Literary WI- Effects of J.D. Salingers Catcher in the Rye being a complete flop

BigWillyG

What would the effects have been- culturally and in literature if Salingers most famous work had been a complete failure and rather then becoming a well know best seller instead barely sells a view hundred copies and is panned by critics?
A personally effect of that for me is that it would have saved me from my 10th grade English teachers unhealthy oppsession with the awefull drec.
 

BigWillyG

Just to add- personall thanks if you believe that this butterflies away the whole "whiny rich kid" genre in books and movies.
 

Greenlanterncorps

Banned
Millions of High School kids scream in joy, to not have to read that awful book.

Of course, High School English Departments will just find something worse...

J.D. Salinger has to work for a living, since there are no royalty checks to cash...
 

Desmond Hume

Oh come on, "Catcher in the Rye" isn't THAT bad. Would you rather read "On the Road"? Besides, the moody and self-centered rich kid has been a feature of English-language literature since Byron and Shelley at least.

What we really need is a POD that prevents high school teachers from putting weak mid-century novels on their syllabi and instead teaching real literature like Shakespeare, Spenser, and Chaucer (in Middle English, of course).
 

BigWillyG

I'll disagree with you on it not being that bad. Never read On the Road so I can't say anything.
It's kinda sad we need that early a POD to not have the moody self-centered rich kid. :(
 
PhilKearny

PhilKearny

I blame this thread for Salinger's passing.

A DBWI--What would JD Salinger's literary reputation have been if Big Willy G's plot to will Salinger dead by telekinesis had succeeded instead of failing, as Salinger revealed in 2012?

Salinger's second career, with 10 productive years of writing after the attempt by Willy G failed, was amazing beyond the biological fact of a ninety plus year old man writing three novels and 72 short stories. That Salinger reassessed his life and started publishing because he wanted to show that literature could heal the heart of an embittered ex-reader who had made the atttempt. Today, in 2020, we realise that Salinger's last decade was his greatest. What would Salinger's reputation be without the output of the last decade? Which are your favorite works?
 

theReturner

I believe that "Cathcer in the Rye" came before "A Rebel Without A Cause" so maybe that movie would never get made? Which could possibly lead to James Dean living longer.
 

BigWillyG

PhilKearny said:
I blame this thread for Salinger's passing.

A DBWI--What would JD Salinger's literary reputation have been if Big Willy G's plot to will Salinger dead by telekinesis had succeeded instead of failing, as Salinger revealed in 2012?

Salinger's second career, with 10 productive years of writing after the attempt by Willy G failed, was amazing beyond the biological fact of a ninety plus year old man writing three novels and 72 short stories. That Salinger reassessed his life and started publishing because he wanted to show that literature could heal the heart of an embittered ex-reader who had made the atttempt. Today, in 2020, we realise that Salinger's last decade was his greatest. What would Salinger's reputation be without the output of the last decade? Which are your favorite works?
Click to expand...

Holy thread necromansy. :eek:
 
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