JD Salinger dead at 91

How long before his damn kids sell the movie rights to "Catcher in the Rye"? A year? Less? I'm sure it'll have some pretty up and coming actor and a hip indie soundtrack. I can't even wait.

I love JD Salinger and I have the utmost respect for his works.

In all sincerity though, he hid the vast majority of his work from the public and I will be grateful when those works are eventually released for the masses to enjoy. 🙂

Would Catcher in the Rye even work as a movie?

Originally posted by darvlay
I love JD Salinger and I have the utmost respect for his works.

In all sincerity though, he hid the vast majority of his work from the public and I will be grateful when those works are eventually released for the masses to enjoy. 🙂

Would Catcher in the Rye even work as a movie?

I love Salinger as well, but I also think that if he doesn't want something published -no matter how curious I am of it - I don't think it should be published, period. It depresses me when I see posthumously released novels like the recent Nabokov, I mean, shouldn't the author decide whether or not the world gets to read his work?

And I think enough movies have ripped off of Catcher in the Rye that yes, it would probably work well enough to sell tickets and win awards.

Originally posted by misterrigel
I love Salinger as well, but I also think that if he doesn't want something published -no matter how curious I am of it - I don't think it should be published, period. It depresses me when I see posthumously released novels like the recent Nabokov, I mean, shouldn't the author decide whether or not the world gets to read his work?

And I think enough ...[text shortened]... r in the Rye[/i] that yes, it would probably work well enough to sell tickets and win awards.

Kafka didn't want the bulk of his work to be published. Fortunately, his editor ignored his request.

Originally posted by rwingett
Kafka didn't want the bulk of his work to be published. Fortunately, his editor ignored his request.

I was thinking of that too just now, and I'm thinking I need to revise my opinion (wasn't Dead Souls similarly published?), but it still seems a bit strange to go rooting through some deceased person's papers, looking for something that somebody might enjoy reading. I mean, I have no idea why that Nabokov book needed to be published when 99.999% of readers haven't even read all of the books that he actually wrote and finished during his lifetime, why do we need some unfinished book?

Anyway, it's too bad he died, I was kind of hoping he'd just live forever, hanging out and not talking to anybody.

I just found out that Howard Zinn died today too. What a bummer of a day.

Originally posted by misterrigel
I love Salinger as well, but I also think that if he doesn't want something published -no matter how curious I am of it - I don't think it should be published, period. It depresses me when I see posthumously released novels like the recent Nabokov, I mean, shouldn't the author decide whether or not the world gets to read his work?

And I think enough ...[text shortened]... r in the Rye[/i] that yes, it would probably work well enough to sell tickets and win awards.

I heard he had personally marked a few manuscripts for publishing. Considering how meticulous he was at controlling his works in life, undoubtedly whoever controls his estate will have ample instructions for how to proceed. As for the potential Catcher In The Rye movie, Salinger himself said there is a possibility, after he is dead, that the rights to it might be sold. I think he had in mind to pass the rights on to his surviving family and they could make the choice whether or not to sell, based on their financial situation. It is an understatement to say that Salinger was highly skeptical that Holden Caulfield could ever be portrayed accurately on film. He is most likely right.

http://www.lettersofnote.com/2009/12/holden-caulfield-is-unactable.html

Originally posted by darvlay
...

Would Catcher in the Rye even work as a movie?

That's an interesting question. The theme of CitR has been hashed and rehashed over and over so much in the cinema that it's not novel any longer (ok, pun intended). It would be a masterful screenwriter that can adapt the book and avoid referencing later work that has borrowed from CitR.