Salinger\'s Edgy Book: Catcher in the Rye

Catcher in the Rye

Troubled Teen Kicked out of Pency Prep, Rejects Adult World, Seeks Meaning in NY

Gordon's Books in Manhattan

212-555-READSixteen-year-old Holden Caulfield, who lost his fencing team's equipment on a New York City subway -- and caused the match to be cancelled -- has been dismissed from Pency Prep and is seeking emotional and psychological shelter in New York. Caulfield, still grieving over the death of his ten-year-old brother Allie -- who died of complications resulting from a struggle with leukemia -- has now failed to meet the requirements of three prep schools. Asked about the nature of his discomfort regarding attending these schools, the teen says that "Everybody sticks together in these dirty little cliques…even the guys that belong to the goddamn Book-of-the-Month Club stick together…" (131)

A reporter asked Caulfield what he has done in New York City now that he has been unsuccessful in prep school and is visiting the "Big Apple." He said he is both distressed and depressed and he feels like the whole world is a phony place. He reports that he danced with several women in his hotel lounge on his first night in New York, hoping to strike up a romantic conversation with one of them but he says the communication and vibes just weren't there. Later he met a woman named "Sunny" and she didn't want to have a conversation either. Depressed over the lack of communication, he said he imbibed too much alcohol and will try again to me people who aren't "phony" on his second day in the city.

Ten-Year-old Dies after bout with Leukemia

Allie Caulfield, a ten-year-old boy who battled with leukemia for several years, has died in a Manhattan hospital. Caulfield was born on June 19, 1940, to Linda and Loyd Caulfield. He was a bright young man, with a warm smile and a good world for everyone. Allie excelled in everything he did, and was known for his kindness and willingness to help anyone who needed his assistance. He loved baseball, camping, and he read many books. He leaves behind his parents and two brothers, Holden and DB, and sister Phoebe.

Novelist Salinger's Visit to Dachau -- Los Angeles Times Opinion Column

After the long and bloody war the eyes of the world were focused on the terrible slaughter and brutal cruelty that the Nazis perpetrated on the Jewish community in Europe. An estimated 5 to 6 million Jews were murdered by Hitler's army, and only a few of those American soldiers who came upon the Nazi death camps -- and helped those prisoners who were holding on to life by a thread -- have shared their horror stories with the media.

American author J.D. Salinger -- writer of The Catcher in the Rye -- whose father was Jewish, served in World War II in Europe. Though his mother, Linda, was Roman Catholic, Salinger never thought of himself as anything other than being Jewish. He landed on Utah Beach in Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944, along with 156,000 Allied soldiers, and encountered many horrific scenes including the Battle of the Bulge and, when the fighting was over, the Dachau death camp in Germany.

"He was one of the first soldiers to enter a liberated Nazi concentration camp," said Salinger's daughter Margaret, in her memoir called Dream Catcher. "On April 23, as a member of the 4th Infantry Division, my father witnessed the horrific scenes of large piles of dead bodies, some fully decayed, others still in the process of decay," Margaret wrote. "To the day he died, he remained possessed by the memories and images from that experience and was an avid pacifist, as is borne out in his novels and short stories," Margaret explained.

World War II Vets' Personal Lives Touched by War -- Atlanta Journal

Interviews with veterans of WWII in the 1950s reveal sensitivity and silence, as they try to heal emotionally from the horrors of Nazi Germany. "My father has a deaf ear from a mortar explosion and when he hears a loud noise he still flinches," said Mary Walter, whose father was an infantry soldier and lost his left leg. "He won't talk about his experienced, but he has nightmares and is depressed often," Walter told the New York Times Monday, April 24, 1954. "I pity the families of those who witnessed the Holocaust up close," she added.

Letter to the Editor -- Stop Banning Cather in the Rye

Ernie's Lounge

Always the best mix of drinks & dolls "The fact that high schools and other libraries are censoring and are banning J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye is both social shocking and from an educational standpoint is morally unconscionable. I read the other day that a teacher in Oklahoma was fired for giving her high school students an assignment to read and report on Salinger's great American novel. That is outrageous!

When it comes to teenage angst represented through a frustrated ex-prep school student trying to find his way in a confusing adult world, Salinger has hit the literary nail on the head. When Holden Caulfield is put off by his friend Sally -- after taking her to a Broadway show and taking her skating at Rockefeller Center -- his classical teenage response for rejection is universal: "You give me a royal pain in the ass, if you want to know the truth." My own son went through some of the same situations that Holden went through, and my son was cynical about society too, so this book has relevance to teenagers and to adults. Moreover, this is a country that prides itself on freedom of expression, freedom of the press, and while we teach our kids in social studies classes about these Constitutionally-guaranteed freedoms, here we are telling those same kids they can't read a certain book because it is provocative and reflects the confusion and angst that young people experience in our society.

In conclusion, let me say to all the libraries and schools that are banning this book, your actions are very similar to the book-burning rallies that Hitler promoted. I hope in the coming years our schools and libraries will have a more enlightened approach to books that might be a little raw and provocative -- while presenting an important social message! Like Holden, I'm telling the truth -- "I really did" -- and if you are a school board member demanding the book be banned, and if you "play bridge & #8230;and drink martinis," you're no better than the "phonies" that Holden calls out in Salinger's terrific book.

Advice Column -- Ask Mollie

"Dear Mollie, my daughter was starting to read J.D. Salinger's book, The Catcher in the Rye, when the school issued a memo that bans the book at our high school. What should I do to show my disgust? I am ready to go to the high school library and pound on the librarian's desk, demanding an explanation (signed) Outraged in Brooklyn." Dear Outraged, you should arrange a meeting with the principal and express your viewpoints. And during the next school board meeting, get several other parents to attend with you and tell the board how narrow-minded they are. Shouting and banging on desks won't solve this problem. You need to make this debate one of scholarship and rights, not of anger and protest.