Everybody's talking about the passing of the great writer J.D. Salinger. I recently re-read
The Catcher in the Rye and I didn't love it the way I did when I was younger. But what I love about that book is the memory of my mom reading it out loud to me when I was 7 or 8 years old. It was one of her favorite books and so we cuddled up one weekend in her big, low-to-the-floor water bed in her apartment she shared with Wayne in South Weymouth. I'm pretty sure she read that entire book aloud to me in a weekend and was I ever captivated! The subject matter was sophisticated for a little kid, and I loved being treated with such respect. I loved the coziness of my mom's voice reading to me, the intimacy of the time together and the vivid images in the story. I still think of the teacher with the vicks vaporub and all the things that made Holden as sad as hell and how he loved his little sister Phoebe. In third grade (Miss Ellsworth's class...she was so nice and so pretty), we had a book report assignment that involved writing a letter to an author. I wrote to Salinger and knew he wouldn't write back (my mom told me about his reclusiveness, which I respected). But I loved writing to him. The thing is, I really understood that book in third grade, but only because my mom took the time to read it aloud to me and provide explanations as we went along. I was very lucky. I've never read anything that sophisticated and with that much patience to my children.
Later, Mom told me about the Glass family and we read Franny and Zooey (often people asked me if I was named after that book, but my name is ZOE, not Zooey. Duh.). That book made me want to smoke cigarettes in the bathtub. And a bit later I read Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction, which remains my favorite. I loved that Salinger didn't mind using lots of parentheses (celebrated them!) and I loved what he wrote within those parentheses. As an only child, I loved Buddy's admiration for Seymour and the mystery of Seymour through Buddy's eyes. I love, love that book and can read it again and again with equal joy every time. And I love the title of the short story, "For Esme, with Love and Squalor" which is just a perfectly exquisite and romantic phrase.
J.D. Salinger meant so much to so many readers. Generations grew up reading him, learning about the act of reading and being a reader through his writing. And so many of us talked to each other about his writings, connected with his characters and with one another because of his work. Our lives were made richer and more textured through the reading, the stories, the characters and artful simplicity of the writing. This is the legacy of a great artist. Thank you J.D and thank you Momma.
