J.D. Salinger died and what actually happened? He had drawn back from the public light so much that, at least to us, he was no longer a person, but simply a slim catalogue of amazing work and a Wikipedia page with a picture from 1950. There are only two possible ways that the death of J.D. Salinger could actually affect my life; both are very telling of the kind of life he led and what he meant to all of us.
The first and more obvious consequence of his death is the publication of his "vault," which was the source of much debate before his death and is even more so now. The last time Salinger published anything was in 1965, but popular opinion holds that he never stopped writing. The stories of Salinger's vault are probably the most interesting parts of the memoirs of Salinger's ex-lovers and daughter. Accounts of the vault differ, but they all indicate that it exists.
The blogosphere as well as more legitimate news outlets has been conjecturing about the fate of Salinger's vault for the past few days, digging up quotes from those close to Salinger and from the man himself, although Salinger's own quotes date to the 1970s. No one knows if the vault will ever be published. Or if they do know, they're not saying it, including the managers of his estate.
The publication of a wealth of Salinger novels and short stories would have an unprecedented impact on American literature. Considering the effect that his first novel, "The Catcher in the Rye," had on America, there is no telling what effect 45 years of writing would have if published at once. I know that I, for one, am glad that I'm not on campus this term. If Salinger's vault were to be published during an academic term, my GPA would take a serious nosedive.
The other discernible impact that Salinger's death will have on me is that, from now on, whenever I see an old man in the library, I will no longer entertain the notion that he is J.D. Salinger. I am one of those English majors and literature aficionados who has, at least once, followed an old man around the library and wondered if that was the author of one of our favorite books.
But Salinger's death, to be honest, has absolutely no effect on the four published books and other uncollected stories that have already had an impact on so many of us. Since he was hidden away in Cornish, N.H., his public status hadn't changed since 1953. He hadn't published anything since 1965 when he released a frustratingly long short story that seemed to be a middle finger to all of his critics and he hadn't spoken a word on the record since 1974. Which means that, except for the occasional foray into Baker-Berry, Salinger has been dead to the public for 36 years. If you were to tell me that he had actually died five years ago and everybody had been covering it up, I wouldn't be surprised. The actual circumstances of his deathof natural causes in his homedo nothing to color his work, unlike, say, Hunter S. Thompson's suicidal farewell to the world. Salinger's reported death in 2010, for us at least, is just a technicality, another line on his Wikipedia page.
I sincerely hope that Salinger's survivors heed the calls of the masses and open his vault so that we can all benefit from his works. But, until that happens, absolutely nothing has changed about Salinger. His books remain on my bookcase, and he remains a ghost in my mind. However, now if we see that old guy with the red backpack (whom popular opinion holds was the most likely candidate for Salinger) walking around the library, we'll know that our best guess is wrong and the real J.D. slipped under our radar. We should really have expected nothing less from him.
