Salinger and Shakespeare

J.D Salinger (The Catcher in the Rye), the creator of Holden Caulfield  -the most famous teenager in the world (well, after one of those Jonas brothers) - died last week. According to the The New York Times:

J.D. Salinger, who was thought at one time to be the most important American writer to emerge since World War II but who then turned his back on success and adulation, becoming the Garbo of letters, famous for not wanting to be famous, died on Wednesday at his home in Cornish, N.H., where he had lived in seclusion for more than 50 years. He was 91.

Salinger responded to letters on occasion. Eleven years after The Catcher in the Rye was released, he wrote the following letter in response to a request for writing advice by an 'angst-ridden' first-year college student. Advice was certainly present in Salinger's reply.

Oct. 21, 1962

Dear Mr. Stevens,

I must tell you first, offputtingly or no, that I am at best a one-shot letter writer, these days. Along with that, I really never have anything to say when I`m done writing fiction at the end of a day. One thought, and one only, hits me about your letter. Entirely "materialistic," I'm afraid. You need a new typewriter ribbon. Get one or don't get one, but unless you make an effort to deal with things as unabstractly as that, you're stewing quite unnecessarily. You've decided that Things are what matter to people. Of course. Not only with "people" but with you, too. Everything in your letter is a thing, concrete or abstract. Avidya and vidya are things. For me, before anything else, you're a young man who needs a new typewriter ribbon. See that fact, and don't attach more significance to it than it deserves, and then get on with the rest of the day. Good wishes to you.

(Signed, 'JDS')

For more go to this great website: Letters of Note

John Hinckley Jr., would-be assassin of Ronald Reagan, as well as Mark Chapman, John Lennon's killer, both had copies of The Catcher in the Rye. Hinckley's was in his room and Chapman apparently carried his copy around with him. (I should mention that this gives the novel a certain morbid appeal among high school students.)

And the word assassin has its own story. Apparently, originating from an Arabic word meaning "takers of hashish (cannabis)", it refers to a group of Shia Muslims who specialized in taking out members of the Sunni elite - as well as Crusaders - during the Middle Ages.

Most notably, the word assassination was created by William Shakespeare and first used in literature in the ultimate tale of ambition, regicide and the power of a nagging wife, Macbeth.  Some controversy surrounds this piece of writing, too. There are those who claim the play is cursed and when performing the drama, actors superstitiously do not refer to it by name but as the Scottish play. The curse has caused theaters to burn down and actors to be killed or injured during productions. Supporters of the curse theory believe that Shakespeare wrote actual incantations provided by real witches into the play. Double Double Toil and Trouble Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble... Skeptics state that Macbeth  is simply a dangerous play to perform with many fighting scenes and lots of poor lighting. Mmmm...