41 Comments

1. 1
   

   WalterNeff says:
   Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 10:24am

   RIP from this secret slob
2. 2
   

   Dominik says:
   Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 10:32am

   Noooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
   
   Farewell, Holden Caulfield!
3. 3
   

   1eyedjoker says:
   Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 10:37am

   Last week my professor went on about how “The Catcher in Rye” was a horribly written book.
4. 4
   

   Dominik says:
   Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 10:38am

   Still shocked…I wonder what will happen to those manuscripts in Salingers safe that his daughter Margaret mentioned in her autobiography?
   I´m really dying to read them!
5. 5
   

   Dominik says:
   Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 10:40am

   1eyedjoker: Old story, especially in academic surroundings: Trash some masters and gain some profile.
   Tell him he is LAME!
6. 6
   

   w.j. says:
   Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 10:43am

   I always wondered why the book was never adapted because I always felt it could have been treated quite well as a film. Great letter though, and the thought that it may eventually become a film after the rights have been sold as “án insurance policy” for his family, is quite fascinating. We should start wondering who would be the perfect Holden Caulfield!
7. 7
   

   Ryan Adams says:
   Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 10:46am

   Last week my professor went on about how “The Catcher in Rye” was a horribly written book.

   @ 1eyedjoker

   Is it too late in the semester to drop that class?
   Ditch it. Go browse the stacks in the library. You’d be better off taking an Incomplete than sitting through any more jackass lectures like that.
8. 8
   

   Sasha Stone says:
   Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 10:51am

   I agree, Ryan. Any teacher who say such a stupid thing ought not to be teaching, A. and is probably a fucked up person to boot – meaning, they will want you to learn only what they think is important – warped and messed up. Drop the class.
9. 9
   

   Dominik says:
   Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 10:51am

   In over seven years constantly visiting this side this is really one of the most shocking articles.
   He was very old, yes, but still…
10. 10
    

    Max G says:
    Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 11:12am

    RIP
    old JD Salinger
11. 11
    

    NycOscarBuff84 says:
    Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 11:15am

    @Ryan and Sasha I am so grateful that I had great teachers and professors all through high school and college BUT… there’s a back door censorship going on in many schools nowadays (I have a few friends who are English teachers across the country and though they haven’t been told they can’t teach a speak book but they are advised it would NOT be a good idea to select a particular book). Catcher in the Rye was a heavily censored book for decades.

    Catcher in the Rye captured one of the truest, genuine voices and characters in 20th century literature. Though I would have loved to see a great director tackle the novel but to respect the author’s wishes and rather not see an even average adaptation of it the book always has a place in my library.
12. 12
    

    Joolz says:
    Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 11:40am

    Salinger is dead, and Mark Chapman still lives.

    God is still so unfair.
13. 13
    

    Manuel says:
    Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 11:59am

    Snif snif…

    His books made me happy. I guess that’s it…
14. 14
    

    Kay says:
    Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 12:14pm

    Man so many stars are dying these days. rip
15. 15
    

    Holden says:
    Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 12:21pm

    Caulfield is my namesake, and now Salinger is gone.That sucks.
16. 16
    

    richard crawford says:
    Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 12:21pm

    an original, wonderfully AMERICAN author.
    It’s a nice day for bananafish.
17. 17
    

    Ken G says:
    Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 12:32pm

    I’ve always been more fascinated with his life than the book “Catcher in the Rye” even though I think it’s a great book. Also enjoyed his short stories. He will be missed. I wonder if the novels that he’s written that have never been published will ever get released now.
18. 18
    

    Graham L says:
    Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 12:57pm

    He has written one of the most classic, controversial and talked-about novels of all time. The Catcher in the Rye is, and will always be, my favourite book and hence Salinger will always be my favourite author. I am feeling very sad today…but comfort in the belief that a part of him will never die.
    RIP, Mr. Salinger.
19. 19
    

    Magically Delicious says:
    Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 1:04pm

    Saw an Off-Broadway play a few years ago called “Matt and Ben”, in which Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are sitting around their apartment trying to adapt Catcher in the Rye into a movie. Then the script for Good Will Hunting falls from the sky and they undergo a moral crisis over what to do with it.
20. 20
    

    Remy says:
    Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 1:06pm

    Oh no! What a sad loss. He was one of my favorite writers, and “Catcher in the Rye” may be my favorite novel. I adore his style, and the way he approached the Glass family saga from so many different directions, highlighting bits and pieces here and there for the reader to piece together the full picture.

    This is really strange, and I swear I’m not making this up (and I hope it doesn’t sound inappropriate): earlier today, for no apparent reason, my mind turned to Salinger and what I knew of his life, and I started musing on how exactly he was living right now, and what he might be doing and thinking.

    It’s almost creepy. Over a year ago, again out of nowhere, knowing Paul Newman was suffering from cancer, I suddenly thought I would soon hear the news of his death. Less than an hour later, I read the news on the internet.

    This is really true.
21. 21
    

    Jonas says:
    Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 1:12pm

    He wrote my favorite book, may he rest in peace.
22. 22
    

    HaroldsMaude says:
    Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 1:27pm

    OK, minor quibble. JD Salinger writes a great book and defies it being made into a film and gets a special posting on AD –

    but Erich Segal who wrote a piece of crap that became part of American and popular culture for like ever, spawned a quote often parodied, a song played even today on elevators, dentist offices and Andy Williams retrospectives, and especially for this blog, a film that spurred the careers of Ryan O’Neal and Ali McGraw, featured Ray Milland and Tommy Lee Jones and made over $100M in 19-friggin 70 gets no notice when he dies (which he did, about 10 days ago)?

    I guess I’ll chalk it up to AD having taste.
23. 23
    

    harry says:
    Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 1:59pm

    Howard Zinn and JD Salinger gone in the course of 24 hours.
24. 24
    

    daren says:
    Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 2:14pm

    Franny and Zooey changed everything for me, my perception of myself, the world, and literature were reconstructed the day I finished those short stories. Salinger was a master, a genius, and a god. But if there is one positive, he was still writing while he was not publishing so maybe there will be some new experiences to have with Salinger.
25. 25
    

    The_Baumer says:
    Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 2:18pm

    I really hope his wishes will be respected. It should never be a movie. Holden is a chacacter that no one would be able to do justice. The actor would be set up to fail.
    The images in the book are so vivid and interperative that I believe they are best left to the reader. Obviously, it may have driven a few people to put on their hunting caps and eliminate the phonies in their life but the bottom line is that it has had a great impact on generations of readers.
    I think the treatment it got in Six Degrees of Separation when Paul discusses his thesis is the closest it needs to get to the big screen.
26. 26
    

    Laura says:
    Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 2:24pm

    RIP J.D. Salinger. Truly one of the greatest authors ever.

    And Sasha, thanks for posting that letter. He definitely made a very good argument for why Catcher should NOT be performed in theater or film. I wonder if his wishes will be respected now that he’s gone? Probably not, but I really hope that they will be be.
27. 27
    

    Kevin Landry says:
    Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 2:36pm

    @1eyedjoker

    I just started reading Franny and Zooey, and I find hilarious that Franny rants, at some point, about professors who only exist to destroy other author’s work and defend the author they did their thesis on. Sounds very familiar…
28. 28
    

    Free says:
    Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 2:44pm

    The author of my favorite book ever just died, and so did Miramax. Double damn.
29. 29
    

    unlikelyhood says:
    Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 3:36pm

    19. Magically Delicious – If that’s true, the fact that Affleck and Damon were, at some point, truly trying to make Howard Zinn’s book into a movie is wildly crazy today.
30. 30
    

    unlikelyhood says:
    Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 3:42pm

    22. HaroldMaude – You can’t be serious if you’ve named yourself after Harold & Maude – that movie was the anti-Love Story.

    Sasha ignore him. Surely not recognizing Segal means never having to say you’re sorry.

    Meanwhile some terrible junior exec today is calling Robert Pattinson and asking him if he’s ever thought about playing Holden Caulfield…
31. 31
    

    Marlon says:
    Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 3:46pm

    who was mr. herbert?
32. 32
    

    Charlie says:
    Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 4:07pm

    @Magically Delicious:

    Is there a link?

    Back on topic, I just finished re-reading The Catcher In The Rye. I’m never thinking about it the same way again.

    RIP. You will be truly missed.
33. 33
    

    Seankgallagher says:
    Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 4:29pm

    I liked “Catcher in the Rye,” but it wasn’t the iconic book for me that it obviously was for so many others. It wasn’t until reading “Nine Stories” that I appreciated what a fine writer he really was. And while Salinger may not have thought “Catcher” would adapt well to film – a notion I won’t debate until I’ve read it again, which I haven’t since high school – I think any one of those stories, particularly “Uncle Wiggly in Connecticut”, would make a good movie. And given Wes Anderson’s obvious affinity for Salinger, as shown in THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS, I think he’d be a good choice to direct them.
34. 34
    

    unlikelyhood says:
    Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 5:09pm

    33. Sean, funny you should say that about Uncle Wiggily – it was because they made that film that Salinger refused all other adaptations – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Foolish_Heart_(film)
35. 35
    

    Zach says:
    Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 5:21pm

    Jeez, where’s the tribute to Zelda Rubinstein?
36. 36
    

    filmfemme says:
    Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 8:37pm

    “The Catcher in the Rye” is my favorite book of all time. My heart skipped a beat when I saw that he died (here, BTW, since I’ve been offline most of the night). RIP, you talented, crotchety old man.
37. 37
    

    1eyedjoker says:
    Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 9:03pm

    My professor really wasn’t giving a lecture, he just commented on how he thought the book wasn’t well written. I know some people think it’s stupid for a Professor to voice an opinion that isn’t popular, but it was his opinion.

    He did like Anthony Burgess, though.
38. 38
    

    Humdinger says:
    Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 9:21pm

    Goodbye Mr. Salinger. I know you don’t agree but I think Catcher would become a great film if handled by a great director.
39. 39
    

    Jeff says:
    Friday, January 29, 2010 at 10:35am

    Salinger did sell the rights to his story “Uncle Wiggly in Connecticut” to Samuel Goldwyn and it was made into a movie–”My Foolish Heart” with Susan Hayward (nominated for Best Actress) in 1949. Salinger hated it and resolved never to sell the adaptation rights to any of his works again.

    But this is almost incredible–”My Foolish Heart” opened in New York at the same time and was reviewed in Time Magazine (with acknowlegment of the story it was adapted from–though the review may have just referred to it as a New Yorker story rather than specifically Salinger). The next review in the same column was of a movie called “Dear Wife” and they ran a picture of the two leads of “Dear Wife” with the review and identified them by their last names. The stars were William Holden and Joan Caulfield. Anyone with access to the Time Magazine archives can verify this.
40. 40
    

    Charlie says:
    Friday, January 29, 2010 at 11:17am

    Sasha,

    Small grammar note: you forgot the “the” in “The Catcher In The Rye.”

    RIP Mr. Salinger. Your works will live on forever.
41. 41
    

    Dan says:
    Friday, January 29, 2010 at 11:36am

    My feeling about Catcher in the Rye is that is can be done in film, definitely, but certainly not by someone who merely wants to “translate it to film.” It takes a director and a company with with real vision, and a strong one at that, and it can’t be “commercial.” Now, I don’t mean Sokurov style, necessarily, but a director with that kind of dense vision, and yet still a David Lean kind of director – where the audience is not “conscious of techique” no matter how much technique there is.

    I cannot think offhand of a director currently working that would be able to do it. Campion? Reichardt?