J.D. Salinger seems to be one of those authros that generate love him or hate him feelings, I know there are those that really do not care for his work, and particuarly Catcher in the Rye seems to get hated on a lot. But I am one of the ones who love him.

I read Catcher in the Rye in highschool, and it fascinated me, and I began gobbling up whatever I could by him, and loved it all. There is something about his writing which really speaks to me, I can realte to his cynical, dysfuntional and aloof characters.

I recently started reading a collection of some of his short stories, and it reminded me how much I love him. He is one of those authors that I can develop and almost obcession with.

Silver wrote: "J.D. Salinger seems to be one of those authros that generate love him or hate him feelings, I know there are those that really do not care for his work, and particuarly Catcher in the Rye seems to ..."

Salinger is one of my favorite authors (Catcher being my absolute favorite book ever!) I just finished reading Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour An Introduction last week, and it was just amazing! Have you read it yet?

Oh, and the short stories you said you were reading, would that be the Nine Stories collection?

Yes I have read both of those, and quite enjoyed them. The collection I read was the Nine Stories.

Have you read Hapworth 16, 1924?

No, I havent read that one

I hated The Catcher in the Rye in high school and still hated it when I read it in Feburary.

But I did like East of Eden. That is a very good read.

Catcher in the Rye is one of my all time favorite books. I really enjoyed Salinger's writing. I haven't read anymore of his work, but I intend to soon.

Monique wrote: "I hated The Catcher in the Rye in high school and still hated it when I read it in Feburary.

But I did like East of Eden. That is a very good read."

Isn't East of Eden Steinbeck's book?

Yes, Megha. East of Eden was written by John Steinbeck

Catcher In The Rye is one of my all-time favorite books and has a place of honor on my bookcase. I can't imagine anyone hating it! I'd love to hear some specific reasons why . . .

j.d salinger might be my favorite writer. even though i haven't read anything by him for a long time i still haven't gotten an author that hit me as hard as he did then. every single thing written by him... every single thing... (which is actually not a lot lol)... is amazing.

I've only read Catcher in the Rye by him, but I wasn't impressed...I felt like I was missing something as I didnt seem to find all the deep and meaningful bits that everyone else seems to find :)

If you liked Catcher in the Rye, you would probably like Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis. It's on the list. Sort of an older, slightly nerdier, British Holden Caulfield.

Silver, describing Salinger characters as "cynical, dysfuntional and aloof" really sums it up - that humor seems to really hit my funny bone in the right way.

I have one of Amis' books The Greenman, but I haven't read it yet, though I am also interested in reading Lucky Jim at some point.

lucky jim might be the funniest book i've ever read.

I read Catcher in the Rye when I was in high school.

I have read it many times since then. It's that classic book I can just fall back on.

I guess I was expecting much more from it. Well written, true, but it didn't touch me.

Terpsicore wrote: "I guess I was expecting much more from it. Well written, true, but it didn't touch me."

I also thought this book would be far better.

i have to admit that i couldn't see what everyone seems to rave about in this book...i don't hate it, but it just left me kind of cold, even though i read it for the first time at the approximate age of the protagonist, and i expected it to speak to me much more.....well, it's good that different people have different tastes.....

is still alive? i know he lived a life of recluse but wasnt sure if he was still doing that and if anyone knew...

Yes, as far as I know he is still alive, age 90 and still a recluse.

He's still alive. He's actually been writing and writing this whole time, and a lot of people are sort of waiting for him to die so his family can publish all of his works. It's a little morbid.

As morbid as that is, though of corse I am not hoping for him to die, but it has to happen eventually, no one lives forever, I would absolutely love to read any new writings by him. I have already read all of his works of which are currently published.

Silver wrote: "As morbid as that is, though of corse I am not hoping for him to die, but it has to happen eventually, no one lives forever, I would absolutely love to read any new writings by him. I have already ..."

I agree...I kinda feel bad about it, like if he didn't want it published it should be burned or something. But then again...I want to read it, gosh darn it. All of it!

It's almost a year old but here's a blog about Mr. Salinger still being alive:

http://www.planetvideo.com.au/blog/2009/...

Amanda wrote: "I agree...I kinda feel bad about it, like if he didn't want it published it should be burned or something. But then again...I want to read it, gosh darn it. All of it!"

We would have lost a number of great books and loads of insight into the lives of their authors if everyone's last wishes that their papers be burned had been followed. Feel no guilt over wanting to read his books.

But perhpas it is not our right to know these things, if the wishes of the authors are that they did not want them to be known. They should be intitiled to privacy as much as anyone else.

Silver wrote: "But perhaps it is not our right to know these things, if the wishes of the authors are that they did not want them to be known. They should be entitled to privacy as much as anyone else."

There may be an argument to be made for that, but I'm glad that we have Emily Dickinson's letters and journals, to just give one example.

Or Kafka's........