Number 16: All Morons Hate It When You Call Them A Moron

This guy Frederic Colting has written a book entitled "60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye." It's a book he claims is not a sequel or rip-off of J.D. Salinger's "Catcher in the Rye," and one that Salingr has called "a rip-off pure and simple." Colting wrote the book under the pseudonym John David California. That's right, J.D. California. Ohhh I see what you did there.


And here's what bothers me;


Colting says the book is not a sequel or a rip-off and yet the book's main characters are a 76 year old Mr. C and Mr. Salinger, a bitter and angry reclusive author. While Colting may have semantics on his side he and his book are, as Holden Caulfield would say, phony at best.

J.D. California?

Mr. C?

Really?

Colting says that the book is, in fact, a "critical exploration of such themes as the relationship between J.D. Salinger, the famously reclusive author, and Holden Caulfield, his brash and ageless fictional creation." Thats the thing Fred. He was ageless. UNTIL YOU MADE HIM 76 YEARS OLD. Perhaps we should go dig up James Dean's bones and make posters?


Furthermore, Colting states that Salnger has "excercised iron-clad control over his intellectual property, refusing to allow others to adapt any of his characters or stories in other media." AND THANK GOD. Not everything needs a movie and t-shirts in Hot Topic. Some classic works are better left un-mollested (I'm looking at you Zach Snyder). Salinger has had the nerve to do what most don't. To let an important work rest in peace. He has turned down numerous offers, including one from Steven Spieldberg, to bring "Catcher" to the big screen. And again, THANK GOD. Shai LaBeouf doesn't need anymore work.

The point to be made here is simple;

Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. Colting may have the law on his side but it is a distinction which is irrelevant to me. Given the chance I would not ask Mr. Colting if he felt he should be able to bastardize one of the best pieces of American literature (and my personal favorite). No, I would rather know why anyone who calls themself an admirer or fan of J.D. Salinger's work would ever want to. And even if I could get my head around the desire to mess with masterpiece, I could never understand why one would continue in such a pursuit after the creator of said masterpiece states his displeasure with the enterprise. If J.D. Salinger asks you not to mess with "The Catcher in the Rye," why would you mess with "The Catcher in the Rye?" Why fight him about it? He has only asked one thing of the world since 1965. He has asked that he and his work be left alone. It is a request the world has continually ignored.

In a written declaration, Mr. Colting states that he is "not a pirate." Well a pirate he may not be, but a moron he is.

And all morons hate it when you call them a moron.