The Catcher in the Rye

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The Catcher in the Rye

• Written by J. D. Salinger
• (published 1951)

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The Catcher in the Rye

• One of the most famous novels of the twentieth
  century among educated people
• Has the reputation for appealing to off-beat,
  flaky, or deranged individuals
• Mark David Chapman (John Lennons assassin) was
  obsessed with Catcher.

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Holden Caulfield

• Narrator and main character
• A troubled sixteen-year-old
• First adolescent to use profanity casually in an
  American novel
• Through his struggles, readers learn how NOT to
  deal with problems

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J. D. Salinger1919-2010

• Won instant fame and fortune with publication of
  Catcher
• Disliked fame, and has only granted one interview
• Refused to be photographed or filmed
• Never appeared on television
• Lived reclusively in New Hampshire in a walled
  estate
• Refused to have Catcher made into a film during
  his lifetime

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Salinger, continued

• Married three times
• First wife was a psychiatrist (he used his
  knowledge of psychiatry extensively in Catcher)
• Last wife was nearly half his age
• His daughter is a writer his son is an actor
• Attended military schools
• Saw heavy combat in World War II
• Published other novels and many short
  storiesnone as famous or popular as Catcher

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Novel begins

• With Holden in a mental institution in
  California, looking back on what led to his
  breakdown. Novel is a long flashback.
• Reference to David Copperfield
• David Copperfield, a novel by Charles Dickens,
  was required by most students in the 1940s
  through the 1970s (long, slow-moving book about a
  boys pitiful childhood).

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