The Catcher in the Rye enigma continues
To this day many believe J.D. Salinger’s bestselling novel The Catcher in the Rye was part of the CIA’s extensive mind control program known as MK-Ultra, and that while assassins, or future assassins, were being brainwashed they were forced to read the book over and over until it was embedded in their minds.
In The Catcher in the Rye Enigma, Book 4 of our Underground Knowledge Series, we examine the allegation that Salinger implanted mind control triggers into his novel – triggers that enabled CIA handlers to activate Manchurian Candidates for planned assassinations.
The very idea that assassination codes are buried deep in Salinger’s book is one of the oldest conspiracy theories around. However, given what we’ve unearthed in our research for this book and indeed the entirety of The Underground Knowledge Series, we believe some of the theories swirling about Salinger’s classic deserve another look.
The Catcher in the Rye Enigma paperback and Kindle ebook are available via Amazon: https://lnkd.in/enuW97W
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Thanks for your interesting feedback Jim... and good to know you weren't prompted to become a Manchurian Candidate!Given Salinger's 'Catcher' was one of the most well read novels of the 20th Century I didn't imagine for one moment every one of the millions of Americans who read it felt the need to kill someone. Had that been the case there may not be many of you guys (Americans) left by now.
If (IF) the book did contain triggers, perhaps they were aimed at the more unstable, easily manipulated reader?
Lance wrote: "Thanks for your interesting feedback Jim... and good to know you weren't prompted to become a Manchurian Candidate!Given Salinger's 'Catcher' was one of the most well read novels of the 20th Cent..."
Lance,
Your theory that a few easily manipulated readers may very well have been inspired by certain phrases within the narrative of Catcher in the Rye to commit horrendous acts of violence is valid. One only has to look at the violence that has been justified time and again throughout history by assassins quoting the Bible and Koran to explain their actions as a prime example of a mindset inspired by merely reading a book.
I agree. The Bible and Koran are good examples.
I happen to own a copy of the novel and have read and re-read it at different stages of my life - once as a teenager, twice during middle-age, and a fourth time, at age 70.
I am a former Roman Catholic seminarian, a former U.S. Marine and Vietnam veteran, a father of 5 children, a devoted husband for 35 years, until my wife died in 2005, a grandfather of 4, a successful businessman for 33 years, and a happy retiree for the past 17 years. I have never had the slightest inclination to assassinate anyone.
Catcher in the Rye is a wonderful, entertaining story that merely demonstrates that the teenage mind in the 1940's was as curious, opinionated, obsessed with the allure of the opposite sex, rebellious, and confused as that of teenagers of every generation. At no time while reading it did I get the feeling that it contained some mysterious hidden code designed to entice certain readers to create a devious plot against a fellow human being.
This is merely my personal opinion and I should point out that my four adult children have often confessed that they are patiently waiting for me to grow up.