J. D. Salinger - The Lost Works

Today we dive into the mystery of J. D. Salinger's unpublished writings and look at what we know and what we can expect. Enjoy!
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[@not2tees]

It's December '22 now and I just finished reading Cormac McCarthy's Stella Maris, the second novel of his 2-book publication The Passenger / Stella Maris. It brought to mind the much-treasured writings of J D Salinger and the story of his unpublished works and I had to look around on YT to see if there were other readers looking for what must be fascinating reading, and hopefully great reading. Stella Maris concerns itself with a transcription of dialogues between a psychiatrist and the beautiful, young, brilliant half-Jewish Alice Western and her suicidal tendencies. I am 77 years old this year and would dearly love to look at a book with J D Salinger's name on the cover newly published, but time is running out for me.

[@RustinChole]

TEN YEARS? Jesus my grandfather turned my dad onto those books and always hoped he’d get a chance to read the unpublished stuff, but died in 1998. My pops turned me onto the books and we were dumb enough to believe the documentary, my dad passed away three years ago. Started to think I won’t be seeing these before I die. Jesus Christ. 🙄🤷🏻‍♂️

[@joeycredible]

Thanks for putting out this great video. We need more non-commercial, non-grandiose videos to hit places like KZbin to be candid. I wish there were more people who approached videos about topics like this like you've done here. I've subscribed and I hope I've encouraged you today to keep making great content if you do in fact love doing it. As far as Salinger, I think there will finally be a full book about his World War II experiences but that it'll be through either The Caulfield or Glass filter. Maybe Seymour kills himself in Bananafish, at least in part, because of what he experienced in World War II. It also has some to do with reincarnation and enlightenment though. I think we'll see the futures of Holden and his family lived out as well as the other Glasses. When Salinger wrote Seymour: An Introduction, I'm not sure if it was meant to carry the baton or not, leading the Glass legacy from there, probably with lots of flashbacks; or if it were meant to be a one-off and we have to start over. I think it's the former and not the latter, but who knows for sure. Whether the level of writing is as great as his already published stuff, well, that's the hardest thing to say in my opinion. I feel like, in order to produce our best work, we usually will have to read it to someone, either another serious writer or maybe a professional editor or agent, or someone in the writing world that could keep us on track. Maybe that's the missing piece, maybe people are ignorant to the fact that he may have never stopped collaborating for New Yorker editors privately, editing and doing all the things you'd normally do, without actually publishing. Well, that's it for now. I meant to give you my two copper pennies (even though they're not cooper now, mine still are) and instead, I gave you a half-dollar. Hope you'll like it as much as I liked your video. Thank you.

[@outofthepage]

Thank you for the lovely comment, it means a lot. I hope you're right about what to expect too! Would love to see where the Glasses all ended up

[@yicama2098]

It would've been so nice to see if he dove more into the Glass Family Stories. Perhaps he wrote more snippets from their individual lives or even the people around them. I'd like to imagine that he did. :)

[@joed2444]

We definitely need a Waker story. Or maybe Walt’s experience in the war.

[@robertsantana3261]

I luv your videos. Make many more pls. Especially about authors.

[@christianhall2665]

great video. it killed me. it really did.

[@candysroom]

Right on. This has also been a fascination of mine. Salinger was highly eccentric. I remember seeing an old tv documentary about Salinger where an old gf of his says he was always trying to get rid of any idea of ego through his daily practices. I get the sense that Salinger was ultimately always writing for himself. Not uncommon to say that Holden is essentially Salinger and that Holden’s desires as stated later on in the book - to run away and become unbothered by the inauthentic people of the world - were Salinger’s articulated desires. Which he probably ultimately achieved. The success of Catcher in the Rye allowed him to have that private/uninterrupted lifestyle so many people seem to idealise when they’re tired of the riffraff. I suppose this means that Salinger would have written further stories from his own experience if Holden is the mouthpiece. I find heavy spiritual undertones to Salinger’s stories - even Catcher to a degree. I think it’s likely that Salinger’s writing became increasingly obscure the more authentic/personal/mystical it became. I couldn’t stand the story “Seymour: An Introduction” and that was one of the last ones published I’m pretty sure - there is a lack of believability I took to the concept of the precocious child writing at such an incredible detail and I wondered why Salinger would find this even a suitable image for authenticity. Still, I’ve started looking into Rimbaud recently and noticed maybe that kind of intelligence/awareness at that age isn’t wholly unbelievable. I suppose it was the pretence that the child could comprehend things like an adult but still be a child that annoyed me. Hence my belief in obscurity in Salinger’s works - his writing was for self-discovery; can novels even be worth reading if the author isn’t writing with an audience in mind anymore? Sorry for the long, tangential comment - it’s been a while since I’ve even thought of Salinger but looking on it now, he’s still my favourite. I enjoyed this video and too remember a long time when I continuously looked up about when we’d get more Salinger stories. There are some pricey collections going of his stories which never made into official book form but came out before he went full Yoda - perhaps those would have been better than the later ones... \_( “ __ “)_/ idk I’m broke af not gonna get to read em soon lol

[@outofthepage]

Great point about the trajectory his writing was taking! Hopefully one day we get to find out

[@havefunbesafe]

I think JD’s son is running the show now and I don’t see anything else being released by the family. It’s unfortunate.

[@juanacuna3926]

Good video. From Argentina

[@williamdonnelly224]

I don't think anything else of his will ever be published at all. I think this is JDS's last laugh on the world.

[@timgreenglass]

There is no excuse for refusing to publish. In fact it is disrespectful to all the fans that will pass away without having a chance to read any of the supposed stash of unpublished work. Does it even exist, and is it any good, one wonders.

[@hihi6666hihittt]

THIS

[@RustinChole]

My dad, and his dad both. I’m starting to doubt I’ll get a chance to read them. That’s like three generations of dead fans. No excuse.

[@jordil6152]

It’s a tough call: if Salinger wanted them published, he could have arranged for that to be done in his lifetime. If he was so adamant that they be published after his death, he could have arranged something with his Executor and Agent. As far as we know, there was never any formal agreement by any of the parties to publish his work. If there was, there would have been a lawsuit by now to force the Estate’s hand. As far as fan-service goes, you already have the Salinger books you love. There is no obligation for them to publish more, just as you are under no obligation to read them. Expect nothing, that way anything you do get is a bonus.

[@timgreenglass]

@@jordil6152 maybe the family owns all the unpublished writings, but what other than greed is preventing the work from being seen, I ask. Salinger is dead, and he was a jerk, but the public deserves to see some of the writing.

[@jordil6152]

@@timgreenglass There could be plenty of reasons other than greed: we don’t know what the writings are about (it could be painful), we don’t know the state of Salinger’s papers (it could be mountains of loose papers poorly filed like “Ulysses” manuscripts), we also don’t know what it feels like to go through our dead father’s papers to find what’s the best possible Salinger book to further the Salinger legacy. It’s a massive task and he also has a life of his own.

[@Jantonov1]

It's been 12 years since his death. And still nothing. At this point waiting for more work from Salinger is akin to waiting for the return of King Arthur.

[@williamdonnelly224]

Or Waiting For Godot.

[@adamp3595]

Oo ooo, I know this one!

[@outofthepage]

You just broke the world speed record for quickest comment!

[@adamp3595]

@@outofthepage Finally a comment my wife would agree with. She is always saying how fast I am...

[@jamesnetwall1193]

Eight more years! What in the world oh wait his family is in charge of everything now. LOL well I can't exactly speak as to the nature of salinger's family and estate but if there anything like my family I'm sure that there is probably world war 4 going on over who's going to get the legal rights to all these works cuz this will be big when they finally come out even if they're not any good they'll initially do very well somebody is probably fighting somebody over the rights to it. I'm going to be 51 by the time that comes out if it comes out exactly when was said. I won't swear on here as I respect your channel and enjoy your videos but in my head it's pretty filthy. Keep up the good work love the videos

[@adamp3595]

Do we have any idea what he did for a living post 1965? I know CITR sold many, many copies but surely those weren’t enough to keep him and his family clothed and fed for all those years.

[@outofthepage]

Actually I think he was able to live comfortably off royalties from Catcher alone. Just googled and it has sold 65 million copies!!

[@michaelstrzempka2211]

It was enough!

[@paperebruschi6414]

Have you read The Inverted Forest?

[@outofthepage]

I have not!