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Barbara
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« on: January 28, 2010, 01:18:35 PM » |
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J D Salinger has died at the age of 91, of natural causes.
I first read Catcher in the Rye at age 10, in my bed, under the covers with a flashlight. I'd borrowed it from an older cousin, with an admonition not to get caught reading it. It was too 'adult'.
I went to sleep reluctantly that first night, only closing my eyes when they refused to stay open any longer. I forgot to turn the flashlight off and fell asleep with it on and used up the batteries and then had to snitch batteries out of the junk drawer while no-one was looking so I could read it again the next night.
Holden entranced me, and it started a love of anti-heroes that has never really gone away. I have to laugh now, because Holden seems pretty tame now, but when I was ten he was shocking and my parents would've skint me if they'd found me with the book.
I've never been without a copy of Catcher in the Rye since. My copy now is battered and tattered and I need to replace it.
By all accounts, J D Salinger was a sonovabitch. He became a near-recluse, shunning the limelight with a fervor bordering on mania. Weird, controlling, a terrible father ... I don't know about any of that, because he wrote like an angel.
I wish you peace, Mr. Salinger. And all the solitude you wish.
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