Privacy ?

[Srbo]

Ok, this time I don`t know where to put a thread, and the title is probably no good either, but here it goes...

Over a week ago, I`ve read an interview by J.D.Salinger, I assume all of us know who he is ( Catcher in the Rye author ).
That was his first interview in just about 30 years, and he gave it coz he wanted to talk about the new Terminator flick ( yeah, I know , WTH !? ).
Apparantly, the 90 year old writer is a big fan of the series, has a huge collection of everything related to The Terminator, so he wanted to talk about how Christian Bale did as the new John Connors and whatnot.
But, of course, the journalists wanted to know the answer to a couple of other anwsers from him, so they asked him what is the deal with keeping his life so private that almost no one even knew where he was in the last three decades...and then the dude goes like this:

" I think, that the more you talk about your private life, the less the readers can concentrate on your work and study it properly. I despise every single writer that has ever talked about himself or his private life.
And neither should any book be ever made into a movie. "

So, I am sitting there reading that, laughing out loud..I`m like..."right, that`s why you just had an interview about how much you love the Terminator flicks. "

And that statement comes from a guy who didn`t publish anything in, what, 40 years or so, and prior to that he wrote the Catcher, he wrote Nine Stories and had some other minor work done. And that`s it.
The Catcher has been beaten to death, talked about, analyzed and so on a long time ago...does he really think that people are still sitting scratching their heads about that book ?

And he despise every writer who talks about himself ?
Of course, that statement had me immidiatley think of SK.

If he had never talked about himself, how much he struggled to become a writer, how much his wife was and is his support, about his addiction problems, given people advice on how to write and so on and so forth, the world would be considerably poorer of some wonderful advice and many people would have given up on writing completely.
But SK talked and talks, gives young writers hope, gives addicts hope, shows people how life can turn from misery to success by following certain steps...

So, my point is that, IMO, JDS is completely wrong and, if he didn`t talk about himself...well I don`t know..to me, it looks like you actually had nothing to say...or you were to selfish to help anybody else out.

And thank you once again, Stephen King, for talking about yourself and actually helping people.

With all due respect, Mr Salinger, go write a new book and let people actually film The Catcher...and don`t give another interview for another 30 years.
I`ll be fine with that. :wink:

[EMARX]

I wonder if he has written anything at all or he has boxes bursting with stories. He sells 250,000 copies of catcher a year. He just may not be relevant any more to most people. Apparently there is a sequel to "Catcher" written by someone else and he is trying to block that as well.

[Seneca_V]

Not to mention, every writer I can think of has talked about themselves at one point or another, not that they've all had useful things to say like Sai King. But I bet that statement ticked a lot of people off. I agree with you, Srbo, the world would be worse off if Sai King didn't share what he shares about himself with us, as well as what a lot of other writers share too. I never liked J.D. Salinger, because I didn't know anything about him, now I have a reason not to like him. He also wrote Catcher and I guess didn't need to write anything else, I remember Sai King saying he could've stopped years ago, at least he still does it because it's fun! And that's hilarious about the fascination with The Terminator movies, LOL! :D

[IfSoGirl]

Not to mention, every writer I can think of has talked about themselves at one point or another, not that they've all had useful things to say like Sai King. But I bet that statement ticked a lot of people off. I agree with you, Srbo, the world would be worse off if Sai King didn't share what he shares about himself with us, as well as what a lot of other writers share too. I never liked J.D. Salinger, because I didn't know anything about him, now I have a reason not to like him. He also wrote Catcher and I guess didn't need to write anything else, I remember Sai King saying he could've stopped years ago, at least he still does it because it's fun! And that's hilarious about the fascination with The Terminator movies, LOL! :D

he wrote more than just the catcher in the rye, he wrote at least 3 or 4 others all based on the same family. which i read and love. and i think he has a little bit of a point, a writer essentially is his work and his voice heard through his writing. i think this can be said of king as well. and its not like he wrote terminator, why can't he like the movies?

[Seneca_V]

he wrote more than just the catcher in the rye, he wrote at least 3 or 4 others all based on the same family. which i read and love. and i think he has a little bit of a point, a writer essentially is his work and his voice heard through his writing. i think this can be said of king as well. and its not like he wrote terminator, why can't he like the movies?

Miscommunication...I think (worst thing about the Internet). Anyway, I never said he was a bad writer, I said I didn't like him That's my opinion, same as I think it's funny he likes Terminator, sorry if I offended anyone, that's just my sense of humor! Staying silent for decades and than doing an interview to talk about Terminator, c'mon, there's some humor to that, at least to me! I never said he couldn't like Terminator, I like Terminator myself, lol!

[Bryan James]

Consider your left thumb's fingerprint.

BJS

[Damaris]

I love being anonymous, unknown, forgotten, and would probably prefer being very quiet about my private life if I were ever a published author. Of course, that might not be terribly effective in selling more copies of your book. The way Salinger says it comes off rather pompous but maybe he was refering more to the glut of "Hollywood" media that plague news stands and checkout aisles, and their coverage of popular mainstream authors. (J.K. Rowling and Stephanie Meyer immediately spring to mind, especially with the film connections.) Salinger may hardly consider some of them authors. And compared to his old school point of view, maybe sharing commonalities of your life smacks of self-importance or boastfulness. Or maybe he was just feeling a little crochety and that was how it manifested. Who knows. Personally, if authors don't mind talking publicly about their lives I certainly won't hold it against them, so long as it's all in good taste and moderation. ;) You know, honestly, for as overwhelmingly popular as Mr. King is, I don't see how he keeps as low a profile as he does. But I think it's nice, that he shares what he does while maintaining a level of privacy (though there are times I'm sure he'd like more). Just my two cents.

[Haunted]

WARNING....I am about to commit a sacrilege here...I never liked Catcher. Never could figure out the hoohaa.:eyebrow:

[Seneca_V]

I just realized the irony here. Salinger says he despises writers who talk about themselves, while giving an interview about how much he likes Terminator, oookkkaayyy... :laugh: Now I get what you meant, Srbo, for some reason that went right over my head yesterday!

[Srbo]

I love being anonymous, unknown, forgotten, and would probably prefer being very quiet about my private life if I were ever a published author.

Salinger may hardly consider some of them authors. .

Yeah, sure, some people do prefer it that way.

But this statement came from a guy who wanted to talk about The Terminator, for Petes sake.:eek2:

As for who Salingers considers an author...yeah, well, the guy hasn`t published anything in 40 years..and even when he was publishing, he was prolific just like my grandma was...in other words, close to zero.
can he really say that about other writers ? Does he qualify to say that ?

And, IMO, and this is juts mine, no offence to anyone...The Catcher would have been long forgotten anyhow...if there wasn`t a total maniac called Mark David Chapman who killed one of the greatest people that ever walked the Earth - John Lennon.
Then he waited for the police while reading that book.

That was actually the biggest publicity that that book ever got. On a hineous crime.
Eff the Catcher and eff Holdens "lost generation".:mad:


BTW, Sen, yep, that`s the point of the topic...:smile2:

[Kahllie]

Salinger seems to be discrediting authors who have produced works that are popular, and whose personalities may be popular, as well. If he prefers to be sequestered in private seclusion, that is fine. What other authors do is their own choice, and his views do not really bear weight regarding how other creators either construct or promote their creations.
One man's opinion based on his own life doesn't rule the actions or attitudes of others.
Art, in any form, will appeal to some and be disdained by others. It's all personal choice...on both sides..creator and viewer.

[smjohn]

Consider your left thumb's fingerprint.

BJS

I'm so confused by your posts.

[themikenesedude]

No! No! No!

J. D. Salinger is playing it safe or lying. Why do I think this?

Just imagine that you have this great, basically family-friendly, non-violent book and everyone would say about the book, "Oh, yeah, isn't that the one with all the fans who are mentally unbalanced political assassins?"

If that was me and I wrote "The Catcher In The Rye", I'd be pretty sad and depressed. I'd want to lock myself in a room and skip town too.

For that reason, I feel very sorry for Salinger. It makes me sad. I actually imagine what it would be like in his shoes to draw him into hiding.

And especially with John Lennon's death being caused by the most INfamous (deranged, horrible, and insane by the way) fan of the book. That's got to shatter Salinger's heart.

Yes, him coming out of hiding when everyone would presume he would've died of natural causes would be an awesome publicity stunt.

And also for him to come out and answer questions about "The Terminator" like someone on "The Simple Life" is very stupid, lame, and tabloid-like. I need to read this interview. Those choice of questions sound embarrassing and catering to a majority of stupid consumers.

I do agree with Salinger though that the books should speak for themselves.

Anyway, my point is that it's not the same as music or movies because everyone is fingering you as catering to a prurient interest of malcontents. (Think about how the media treated "Natural Born Killers" as if it was marketed towards looters and dangerous people so effectively so that the distributor had dropped that movie before another distributor took the risk of releasing the director's cut.)

Ditto for music being separate than the case of Salinger's dilemma, because, ironically, you hear more about disciplined, determined, and sometimes very brilliant high-school or college students listening to Ice-T's "Cop Killer" or Marilyn Manson's "Antichrist Superstar" album than you do hear about disgruntled people who need professional help liking the music.

[Srbo]

Yeah...even the guy who shot at Reagan, John Hinckley Jr, is tied to that book.
And some other murderers too, according to Wikipedia.

I mean, WTH...mostly lunatics got affected by that book or what ?

[Roseasharn]

Salinger is a practically a recluse. He has been for years. He is not a well adjusted, healthy human being. He is a damn fine writer (and I also hate Catcher in the Rye, but his short stories and novellas are amazing).
Possible reasons: well, obviously its possible he's just a nutball. On top of that, Salinger served in the Army during WWII. He was at several key battles. He was also one of the first American Soldiers to enter a concentration camp. He was part of counter-intelligence and was an interrogator. He was hospitalized after the war for Combat Stress Reaction. He wasn't well then, and if what other people say is true about his life since then, he isn't well now. On top of that, he just turned 90 this year. He was born in 1919. I completely love SK, and I fervently hope that he makes it to a healthy 90 years old. And if he does, I'm not going to be making any harsh judgement calls on what he says in interviews.
His problem with movies made from books comes from the one book that he sold to be made into a movie. It was made after one of the most poignant and beautiful stories Salinger has published called "Uncle Wiggly in Connecticut" the movie, My Foolish Heart, is not even a good movie if you pretend it wasn't loosely based on the story. It is really bad. And I love old movies. He got burned, he got bitter. Again, not a healthy, well adjusted person.
J.D. Salinger is a complete nutball, in my opinion.
This doesn't take away from his writings. They may not work for you, but they are tight. And beautiful.

On a side note: apparently he's completely deaf. And suffering from age-related illnesses. And recently released from the hospital after surgery on a broken hip last month. I can't find the interview, but I somewhat doubt its authenticity with this being the case.

[JayzinSmith]

Not a real interview.

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/new_terminator_movie_brings_j_d

[Srbo]

It`s similar, but that wasn`t the interview I`ve read...unless I went totally bananas.
This one was questions and answers, a real one...

And I keep looking fot the link like mad, and can`t find it...

Strange...:eek2:

[IfSoGirl]

Not a real interview.

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/new_terminator_movie_brings_j_d

makes much more sense now. had the person who started this said it came from the onion, the whole thing would have made sense.

[MadamMack]

I love being anonymous, unknown, forgotten, and would probably prefer being very quiet about my private life if I were ever a published author. Of course, that might not be terribly effective in selling more copies of your book. The way Salinger says it comes off rather pompous but maybe he was refering more to the glut of "Hollywood" media that plague news stands and checkout aisles, and their coverage of popular mainstream authors. (J.K. Rowling and Stephanie Meyer immediately spring to mind, especially with the film connections.) Salinger may hardly consider some of them authors. And compared to his old school point of view, maybe sharing commonalities of your life smacks of self-importance or boastfulness. Or maybe he was just feeling a little crochety and that was how it manifested. Who knows. Personally, if authors don't mind talking publicly about their lives I certainly won't hold it against them, so long as it's all in good taste and moderation. ;) You know, honestly, for as overwhelmingly popular as Mr. King is, I don't see how he keeps as low a profile as he does. But I think it's nice, that he shares what he does while maintaining a level of privacy (though there are times I'm sure he'd like more). Just my two cents.

Perfect!

[Bad Bear]

How bizarre. It's like finding out that Stephen Hawking is a big Daffy Duck fan.

[poisonbat]

Yeah...even the guy who shot at Reagan, John Hinckley Jr, is tied to that book.
And some other murderers too, according to Wikipedia.

I mean, WTH...mostly lunatics got affected by that book or what ?

I have never read this book. It was assigned to me in high school to read, this is one project that I DID not do. Never got past the first few pages.:down: But now this has sparked an interest in me. What is all the fuss about?? Hmmm :eyebrow::bat:

[themikenesedude]

Salinger is a practically a recluse. He has been for years. He is not a well adjusted, healthy human being. He is a damn fine writer (and I also hate Catcher in the Rye, but his short stories and novellas are amazing).
Possible reasons: well, obviously its possible he's just a nutball. On top of that, Salinger served in the Army during WWII. He was at several key battles. He was also one of the first American Soldiers to enter a concentration camp. He was part of counter-intelligence and was an interrogator. He was hospitalized after the war for Combat Stress Reaction. He wasn't well then, and if what other people say is true about his life since then, he isn't well now. On top of that, he just turned 90 this year. He was born in 1919. I completely love SK, and I fervently hope that he makes it to a healthy 90 years old. And if he does, I'm not going to be making any harsh judgement calls on what he says in interviews.
His problem with movies made from books comes from the one book that he sold to be made into a movie. It was made after one of the most poignant and beautiful stories Salinger has published called "Uncle Wiggly in Connecticut" the movie, My Foolish Heart, is not even a good movie if you pretend it wasn't loosely based on the story. It is really bad. And I love old movies. He got burned, he got bitter. Again, not a healthy, well adjusted person.
J.D. Salinger is a complete nutball, in my opinion.
This doesn't take away from his writings. They may not work for you, but they are tight. And beautiful.

On a side note: apparently he's completely deaf. And suffering from age-related illnesses. And recently released from the hospital after surgery on a broken hip last month. I can't find the interview, but I somewhat doubt its authenticity with this being the case.

I don't really have any opinions on Salinger as a person. I remember when I used to be a teenager a bunch of friends I had at that age had asked me, "How could you like William Burroughs?! He's a heroin addict!"

I just said, "So...?" :P

I did hear from my mother that a woman did a book on Salinger and said that he was really verbally abusive. I don't really have an opinion on that. It could be a lot worse. William Burroughs, for example, was an author who murdered his wife in Mexico. (By the way, for the board's sake: DON'T hurt your wife/husband/boyfriend/girlfriend/partner/spouse. Instead, do the RIGHT thing: Write a book about them, change their dominant characteristics, and sell it to Oprah to humiliate them in private. LOL :P )

Anyway, I'm just amused about the idea of Salinger doing an interview about the "Terminator" franchise. It's so absurd, it'd be wonderful promotion!

Btw, ditto what you said about Stephen King. I certainly hope that he lives to be 90 and I know I'll have the same opinion I've always had about him and his writings.

You never know, though. Ray Bradbury's almost as old as George Burns was when he passed away and he's still busy with his own projects. :D

[Todash]

Ah, The Onion. It's satire, which doesn't keep it from being spread all over the Internet. You must've caught part of it somewhere else, Srbo. So I'm sure Salinger said no such thing.

[Roseasharn]

I did hear from my mother that a woman did a book on Salinger and said that he was really verbally abusive. I don't really have an opinion on that. It could be a lot worse. William Burroughs, for example, was an author who murdered his wife in Mexico.

His Daughter wrote that book, his son contests the validity of her memories about their childhood, but honestly, who knows?

[Srbo]

Thank you for clearing that up for me, I almost thought that JDS really is an ignorant person.
But, eff the Catcher anyway.:wink2:

[themikenesedude]

His Daughter wrote that book, his son contests the validity of her memories about their childhood, but honestly, who knows?

You're absolutely right. The major problem with celebrities (even minor celebrities or ones that disappeared) is that you never know if people writing biographies are looking for attention or what.

I'm still interested in reading the memoirs of people who claim that they have all these tabloid-stories to tell about David Bowie or Ace Frehley (especially the ones about Frehley, being a huge KISS/Frehley fan). I'm sure, thought, that 50% of what you read in those books is taking what happened and exaggerating it and 50% of it is about making money or getting attention. Honestly, who knows except for the people named in the biographies. [shrugs]

Oh, and it is the case that too many people repost things without reading them critically first. I've done that before. The problem with interviews or articles online is that the internet can just as easily be used as a disinformation/smear campaign or satire can easily be innocently confused for fact. (Talk about the "Secret Window" effect! LOL :P )

[Roseasharn]

Thank you for clearing that up for me, I almost thought that JDS really is an ignorant person.
But, eff the Catcher anyway.:wink2:

:) He could be, anyway. Just not that particular kind. He could be an equally as obnoxious brand of ignorant, I guess. But I don't think we'll ever know. :)
The Catcher is lame!
But I love the rest of his stuff.

[Bryan James]

"The Catcher in the Rye" is not an exercise in futility; it is an examination of futility.

"While I was eating my eggs, these two nuns with suitcases and all--I guessed they were moving to another convent or something and were waiting for a train--came in and sat down next to me at the counter. They didn't seem to know what the hell to do with their suitcases, so I gave them a hand. They were these very inexpensive-looking suitcases--the ones that aren't genuine leather or anything. It isn't important, I know, but I hate it when somebody has cheap suitcases."

I've a strong opinion that young Holden Caulfield may have been a source of inspiration for Ellis's "American Psycho."

BJS