I woke up to a very pleasant morning today.Pleasant - until I learnt that one of my most favourite writers was no more. Most favourite, despite the fact that I have had a chance to read only one if his books. Because he did not publish any other major titles. And that was a decade ago. May be fifteen years. Who cares! With good things, you don't keep a track of time. That book had an enormous impact on me. Sort of transformational. As a kid, I remember not having told my mother that I read the 'Catcher'. I knew her well. She would never have allowed me that book when I was 16. And I would have missed out on something amazing.
JD Salinger died today. I learnt about it from the newspapers. But he left an immortal kid behind him. Yes, I am talking about the Holden Caulfield. That ever confused character from Sallinger's 'Catcher in the Rye'. One we all enjoyed reading about. Sometimes dreaded his situation, sometimes laughed at it and at other times just wondered 'how could he be?'. Whatever it made you feel, one thing was for sure. You could so easily immerse yourself into the life of Holden and those surrounding him. The story did not end with last page of the book. It took off from there. For weeks on, I kept thinking about what would happen to Holden now that book has ended and he is still stranded; still desiring; still the same confused kid? It was like one of those great stories you never wanted to end. But end it did.
And did I tell you how I got my hands on that book? Well, that is a whole different story altogether. It was lying in a dusty corner of my english teacher's personal cabinet. Old man was a genious and one of my personal favourites. I was in high school back then and spent countless afternoons at his place; listening to everything he had to say. He, his corner chair and his never ending cigarettes were constant features of my weekend life. And one day, while shuffling through his cabinet, I found this book.
I asked him, ' What sort of book is this? It has quite a funny name - Catcher in the Rye.'
He answered, ' Take a look and try reading it my friend. May be it will stay with you forever.'
And he was so right. Stay it did with me. Forever.
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3 comments:
A slight correction is required here. Besides "Catcher" Salinger published a few books other books and collections of short stories as well, including "9 Stories," "Franny and Zooey," "Raise High the Roofbeam, Carpenters" and "Seymour: - An Introduction."
So long.
Yes. you are right. Specially the 'Franny and Zooey' I remember.Those dramaa kids. But I never got to read anything else. in fact conveniently forgot about it all. Untill yesterday when I read Salinger was dead. and more so, Catcher i guess was the only full fledged novel.
If you liked Salinger, try also "We need to talk about Kevin" by Lionel Shriver. SOmething about that novel reminds me constantly of "Catcher".
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