The full name of the writer is Jerome David Salinger. He is considered one of the best and most influential modern American writers. The book, which gave him most of the fame is 'Catcher in the Rye'.
Salinger was born in New York City, on 1st January 1919. He had an older brother. His parents were Miriam and Sol Salinger. Jerome was brought up on Manhattan. He was a student of McBurney School. It is the private pre school, very popular on Manhattan. However, he didn't manage to complete this school. Moreover, Salinger was expelled also from some other schools. Finally, after years of struggle, as he was 17 years old, he graduated from Valley Forge Military Academy. He decided to continue his education and went to the University of Columbia. As a student of the university, he started to write short stories. He was taken to the Army of United States in 1942. Jerome was sent to Europe and spent three times there as a staff sergeant. As the War ended, he was decorated with 5 battle stars. Even, when he was on the front, he didn't quit writing. He had his typewriter with him anywhere he went in the trunk of his car. In Europe he met his wife-to-be Sylvia. She came from France and she was a physician. Nevertheless, they divorced after two years. In the US, in 1955 he remarried to Claire Douglas. This marriage was longer- Jerome and Claire were together till 1967. Clair gave birth to their two children in the meantime. Salinger had a daughter- Margaret Ann and a son- Matthew. After the second divorce, he decided to be single. He moved to New Hampshire, where he lives up till now. He still writes, but he doesn't publish anything.
As I mentioned, Salinger became most popular as the author of the novel- 'Catcher in the Rye'. It was first published in July 1951. This book is a story of Holden Caulfield. He is a teenager, who cannot find his place in the world. He tries to live the life of his own. He doesn't want to follow strange rules. In this novel, the social order and rules are severely criticized. For this reason, the book was banned in many countries (ex. In Poland) and by many schools in the USA. Nevertheless, it is still being read by people all around the world.
Salinger is popular also for the short stories he wrote. The finest collection is 'Nine Stories'. It appeared on the market ion 1953. All stories in this book tell about Glass family. The first one tells about the suicidal death of Seymour Glass. It's title is 'A Perfect Day For Bananafish'. Each of the stories considers another member of the family. In every one, the main character is fighting his personal war against stupidity and ignorance. Every character goes through 'human spiritual evolution'. The critics say that this is, what attracts readers to Salinger's books.
Another popular and interesting book by Salinger is 'Franny and Zooey'. Its publication in 1960 was considered the most important literary event. There are two stories described in this book- 'Franny' and Zooey". Both of them have much in common with 'Nine Stories'. The first story was said to have perfect structure and the psychological portrait of the heroine is appealing. In the other one, the critics discovered acute and precise psychological insight. This book and the 'Nine Stories' are both considered masterpieces of short fiction.
It would be difficult to overestimate Salinger's power and significance in literature. 'Catcher in the Rye' belongs to 50 best novels of 20th century. Every intelligent reader must have read it at least once in his life. I know many people, who have read it many times. In my opinion its popularity is based mostly on the themes it presents. Before Salinger, there had been no good writer, who touched subjects concerning sexual life and rebellion against traditional American values. In America in 1950s following the standards and strict rules was by many considered most important. However, there were many people, who thought otherwise. Salinger expressed their feelings and revealed the truth about the society. Nowadays, this book is considered classic of literature. Many theoreticians of literature call the 1950s 'the age of Holden Caufield'. It is said to be "the voice of a 'silent generation' in revolt against a 'phony' world and in search of mystical escapes from deteriorating society rather than cause-providing political revolution or reform".
But Salinger was not only praised, but also criticized. Many critics of literature claim, that he has bad style, chooses wrong themes, has no real literary invention. Philip Stevick considers Salinger's style "brisk, ironic, New Yorker style". He claimed that the first-person narration, which is used by Salinger, is totally anti-narrative. The other critic said that the language and literary forms chosen by Salinger are too tight. " Most of his work are very short, highly colloquial, sentimental, yet heavily ironic tales".
Moreover, the critics didn't like the themes from Salinger's stories. They are considered the attack on the style of life of well educated, upper middle class citizens of the USA. In fact, it is true, but for many readers it is rather the advantage of Salinger's books. People used to fight and still fight with stupidity and blindness of many people. Many of them come to the conclusion that there is only one way to free yourself from such world- suicide.
Salinger is also said to have very bad influence on young people. The main character of 'Catcher in the Rye' remains young Salinger very much. Most of his stories have autobiographical plots in themselves. The experiences of the writer influence the stories he writes very much. For some critics, like Philip Stevick, it is very disadvantageous. From his books, we can tell that the author was very interested in Zen Buddhism. In fact, Salinger started to learn about Zen and the eastern philosophy after visiting the Rama Krishna-Vivekananda Center in New York. For a Buddhist, death is the triumph over evil. Someone, who commits suicide becomes free. This is why one of the characters from 'Nine Stories' kills herself. The experience of being a soldier is also present in his work. Perhaps Seymour Glass, who was a soldier of American Army, got mentally ill because of experiencing the terror of war.
