Jerome David Salinger

This year marks the tenth anniversary of the death of Jerome David Salinger, a man who survived war and love deception and wrote a cult novel at the same time, and passed away at a very old age at the age of 91.

Salinger landed on D-day in Normandy, on Utah beach. From there to Paris, through death and destruction, in trenches, swamps, forests, he wrote about himself - the novel "The Hunter in the Rye" (first picture). He escaped an enemy bullet, but was wounded right in the heart by his girlfriend Una O'Neill. Right in the middle of European hell and their extensive love correspondence, she leaves him and marries in Hollywood to 36-year-old Charlie Chaplin (pictured right).

It will be a lifelong wound and she will unsuccessfully look for Una in every next partner. The one that existed and that he loved before she betrayed him, before, according to him, she "got dirty". Just as he wanted to freeze himself in his pre-war adolescence. He paradoxically fit into the civilization to which he refused to belong and followed its principle - Forever young. He only allowed teenagers to approach him, let them into the house, listened to records with them, went out and hung out. After ’65. he withdrew from public life and chased those who disobeyed his will with a rifle. They claimed that he told his daughter that generations that later matured and did not have the experience of war could not share his feelings, which he described as follows: "I will never get rid of the smell of burned human bodies from my nostrils."

However, something remains after all, and that is one of the most cult rebels in the literature, Holden Caulfield. Originally published in 1951 for adults, the book became famous due to the themes of teenage confusion, alienation, language and rebellion. It has been translated into many world languages. About 250,000 copies are sold each year, and total sales are 65 million copies. A protagonist and antihero, Holden Caulfield became an icon of teenage rebellion, anger and rage against the authorities. This tattoo also shows how popular it is. The book, due to its simple style, has much more weight, if viewed from the context of the time in which it was written.

„8. May 1942

Dear Una,

I was transferred to Fort Monmouth, also in New Jersey, for a ten-week training as a midfielder. Don't ask me what that means: I don't have a slight connection. I guess those soldiers who go forward to shoot have to somehow send information to those who catch grievances in the background. I am aware that I write too much, but it is not out of sheer leisure. I think a lot about that head of yours. I hope you are not afraid of war; thanks to me, neither the Germans nor the Japanese will ever attack Los Angeles. I won't let them do you any harm. Let the whole trio know that I am ready to lay down my life for the Stork Club! ”

I would love to hear your opinion on this