In rare auction, the magic and the conflict of JD Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye

This will be only the second instance of an autographed copy of the book being available in the market, and the only known copy which Salinger signed with his nickname. The reclusive American writer, who struggled all his life with the fame and scrutiny that his debut novel brought him, was wary of people profiting from its success and rarely signed books. It was only after his death in 2010 that an autographed first edition was auctioned for £56,000.

Book: themes, reception

One of the most well-known literary works of the 20th century, The Catcher in the Rye was originally published by Little, Brown and Company in 1951, when Salinger was 32 years old. In a July 1951 review, The New York Times called it “an unusually brilliant novel”. Over a million copies continue to be sold every year, and the book, one of the most influential literary works in English, has been repeatedly assessed as a classic by critics.

The Catcher in the Rye featured in Time magazine’s top 100 English-language novels published between 1923 and 2005, and in the BBC’s survey of big reads in 2005.

The controversies

Despite the fame, between 1961 and 1982, the novel was among the most censored in American high schools and libraries. The first noted challenge came in 1960, when a teacher in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was dismissed for teaching it to 11th grade students. She was reinstated after appeal, but the book was dropped from the syllabus. Several, often successful, appeals to drop the book from school curricula across the US followed.

Why is the stream-of-consciousness novel about 16-year-old Holden Caulfield controversial?

One of the most cited reasons for the calls for censorship has been the book’s use of profanities and obscenity. Set in the years after World War II, the novel is a register of Caulfield’s emotional upheaval following his dismissal from the elite Pencey Preparatory Academy, his fourth expulsion from a high-brow private school.

Lodged in a California sanatorium, from where he is about to be discharged after being treated for depression, Caulfield looks back at the events leading up to his institutionalisation — his battles with loneliness, drinking, and sexual fantasies, and his contempt for the vacuous world of adults. While the novel’s key themes are loss of innocence and alienation, its portrayal of drinking, drug use, and overt sexual references made it both a symbol of and warning for teen rebellion.

Link to Lennon’s killer

Criticism of the book was fuelled by two unfortunate associations. In December 1980, the former Beatles band member, John Lennon, was fatally shot by 25-year-old Mark David Chapman, who claimed he had been inspired by Holden Caulfield.

Chapman remained at the scene after the shooting, reportedly reading a copy of The Catcher in the Rye. His copy had an inscription saying, “This is my statement”, that Chapman had signed as Holden. On the day of his sentencing, he read a passage from the novel to address the court.

A year later, in 1981, another man, John Hinckley Jr, would attempt to murder US President Ronald Reagan. He, too, would be found in possession of a copy of the novel.

Autobiographical elements

In an early interview, Salinger had said the book was loosely autobiographical. His own academic career had followed a similar trajectory: after failing college prep school, he spent time at a military school and then at New York University before moving to Europe. He returned to Ursinus College in Pennsylvania, and then moved to Columbia University, where he began writing short stories.

The Caulfields, including Holden, featured in many of the short stories, but it would only be after Salinger returned from the War to a nervous breakdown that required hospitalisation, that his teen hero would feature in his debut novel.