read, and something that did kick a lot of young minds open to the fact that a lot of thoughts and feelings they had were not so strange, and perfectly natural.

the JmcInerney interview is on this page:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8486169.stm

R.I.P. JD Salinger Here's to a legend, a great writer and a guy who was not adverse to doing handstands at parties

 

[AndThePickles]

I thought that "Catcher in the Rye" was overrated and over studied But RIP to someone who was undoubtedly a great writer.

 

[Deaths Head II]

Already said this in the Community Forum, but it sucks to hear. Catcher is one of my all time favorite books.

 

[SuperFerret]

I've never read "Catcher in the Rye" and knowing about the content of the book, it does not interest me, and I'd probably be as annoyed at reading it in school as I was about the other books that were assigned.

 

[Max J Power]

I never had to read this in high school. I remember my teacher mentioning it one year, but she never made us read it.

I never had to read it either, but I chose to read it for a book report. It's a great book no doubt, but I didn't love it.

It's kind of sad he died, but he lived a long time.

 

[zanos]

I hated Catcher in the Rye.