Dear Mr. Salinger,
I'd like to start out by saying that I didn't read "The Catcher in the Rye" in high school. I wasn't required to, so I'm not a phony. I read about Holden Caulfield when I was 19 years old on my own behalf. I'd also like to mention that "Catcher" was not the first piece of your art that I read.
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I fell in love with your writing when I read "Nine Stories". I discovered the book in my attic in a cardboard box while looking for something totally different. But when I stumbled upon that orange, fraying, cover your name looked particularly familiar so I took a look. I'm glad I did because, not only was this book a first edition but because the stories inside of it were nothing like I had ever read.
Your writing was a lot different from the other voices in the 1940's and 1950's. I noticed that right away. I hadn't read anything with such an original tone before. It seemed strange that someone from such a long time ago could voice their thoughts the way you did. It was easy to read your work - and I don't mean that in a bad way. You see, Ernest Hemingway was too frilly with his stuff (I know you liked him a lot) and Shakespeare is too ridiculous. You're that perfect medium.
I like the look on people's faces when I tell them that "Catcher" is my favorite book because it's the typical millennial response. I wish I could tell them that the book didn't save my life and I never thought it did. I like it because it's a good book, that's all. The narrating is genius and the events within the story are thoughtful. Yes, I connect with Holden on a few things but he's not just like me.
But enough about Holden and his story. Let's talk about you.
I watched this documentary on you not too long ago (actually, I've seen it twice) and I couldn't help but notice that you were sort of an arrogant prick. You seemed to be a terrible father and an awful husband. You also had a love affair with a fifteen-year-old. (Yikes. We don't take that stuff lightly nowadays). I'm not going to defend you for something that serious, nor condone your actions. You were wrong to be that kind of man.
After you died, literature became sort of a laughing stock. You were one of the last classic authors to die. I think that after 2010 people just assumed that only a handful of the world was physically able to pick up a book. Sooner or later, this novel written by a woman made the YA genre more popular than what it was and that's when it all happened.
Inflation. Saturation. Publicity. Films.
All in the name of storytelling.
One thing that I really love about you was your refusal to make "Catcher" into a movie and, even after you died, you made it impossible for anyone to pick up the story for the big-screen. I know you didn't even like publishing your stuff, let alone allowing Hollywood get a hold of your manuscripts. I respect that.
I know that you probably felt ill every time someone referred to your story as an excuse for garbage behavior. John Lennon's killer used Holden for his inspiration, but you already know that. Your character has been a symbol of sociopaths ever since the story surfaced. I know it probably made you angry too. I can't imagine what I'd do if someone used my book as motivation to end someone's life.
You were very sad. I can tell. You shut yourself away for decades. I know you used the excuse that every writer bullshits people into believing; writers are sensitive people, right? No. We're sad people. You can't hide that from me.
Anyway, today I was in the library and I was looking through the YA section (I know you probably have no idea what 'young adult section' even means, considering that it was hardly a thing back in your time, if at all) when I noticed something very sad; we've all let you down.
All of us 'writers'. We've truly let you down, along with Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Woolf, and, hell, even Plath (as much as I hate to admit it). Our voices are sloppy. Our stories are mediocre. Storytelling isn't an art anymore - it's entertainment. A contest. We think that because we are capable of using a computer we have the power to write beautiful poetry or amazing, life changing stories. Books are no longer sacred. (For instance, we have this new thing called e-books. Some people read novels on electronic devices rather than on paper. It's disgusting.)
One of the things I wanted to touch face with you on was this new film they're making about you. They're calling it, "Rebel in the Rye". I really want to know what you would have thought about this. I'm assuming you'd be angrier than a cat in a bathtub. I know you hated publicity and the industry.
I guess what I'm trying to say, Mr. Salinger, is that I'm terribly sorry. I'm so sorry I've let you down. I'm so sorry that literature is fading from us.
I hope you can forgive me.
