J.D Salinger has died at the age of 91. Like countless teens, I read Catcher in the Rye and found its stance of irreconcilable romantic opposition to the compromise and artifice of modern life / sulky adolescent radginess at the world (either/and/or) very appealing. As many have observed, if I read it again now in my 30s I would perhaps find the huffing narrator pretty unappealing. But that is not a criticism. For a novel to capture the thwarted idealism of the essentially solipsistic teen mindset is a great achievement, for it to repel others may even be a signifier of that achievement. How refreshing as well for an author, almost uniquely, to reject the media treadmill which can degrade so more often than it enlightens. Salute.
The SpikeMagazine.com Blog
 |
 |
|