J.D. Salinger, his death and his cultural contribution

Shuimo   Sat Jan 30, 2010 2:29 am GMT
Have you ever read J.D. Salinger?

This morning I am really surprised and saddened to learn the news of J.D. Salinger's death yesterday at the age of 91!

As a hard-core fan of his works, Shuimo has always cherished and kept a special corner for Salinger in my personal cultural landscape!

His passing away is absolutely an infinite loss to not just American literature and culture, but also the international cultural community at large!

Here Shuimo would like to express my heart-felt deepest mourning over the loss of such a unique iconic figure, who through his penetrating pen and words has influenced and will continue to influence generations of young people!
Uriel   Sat Jan 30, 2010 2:48 am GMT
I read the Catcher in the Rye for the first time last year, and I have to say I thought it was crap. I kept waiting for it to get good, and by the last page, it still hadn't. I couldn't for the life of me figure out why it's so lauded as great literature -- I found the plot pointless and the prose pretty unreadable. Sorry if you're a fan and you're offended; I didn't get the big deal at all.
Shuimo   Sat Jan 30, 2010 3:03 am GMT
Uriel, Shuimo is not offended your comment at all!

I perfectly understand why you say that given the cultural realities that grip us all!

But that surely has a lot more to do with the fact that, Shuimo guess, you've long outgrown yr youthful days?
K.   Sat Jan 30, 2010 3:56 am GMT
I read "Catcher in the Rye" as well. I read it during a phase when I was trying to read all the "classics" in American Literature. It wasn't as exciting as I thought it would be, but the writing was crisp.

Shuimo, I don't wish to be rude, but maybe you shouldn't write that kind of thing to Uriel. She's a tough girl, but if she weren't, it could hurt her feelings. Are you a troll? Uriel is not some senior gentleman and even if she were, you shouldn't say that kind of thing to your elders.

I knew a student from Taiwan who had trouble remembering that it was an insult to talk to women like that. He had trouble getting a date with American women even though he was smart and probably came from a wealthy family.
K.   Sat Jan 30, 2010 4:19 am GMT
I had to go look up Salinger in Wikipedia. What a life! I didn't mention that Catcher in the Rye was considered to be controversial. Now I know why-it was the swearing.
Uriel   Sat Jan 30, 2010 4:41 am GMT
Yeah, because the content isn't that exciting or controversial ... from a modern perspective.
Learner   Sat Jan 30, 2010 2:19 pm GMT
I read the book when I was 19, and I liked it very much, to the point that I considered it my favourite book ever. Then I reread it some years later, and it appeared to me somewhat juvenile, but that must be because i was longer in years. I still consider it my favourite book, if only because I don't like to change opinions.
Edward Teach   Sun Jan 31, 2010 2:25 am GMT
I read it when I was sixteen and thought it was fucking ace.
I think uriel is a bit crap personally.
but then shuimo is even crapper.
Lenin   Sun Jan 31, 2010 2:57 am GMT
The guy who shot John Lennon loved The Catcher in the Rye, didn't he?
Uriel   Sun Jan 31, 2010 3:25 am GMT
Yup. Had it on him at the time, if I recall.