Jerome David Salinger, more commonly known as J.D. Salinger, was born in New York on January 1, 1919. When Salinger was 13, his family moved to an apartment on Park Avenue in New York City. The underachieving teenager was sent to a private school in Manhattan. He ended up flunking out within a few years. His father sent him off to Valley Forge Military Academy where he eventually graduated. After that, he left several other schools, like NYU after 2 semesters. Salinger's father finally decided to involve him in the family business of food importation. He brought his son to Poland and Austria to learn about hams, but it was clear from the beginning that he had no future in the business.
By this time, Salinger knew he wanted to be a writer. In 1939, he took a writing course at Columbia University. Whit Burnett, Story magazine founder and editor, taught the class. Story was a well-known magazine that was the first to publish several famous authors. Burnett quickly noticed Salinger's talent, and in the spring of 1940, "The Young Folks" became Salinger's first published work. This lead to his publications in other magazines and newspapers such as Esquire, Collier's, and the New Yorker.
Salinger's first and only novel, TheCatcher in the Rye, was published in 1951. It appeared right as the teenage culture was being formed, and it was an instant and lasting hit. It remained on the New York Times best-sellers list for seven months. All this fame made Salinger very uncomfortable, and as a result, he moved to secluded estate in Cornish, New Hampshire in 1953. He became reclusive and lived there until his death on January 27, 2010.
J.D. Salinger was one of the most influential American authors to emerge since WWII. He was a novelist and short story writer. From 1946 to 1965, Salinger published 13 short stories in The New Yorker, including "A Perfect Day for Bananafish", "Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters" and "Seymour: An Introduction." He published one novel, The Catcher in the Rye, which fueled his fame and wealth for almost 60 years. Today, The Catcher in the Rye is read and studied in virtually every literature curriculum in the United States.
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Plot Synopsis
The book begins with the narrator and main character, Holden Caulfield, explaining his situation as of a few days ago. He has just learned he is being kicked out of school at Pencey Prep. Holden is really scared his parents will be mad at him for flunking out of another school, so he leaves on his own before they pick him up. This begins his journey from Agerstown, Pennsylvania to his hometown New York City. He talks to old acquauintances and meets new people. This novel is a classic coming-of-age tale.
Literary Information
Setting: The story takes place in the late-1940s or early-1950s. Most of the book occurs in New York City. Genre: J.D. Salinger writes in the genre of fiction. Diction: Holden Caulfield and most of the other characters use informal diction. Some characters use neutral diction. Syntax: Salinger uses simple, compound, and complex syntax, depending on which character is talking. Style: Salinger's style is narrative and includes "stream of consciousness": only one person's thought process; thoughts and observations are stated outright. Conflict: There are three types of conflicts in this book: person vs. self, person vs. person, and person vs. society. Point of View: The point of view is first-person.
Literary Analysis
One of my favorite parts of The Catcher in the Rye was the indirect characterization of Holden. One of the most mentioned examples was Holden asking about the ducks. "'Do you happen to know where they go, the ducks, when it gets all frozen over?'" (60). The deal is, he isn't really asking about the ducks. Holden's asking about himself; what will he do in the dead of winter. It's sad that he has to go to such lengths just to get an answer, and people won't even listen to him.
Another example of this is when Holden tells us his memories of Jane. "You never even worried, with Jane, whether your hand was sweaty or not. All you knew was, you were happy," (79). This passage makes me feel bad for Holden because he doesn't say "I was happy." He has to take a step back and say, "you were happy." It's so painful for him to put himself in that situation of intimacy with a person and childlike innocence that he has to step away and say that happened to you because he no longer has those things. For basically the entire book he's just trying to talk to someone that will listen. Even Sunny the prostitute won't listen to him! Even though Holden's a bit odd, this horrible reality of his emotional well-being forces you to empathize with him, to make you listen to him.
What Worked, What Didn't
J.D. Salinger very accurately captured the adolescent mind. He portrayed Holden Caulfield as being sad, confused, and scared. We have all felt exactly the same way some time in our lives, and it makes Holden seem relatable. This does not mean I like him as a person, which I will explain later.
Also, J.D. Salinger portrayed Holden as mentally unstable, as readers say. Many, including my mother, think that Holden is bipolar because he chatters uncontrollably and lives wildly when he is with people. However, at night, he becomes lonely and depressed, and Holden's way of coping is through alcohol. J.D. Salinger intended this characteristic because it is an underlying implication that Holden ends up at a mental hospital from which he is narrating the story.
On the other hand, Holden Caulfield's narration of himself is a bit vulgar. He focuses a bit too much on sex, alcohol, and prostitutes. I found the story to lower my opinion of adolescent males, but the vulgarity, I think, is realistic.Also, Holden's ideals of other people and the world are much too high. His father is a rich lawyer, they live in a respectable apartment in New York, and they even have a maid. His family can afford to send Holden to expensive boarding schools, but Holden does not appreciate the opportunity. He does not put in effort at school and flunks out. After, Holden wanders around New York City wasting his money while he feels sorry for himself. Not obvious to him, the solution to his problems is to go home and face his family. He would not be lonely anymore, he could sleep in a safe place, and he could start living normally again. Holden chooses to just do nothing and stay in horrible hotels. I personally think this is rather silly of him, and it makes me like him slightly less.
For more information on The Catcher in the Rye, click here
The Catcher in the Rye
J.D. Salinger (Jan 1, 1919- Jan 27, 2010)
Author Biography
Jerome David Salinger, more commonly known as J.D. Salinger, was born in New York on January 1, 1919. When Salinger was 13, his family moved to an apartment on Park Avenue in New York City. The underachieving teenager was sent to a private school in Manhattan. He ended up flunking out within a few years. His father sent him off to Valley Forge Military Academy where he eventually graduated. After that, he left several other schools, like NYU after 2 semesters. Salinger's father finally decided to involve him in the family business of food importation. He brought his son to Poland and Austria to learn about hams, but it was clear from the beginning that he had no future in the business.
By this time, Salinger knew he wanted to be a writer. In 1939, he took a writing course at Columbia University. Whit Burnett, Story magazine founder and editor, taught the class. Story was a well-known magazine that was the first to publish several famous authors. Burnett quickly noticed Salinger's talent, and in the spring of 1940, "The Young Folks" became Salinger's first published work. This lead to his publications in other magazines and newspapers such as Esquire, Collier's, and the New Yorker.
Salinger's first and only novel, The Catcher in the Rye, was published in 1951. It appeared right as the teenage culture was being formed, and it was an instant and lasting hit. It remained on the New York Times best-sellers list for seven months. All this fame made Salinger very uncomfortable, and as a result, he moved to secluded estate in Cornish, New Hampshire in 1953. He became reclusive and lived there until his death on January 27, 2010.
J.D. Salinger was one of the most influential American authors to emerge since WWII. He was a novelist and short story writer. From 1946 to 1965, Salinger published 13 short stories in The New Yorker, including "A Perfect Day for Bananafish", "Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters" and "Seymour: An Introduction." He published one novel, The Catcher in the Rye, which fueled his fame and wealth for almost 60 years. Today, The Catcher in the Rye is read and studied in virtually every literature curriculum in the United States.
If you would like another biography, click here
Plot Synopsis
The book begins with the narrator and main character, Holden Caulfield, explaining his situation as of a few days ago. He has just learned he is being kicked out of school at Pencey Prep. Holden is really scared his parents will be mad at him for flunking out of another school, so he leaves on his own before they pick him up. This begins his journey from Agerstown, Pennsylvania to his hometown New York City. He talks to old acquauintances and meets new people. This novel is a classic coming-of-age tale.
Literary Information
Setting: The story takes place in the late-1940s or early-1950s. Most of the book occurs in New York City.
Genre: J.D. Salinger writes in the genre of fiction.
Diction: Holden Caulfield and most of the other characters use informal diction. Some characters use neutral diction.
Syntax: Salinger uses simple, compound, and complex syntax, depending on which character is talking.
Style: Salinger's style is narrative and includes "stream of consciousness": only one person's thought process; thoughts and observations are stated outright.
Conflict: There are three types of conflicts in this book: person vs. self, person vs. person, and person vs. society.
Point of View: The point of view is first-person.
Literary Analysis
One of my favorite parts of The Catcher in the Rye was the indirect characterization of Holden. One of the most mentioned examples was Holden asking about the ducks. "'Do you happen to know where they go, the ducks, when it gets all frozen over?'" (60). The deal is, he isn't really asking about the ducks. Holden's asking about himself; what will he do in the dead of winter. It's sad that he has to go to such lengths just to get an answer, and people won't even listen to him.
Another example of this is when Holden tells us his memories of Jane. "You never even worried, with Jane, whether your hand was sweaty or not. All you knew was, you were happy," (79). This passage makes me feel bad for Holden because he doesn't say "I was happy." He has to take a step back and say, "you were happy." It's so painful for him to put himself in that situation of intimacy with a person and childlike innocence that he has to step away and say that happened to you because he no longer has those things. For basically the entire book he's just trying to talk to someone that will listen. Even Sunny the prostitute won't listen to him! Even though Holden's a bit odd, this horrible reality of his emotional well-being forces you to empathize with him, to make you listen to him.
What Worked, What Didn't
J.D. Salinger very accurately captured the adolescent mind. He portrayed Holden Caulfield as being sad, confused, and scared. We have all felt exactly the same way some time in our lives, and it makes Holden seem relatable. This does not mean I like him as a person, which I will explain later.
Also, J.D. Salinger portrayed Holden as mentally unstable, as readers say. Many, including my mother, think that Holden is bipolar because he chatters uncontrollably and lives wildly when he is with people. However, at night, he becomes lonely and depressed, and Holden's way of coping is through alcohol. J.D. Salinger intended this characteristic because it is an underlying implication that Holden ends up at a mental hospital from which he is narrating the story.
On the other hand, Holden Caulfield's narration of himself is a bit vulgar. He focuses a bit too much on sex, alcohol, and prostitutes. I found the story to lower my opinion of adolescent males, but the vulgarity, I think, is realistic.Also, Holden's ideals of other people and the world are much too high. His father is a rich lawyer, they live in a respectable apartment in New York, and they even have a maid. His family can afford to send Holden to expensive boarding schools, but Holden does not appreciate the opportunity. He does not put in effort at school and flunks out. After, Holden wanders around New York City wasting his money while he feels sorry for himself. Not obvious to him, the solution to his problems is to go home and face his family. He would not be lonely anymore, he could sleep in a safe place, and he could start living normally again. Holden chooses to just do nothing and stay in horrible hotels. I personally think this is rather silly of him, and it makes me like him slightly less.
For more information on The Catcher in the Rye, click here
Works Cited
"The Catcher in the Rye Pages - Home." Euronet Internet. 13 Jan. 2002. Web. 24 Mar. 2010. <http://www.euronet.nl/users/los/tcitr.html>.
"J.D. Salinger." LEVITY. Web. 13 Mar. 2010.
<http://www.levity.com/corduroy/salinger.htm>.
Lacayo, Richard. "J.D. Salinger, 'Catcher in the Rye' Author, Dies at 91 - TIME." Breaking News, Analysis, Politics, Blogs, News Photos, Video, Tech Reviews - TIME.com. TIME, 29 Jan. 2010. Web. 03 Mar. 2010. <http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1957492,00.html>.
Liukkonen, Petri. "J. D. Salinger." Www.kirjasto.sci.fi. Web. 03 Mar. 2010.
<http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/salinger.htm>.
McGrath, Charles. "J. D. Salinger, Enigmatic Author of." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. The New York Times, 28 Jan. 2010. Web. 03 Mar. 2010. <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/29/books/29salinger.html>.