Comments on: Remembering J.D. Salinger: Part 1 http://www.fringemagazine.org/blog/remembering-j-d-salinger-part-1/ The Noun That Verbs Your World Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:40:26 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.2 hourly 1 By: Dina Hampton http://www.fringemagazine.org/blog/remembering-j-d-salinger-part-1/#comment-5799 Dina Hampton Sun, 31 Jan 2010 02:27:06 +0000 http://www.fringemagazine.org/?p=4834#comment-5799 I tried to read "Catcher in the Rye" in my teens because my father liked the book so much. But the book was too icky-boy-like for me, and I put it aside. But then, in my early 20s, I became obsessed with the Glass family. My friend Madeleine and I, both aspiring actresses, would endlessly adapt scenes from "Franny and Zooey" and "Nine Stories" for scene study in our acting classes. I remember one time we actually spent a full afternoon poring through the NYC White Pages inpecting each "Glass" entry to see if it might be THE family. That's how real they were to us. As I read and reread the books over the years, a sneaking, not to mention heretical, suspicion began to dawn on me: Seymour -perhaps - was a bit of a self-righteous prig. Holden, on the other hand, grew on me. His over-the-top crusade against phonies was patently, if hysterically, absurd. No one can - or should - sustain that level of judgemental indignation against all that's impure in the world. Except sometimes, when we should. I hope Salinger's attic is piled high with unpublished manuscripts. I miss those guys and I long to meet them again. I tried to read “Catcher in the Rye” in my teens because my father liked the book so much. But the book was too icky-boy-like for me, and I put it aside.

But then, in my early 20s, I became obsessed with the Glass family. My friend Madeleine and I, both aspiring actresses, would endlessly adapt scenes from “Franny and Zooey” and “Nine Stories” for scene study in our acting classes. I remember one time we actually spent a full afternoon poring through the NYC White Pages inpecting each “Glass” entry to see if it might be THE family. That’s how real they were to us.

As I read and reread the books over the years, a sneaking, not to mention heretical, suspicion began to dawn on me: Seymour -perhaps – was a bit of a self-righteous prig.

Holden, on the other hand, grew on me. His over-the-top crusade against phonies was patently, if hysterically, absurd. No one can – or should – sustain that level of judgemental indignation against all that’s impure in the world.

Except sometimes, when we should.

I hope Salinger’s attic is piled high with unpublished manuscripts. I miss those guys and I long to meet them again.

]]> By: jerry Goldberg http://www.fringemagazine.org/blog/remembering-j-d-salinger-part-1/#comment-5796 jerry Goldberg Sat, 30 Jan 2010 23:08:59 +0000 http://www.fringemagazine.org/?p=4834#comment-5796 I was 22 years old when Catcher in the Rye was published, so while I was smitten by Salinger's teenage hero, it didn't change my life. On the other hand, Seymour affected me deeply when I read the stories and thoughts of him returned vividly when I read the obituary. Both Seymour and his creator left the world on their own volition. I was 22 years old when Catcher in the Rye was published, so while I was smitten by Salinger’s teenage hero, it didn’t change my life. On the other hand, Seymour affected me deeply when I read the stories and thoughts of him returned vividly when I read the obituary. Both Seymour and his creator left the world on their own volition.

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