So, JD Salinger wins round one in his fight to stop "John David California" from publishing the unauthorised sequel to The Catcher in the Rye. I've not read the book, a friend has, but mining someone else's characters seems the laziest sort of writing. Still, it is an interesting legal question of how much you can use a character without authorisation, and how much of that character you can copyright.But once again, I am struck by how much being a a recluse seems to grip the public's imagination, if only because it seems counter to the prevailing mood that fame is life's most desirable goal - and how journalists in particular obsess about this. I remember an Esquire article ages ago when the writer traveled to Salinger's home in the tiny town of Cornish, New Hampshire in order to try to run him to ground. I can't remember the writer's name and it isn't on their website, but I was able to track this illustration from the article down on a Salinger fan-site. The Esquire man eventually sees Salinger in a coffee shop, eating some doughnut holes. The piece was illustrated with this pic and for some reason it has haunted me. He's just a poor old man who wants to be left alone to enjoy a few doughnut holes. Leave him alone, already.
By the way, The Onion has the best take on the whole Salinger/California thing.
1 comment:
I hadn't thought of it quite as succinctly as that - how journalists are obsessed with Salinger being a recluse because they think it's odd in these modern times. You're exactly right. And in fact, of course, he isn't necessarily being a recluse, he's just not seeking publicity all the time. There's a rather marked difference! Thanks for the link to Katie's article, too!
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