They were characters that changed my life. I sat down as a young girl with a white book in my hand, plain black letters on the cover, and a rainbow in the left hand corner. The stories were simple and complex. Easy to understand and so profound. I drank up the words like someone who had been lost in the desert.
Franny and Zoey - I felt like a fly on the wall, inside that house of Glass. Seymour who longed for a life away from the world and bananafish. I felt like the stories were written just for me. I was someone who hated to read. It wasn't fun because I didn't feel like the words on the page made sense. I wanted to love reading. I've always loved books. But there was something in my way. JD took down those walls and gave me a place to sit and enjoy the experience.
As a teacher I now see Holden a couple of times a year. He helps me to talk about the issues that are important to teenagers - but as adults we are able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. He reminds me that there are still Phonies and Phoebes in the world. I've had a few students who have felt the same way about JD in the same way that I do. In fact it was one of my formers who sent me a text today letting me know that Salinger was gone.
What a life, 91 years. I can't imagine what he has seen and written about in that lifetime. It's no doubt that he will have built a system of lawyers and a team of people who will fight for his writing to be kept sacred. To be safe forever from the movies - kept on the page - where the world will be exposed to those beautiful stories and tales of human adventure. After All - I think there is a little Holden in all of us.
Thank you Mr. Salinger - Thank you.
No comments:
Post a Comment