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Coming Through the Rye – Oh My

June 26

By now, you’ve probably caught wind of something to do with an unauthorised sequel to The Catcher in the Rye floating in the works, penned would-be writer John David California (or J.D. as he likes to be called by his friends). Over the past few weeks or so, it’s evolved into quite the literary saga, with protest, prozac, shock, outrage, sworn tributes, secret identities, law suits and restraining orders to boot. For those who may have missed a beat, here’s a quick roundup of what was said and done.

Last month, the blogosphere reported that debut Swedish-American novelist John David had written an unofficial follow-up to J.D. Salinger’s iconic classic. 60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye was originally published by Nicotext in Sweden, and was set for release in the UK and US by Windupbird Publishing and SCB Distributors respectively. The story roughly picks up 60 years after the events in Catcher, when Holden Caulfield is 73 and about to leave his retirement home to once again roam the streets of New York. ‘I open my eyes and, just like that, I’m awake,’ read the opening lines. ‘I suppose it’s pretty damn early, but it must still be the middle of the night. It’s so dark I can hardly see my goddamned hand in front of my face.’

Needless to say, The Catcher in the Rye is one of the most widely-read and well-loved texts of all time. First published in 1951, it went on to sell over 65 million copies world-wide and Holden Caulfield quickly became the cynical poster-child for a new generation of dry, disaffected youth. Despite this success, Salinger soon became a notorious recluse, withdrawing from the public eye after the release of his last novel Franny and Zooey. Many fans have long been disappointed at Salinger’s decision to write only for his own pleasure, however there was a good amount of outcry over this pseudo offering from California. Guardian blogger Stuart Evers had this to say: ‘What I find fascinating is the sheer brass balls of the man. At what point did he decide that he, above all others, was perfectly placed to re-imagine one of the classic characters of 20th-century literature?’

The plot thickened when lawyers at Salinger’s US agency filed suit for breach of copyright, asking that publication be blocked in the US and that all copies be destroyed. Not long after, it was revealed that ‘John David California’ was a pseudonym and that the real author of Coming Through the Rye was in fact Fredrik Colting, the publisher at Nicotext. Colting and his lawyers defended the novel, claiming that it had not breached copyright as Caulfield is only ever referred to as ‘Mr C’ throughout the book and that in any case they could rely on the defence of parody. Last week, a US federal court judge ruled against Nicotext, stating that Salinger’s character was protected by copyright and issued a temporary restraining order to block publication. The court is yet to issue their final verdict, and in any case appeal by the losing side is likely.

Earlier on, Colting had said that he meant the book to be a tribute to Salinger and that he hoped the author would be pleased. ‘I’m not trying to lure him out of hiding,’ he said, ‘maybe he wants his privacy [but] it would be fun for me to hear what he thinks about this’. Well, Salinger thinks that Coming Through the Rye is a ‘rip-off pure and simple’ and I’m guessing that Colting isn’t finding it so ‘fun’ anymore.

JA

Salinger pic


 

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