January 28, 2010

So I'm sad to use my blog to report another death.
J.D. Salinger died today at the age of 91. He is known mostly for his book Catcher in the Rye, which has been the go to for the hipster set for as long as I have been able to read. However, it wasn't until I got to college that I realized that only the "hip" kids quoted the book frequently.
Honestly, I thought the book was good, but not as great as apparently everyone else thinks...In my opinion, Franny and Zooey was much better. You should check it out.
In any event, it is sad that a literary icon like Salinger is gone. His disdain of the spotlight has put him out of the spotlight for most of his professional life, so I'm not sure that he would appreciate being the subject of a major article in the NY Times. I leave you with a quote I read recently by Salinger (...yes I did knock people previously for quoting Catcher in the Rye, but this quote is decidedly appropriate for the situation).
“I hope to hell that when I do die somebody has the sense to just dump me in the river or something. Anything except sticking me in a goddam cemetary. People coming and putting a bunch of flowers on your stomach on Sunday, and all that crap. Who wants flowers when you're dead? Nobody.”

Picture courtesy of Melville House Publishing