‘You’ve got to learn not to say
the obvious’ is something which some over enthusiastic tweeters and facebookers
could take some heed from. This was just one pearl to mull over from ‘Salinger’
a documentary from filmmaker Shane Salerno. A film which provides a narrative of the oft
enigmatic, American author of seminal novel The
Catcher in the Rye, and the affect he
had on friends, readers, culture and society alike.
The film opens with a
photographer reminiscing and portraying Salinger as a recluse, a hideaway. Eager
attempts by ‘fans’ to see or contact him were made when he made visits to the Post Office from which he used to collect his post, located down the road from his
remote house in Cornish, New Hampshire. The most that fans usually managed was
to catch a glimpsed photograph or leave a letter at his residence. Who was
Salinger? What prompted this behaviour? Was there a dramatic back story to his
life? Who and what did he have an influence on? The film sought to answer these
questions.
Salinger started his 76 year writing career in
1934 at Valley Forge Military Base, yet released just one book, what many have
since called a masterpiece, The Catcher in
the Rye. Despite a relatively wealthy upbringing, people noted someone who
was down to earth but who had fierce competiveness. Salinger had the support of
his mother but faced rejection from his father who would prefer he do something
more conventional. Rejection of varying kinds provides a running theme
throughout the film. Was it rejection which drove his reclusiveness?
The film depicts the ups and
downs of his almost obsessive ambition to have a short story published in
notoriously difficult to enter New Yorker,
deftly. Post-war and not long after his numerous attempts to be published, he
released his only novel, The Catcher in the
Rye, which went down a storm. The film asks whether his determined
insistence on recognition in publications such as the New Yorker and also his self-imposed exile were part of what could
be described as a narcissistic complex. While some readers saw his cessation of
publishing as a betrayal, could he actually be seen as a tragic, hounded figure
who desperately wanted his privacy? Did he on the other hand, know how to ‘play
the game’, and use his hermitage to simply magnify his fame, prestige, mystique
and intrigue. The strength of this film is it leaves the viewer in a powerful
position to be able to make their own mind up about the answers to these
questions.
Whether you’ve read all or none
of his work is of little importance. The documentary provides an enthralling
commentary of the human condition and all of it’s joy, angst, pain, idiosyncrasies,
unpredictability and indeed questions. It gives a perspective on the potential
power and influence of both real people and fictional characters on the individual
and society. What is the difference between fame and the unextraordinary? What
is normal? A must-see for someone who may want such questions answered about
Salinger or indeed themselves.
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