candor // 01.29.10
J.D. Salinger was my introduction to the wonderful world of candor and snarking on phonies. I was probably Holden Caulfield's age when I first read The Catcher in The Rye, the perfect age for identifying with that sort of thing. Like many others, I was tired of all the insincerity I saw around me and skeptical of those who professed to be sincere. At least that's what I got out of the book at the time. Awareness of the book's flaws came after that initial amazement at someone articulating so many truths (or things I deemed true). It's just so frank about so much. Aw, hell. When something helps influence you at a young age, it's hard to look back with a critical eye. I've read and reread Catcher so many times that I have certain lines memorized and they'll run through my head once in a while, like a fragment of a song I can't forget. All these little melodies reappearing out of the blue.
In the 11th grade, near the end of our unit on The Catcher in the Rye, I made a "serious" mix with a tracklisting and description of how each track related to something in the book. My friend H made one as well. Both our mixes had "Rollerskate Skinny" by The Old 97's on it because that was one of the phrases Holden uses to describe his sister. The last track on mine was "Lowdown" by My Morning Jacket because the gentle tune and leisurely drums reminded me of the carousel spinning around and around near the end of the book. A soundtrack for the final scene in the film adaptation in my head. Just one of those earnest things you do as a kid.
There's a line in Catcher about how Holden thinks the best authors are the ones you'd like to hear more from: "What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it." From what I've read about Salinger in his later years, I probably wouldn't have wanted to know him as he was, but based on what I've read from the man, I'd have liked to call him up. Not Holden, but the guy who wrote Catcher and all those other words that comfort people for some reason or another. Sometimes you'll read something and it's so damn nice that you just want to check out everything else the author's done, because if they've already come up with something that resonates with you, who knows what else they have up their sleeve? Enlighten me, man. Tell me more.
I'd still like to believe that this is all an elaborate hoax by a cantankerous old coot who just wants everyone off his back, but it's drawing far too much attention for someone who made a point of becoming a recluse for the rest of his life.
Anyway. R.I.P., Salinger, and thanks.