"Secret" J. D. Salinger documentary 5 years in the making

Hey, it just went up on Netflix!

EDIT: Oops. I see you guys already knew that. I'm watching now and I realize I had a JD Salinger moment when I was younger. My father went to a military academy and wanted my brother and I to go to one. We were living in Pennsylvania and he drove us out to Valley Forge Military academy. We were getting a tour and I remember my parents being impressed by the fact that some writer had gone there. They talked about him for a long time with the guide and one instructor. We were showed his room and the guide talked about what this guy was like as a student. It meant nothing to me at the time, since I had never heard of him. It wasn't until this documentary that it all came back to me that they were talking about JD Salinger. This was in 1969 or so, so I guess there were still people there who had taught Salinger. Interesting that this documentary made me remember this. I'm just glad I didn't have to go to a damn military academy!

 

On a related note, here's some news about some of the stories...

http://fridaynightboys300.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/unseen-jd-salinger-stories-leaked-on-to.html

 

Not unseen, but rarely seen. More please.

 

Looks like the auction item they mention went for a great price too, for the lucky buyer.

More from Dazed, including a very helpful link:

http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsand...d-three-unpublished-jd-salinger-short-stories

 

Yeah, that's cheap. I know the edition of the book mentioned was limited, but surely there were copies made...

Thanks for the link, which has been aded to the blog post!

 

When did this thread pop back up?

I saw the doc a bit ago - it was EXCELLENT. As deep as we'll get on Salinger anyway. I did not know how badly war screwed him up - 400 days in battle? No wonder. Take a personality like Salinger's and put him in hell and who can blame him for his mindset after that?

It also does a good job of explaining his obsession with being published until he went to to war, when he seemed to come to the realization that he was writing for himself - not for others.

So I look forward to more Salinger if it's true there's more of the Caulfield and Glass family...

So hackneyed to claim this, but Catcher in the Rye is one of my favorite works of fiction. Like Being There it says so much despite the main character having no goal. I don't read a lot of fiction - there's too much history and actual lives lived to read about - but this book rings more true than most non-fiction books.

Amazing how Catcher especially means so much to so many people - but in different ways.

In short: BRING ON MORE SALINGER!

Jeff

 

More on the leak:

http://fridaynightboys300.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/j-d-salinger-leak.html

 

Great news.

 

funny how all of this was known but none of it was in the documentary. It's almost like they left certain things out to try to make their big revelation seem more important. Nah they wouldn't do that.

 

The leaked stories were known works, while the bio/movie revelations were about previously unknown works. But don't let that stop you from taking a dump on Salerno & Shields. Seriously, what is your beef?

 

Was the American Masters on PBS last night the same documentary discussed above?

I only watched up until Catcher was released. I could not take any more. Every word was spoken with so much gravitas that I was worried a black hole may appear. I have seen another documentary not too long ago so I did not need to hear about the succession of young girls he dated. The parts I watched were informative. I did not know about his experiences in the war.

 

I don't know, but it put me to sleep

 

Yep same exact one. In fact this is the improved version. The first version screened for like a week and had to be reedited because there was a more bombastic score, and lots more man on stage pounding on a keyboard scenes.

Just think we all saw the toned down version.

 

I saw it a while ago and since I knew nearly nothing about Salinger I found parts of it valuable...but most of it was tabloid garbage. Ironic since it seemed Salinger detested that type of thing. Not sure he'd want the only documentary about him to also include details about his flings and quarrels with lovers. Additionally, I really don't need to hear what Martin Sheen or Phillip Seymour Hoffman have to say about Salinger. Unless they're some huge Salinger-nerds that needed to be in the documentary and can actually contribute something to the story---they can stay out, thanks. Unfortunately, this a common trend in docs: getting people you wouldn't expect to talk in praise of the subject as if to legitimize it. "Wow, Lady Gaga likes Humphrey Bogart? Cool...now so do I!"

 

I saw only the PBS show and came away wondering if he ever developed important themes other than lost innocence and catching them in the rye. Didn't much sound like it unless the upcoming release of his Vedanta manual contains themes we haven't seen from him. Given his horrific experiences in the war, it's not surprising that he had a lifelong project dealing with the themes that made him famous and beloved.

I'd like to read the upcoming releases on his World War II experience and his first marriage to the German woman he wasn't supposed to be fraternizing with.

 

The stalker footage made my skin crawl, especially juxtaposed with Chapman soundbites and news of other psychopaths. I would much rather have heard more from Tom Wolfe or even Tom Robbins or John Irving ... someone who at least played the game, if not in the same league as Salinger.

As others have said, the war stuff was fascinating and completely new to me. What an incredible talent ... and still an enigma.

Jeff

 

Fasinating !!!

Wow !!!

 

He never got over that Chaplin girl.

 

Apparently Salerno is also making a Salinger biopic:

http://www.latimes.com/books/jacket...-jc-who-should-play-jd-salinger-in-the-up-010

 

Doesn't sound like a good idea, does it?

http://fridaynightboys300.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/salinger-biopic-in-works.html

 

Sounds good to me. Anything done right is worth watching. it wasn't the war is was the GIRL. Jesus, why can't people see that?

 

Tom Cruise as Salinger, anyone...?

 

Please do not refer to Mr. Cruise other than by the initials "T.C." while he is on the set.

Thank you.

 

The proposed biopic would supposedly cover Salinger's life from his service in WWII to the completion of Catcher, so from the ages of 22 to 32.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt would be my pick.