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J.D. Salinger

J.D. Salinger

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Page 1: J.D. Salinger

J.D. Salinger

Page 2: J.D. Salinger

• Born January 1, 1919 in New York

• Went to Valley Forge Military Academy in Wayne, Pennsylvania • Attended Ursinus College in Pennsylvania

• Professor Whit Burnett - Salinger met Professor Whit Burnett at Colombia University in New York Burnett inspired Salinger to begin publishing articles to famous magazines Story, Collier’s, and Saturday Evening Post.

• Served in the army for World War II from 1942-1944 • Participated in the Normandy Invasion and Battle of the Bulge during his service

• Married Sylvia Welter in 1946 • Salinger separated with Welter eight months after their marriage

• Claire Douglas • In 1955, Salinger married Claire Douglas • Salinger had two children with Douglas: Margaret (1955) and Matthew (1960)

• Salinger died in 2010 at the age of 91

Salinger Bio

Old Salinger

Young Salinger

Page 3: J.D. Salinger

Major Work• The Catcher in the Rye was published on July 16,

1951. The novel quickly reaches Number 4 on The New York Times Bestsellers list.

• Originally published for adults, it has since become popular with adolescent readers for its themes of teenage angst and alienation.

• It has been translated into almost all of the world's major languages. So far, it has sold more than 120 million copies worldwide and still regularly tops polls of the most popular novel of all time.

• The novel had significant cultural influence, and works inspired by the novel have been said to form their own genre. Dr. Sarah Graham assessed works influenced by The Catcher in the Rye to include the novels Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews and many more.

Page 4: J.D. Salinger

• The novel consists of his short story "Franny" and novella Zooey.

• Franny and Zooey, both in their twenties, are the two youngest members of the Glass family, which was a frequent focus of Salinger's writings.

• "Franny" takes place in an unnamed college town during the weekend of "the Yale game" and tells of an undergraduate who is becoming disenchanted with the selfishness and inauthenticity she perceives all around her.

• Zooey, the older brother of Franny, comes to her aid, offering what he thinks is brotherly love, understanding, and words of sage advice because she suffers from a spiritual and existential breakdown

Minor Work•  Franny and Zooey becomes Number 1 on The New

York Times Bestsellers list.

Page 5: J.D. Salinger

• Two years after this literary and financial success gave him untold freedom and independence, Salinger headed off to the remote rural town of Cornish, New Hampshire  -  and the isolation that characterized the rest of his life.

• He built himself a separate cabin a quarter of a mile away in the woods, painted it dark green as camouflage against possible intruders, and spent most of the time there working.

• Salinger became increasingly eccentric, drinking his own urine and sitting in a special device known as an orgone box, which was supposed to promote health.

• He worked sitting in an old car seat, typing on an ancient typewriter at a desk made from a plain slab of wood. He hated being disturbed, even by Margaret. 

• in 1963, a silence he explained himself with words that could be his epitaph: 'I like to write. I love to write. But I write just for myself and my own pleasure.'

Page 6: J.D. Salinger

Characteristics

bitter cynical*disgustnostalgiceccentric

rich in imagination unique & very distinctdirect to the point

‘informal’*believing that people are motivated by self-interest; distrustful of human sincerity or integrity.

Page 7: J.D. Salinger

Characteristics

bitter disgustnostalgiceccentric

rich in imagination unique & very distinctdirect to the point

‘informal’ angst

cynical*

*believing that people are motivated by self-interest; distrustful of human sincerity or integrity.

Page 8: J.D. Salinger

Characteristics

bitter disgustnostalgiceccentric

rich in imagination unique & very distinctdirect to the point

‘informal’ angst

frankcynical*

*believing that people are motivated by self-interest; distrustful of human sincerity or integrity.

Page 9: J.D. Salinger

“Told in the voice of its tall, grey-haired hero, Holden

Caulfield, spawned a new genre of fiction that remains

stupendously popular: the first-person narrative of

someone young, neurotic, misunderstood, insecure and

vulnerable. It was an undoubted masterpiece.”

Finally, I finished this book. It's usually not a good thing

when you're relieved once you finish a book but

sometimes I feel that it's different with Salinger books.

They are very much a journey, for the reader and the

characters, in which you and they work through problems.

Of course you're relieved when you find the answers at

the end. And thankfully, Salinger does give answers.

Characteristics / Critique

Page 10: J.D. Salinger

Critique

• “All works indicate Salinger's apparent quest for enlightenment or happiness, his efforts to separate religion from egoism in a society he sees as corrupt, and his voluntary withdrawal from that society.”

• “In each work, Salinger reveals a new facet of his own mysterious person.”

Page 11: J.D. Salinger

Critique

Salinger’s Writing styleThe Catcher in the Rye is written in a subjective style from the point of view of its protagonist, Holden Caulfield, following his exact thought processes. There is flow in the seemingly disjointed ideas and episodes; for example, as Holden sits in a chair in his dorm, minor events, such as picking up a book or looking at a table, unfold into discussions about experiences.

Critical reviews agree that the novel accurately reflected the teenage colloquial speech of the time.

**Words and phrases that frequently appear include:•"Phony": Superficial, hypocritical, and pretentious•"That killed me": I found that hilarious or astonishing•"Flit": Homosexual•"Crumby": Inadequate, insufficient, and/or disappointing•"Snowing": sweet-talking•"I got a bang out of that": I found it hilarious or exciting•"Shoot the bull": Have a conversation containing false elements