Re: holden
oconnort@nyu.edu
Sun, 02 Nov 1997 15:12:50 -0500
On Sun, Nov 02, 1997 at 11:02:46AM -0800, Emily Moore wrote:
> I'll never forget walking into English class the day after finishing
> Catcher, and my English teacher beginning the discussion with, "Ok,
> class, now if you were the psychiatrist talking to Holden here, what
> mental illness would you diagnose him with that would explain his
> behavior throughout the book?"
This is funny, because according to contemporary reports (especially
Hamilton, "In Search of J.D. Salinger," Random House, p. 114-115), JDS
angrily withdrew the book from consideration by Harcourt Brace because
one of the editorial staff thought Holden was crazy. I vaguely remember
this also reported by Warren French.
Strangely enough, I have a friend (who has sworn me to secrecy when it
comes to mentioning her name or book!) who did something similar with
her novel, when she felt that the prospective editor (a man) did not
"get" her narrator or the narrator's story. She was much more
comfortable placing the book with someone else -- and, maybe not
coincidentally, with a woman as her editor. (The book is narrated by
a woman, and definitely requires a reader to pay careful attention
to that fact.)
--tim o'connor