A bit late perhaps. But a necessary nod to the passing of the man who wrote one of the great novels of the twentieth century.
I first came across this book in 4th year at school. I was 16. I can still remember the teacher's name who gave it to me, David Johnstone.
Up to that moment I'd never read a book which dealt with people my age, more importantly, people my age who were struggling to come to terms with the world around them.
All the characters in books I'd read had been either children scoffing sticky buns and lashings of ginger beer or adults waging war or discovering Egyptian tombs.
Suddenly I entered a world which MEANT something. An antihero I could relate to.
A revelation was at hand.....
Holden Caulfield
RIP JD
So so true, Neil. I was a child in the 60's, a time of enormous upheaval and change in America. A world away from the stuff of fairy tales. Folk singers, and writers were my heroes...still are. Salinger was the first of many. At last, someone who spoke directly to my adolescence. The birth of The Generation Gap, we now had something with which to drive our parents crazy. If that wasn't enough, Salinger introduced me to Kerouac and company. There was no closing the barn door now. The lives he's impacted, the generations. With one wee book. Bless you, Mr Salinger. Thanks for this post, Neil. :)
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