in elementary school, i read every single book on the shelves of my school library. by middle school, i had read every single book on my brother's high school reading list. one of those books was Catcher in the Rye, which soon led me to Nine Stories. and in high school, i found the book Franny and Zooey. the moment i finished Franny and Zooey, JD salinger had etched his place in my mind as my favorite author. his books were some of the guiding forces behind my love for literature and my dream of becoming a high school english teacher. it would be an understatement to say that his books had a very important impact on me in many ways as i was growing up. anyone who knows me well, knows how much i love his writing, the reasons for which i have many. so when i found out that he had passed away, i was saddened. the first thought that crossed my mind, was the realization that i would never again be able to read one of his books for the first time. then i came across this article :
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g4FgogT8ejV-zT_MRzLM-67HRV_w


the very idea of these hidden works, tucked away in his mysterious home after living such a mysterious life....it's incredibly exciting and intriguing. i would absolutely love to read them, to get a little snapshot of exactly who jd salinger is, who this amazing author who changed my life is. but i can't help but think that perhaps those pieces of writing should be left exactly as they are, hidden away. he stayed away from the public for three decades, wrote as a means of expression and passion. after numerous attempts to keep his work from being published, to stop the additions to Catcher in the Rye, it would be in bad taste for the public to reach inside the home he so heavily guarded and extract what he obviously held very close to his heart. i find his passion amazing, his want to be left alone intriguing. it's only right that we leave it at that.
"There is a marvelous peace in not publishing," J.D. Salinger told The New York Times in 1974. "Publishing is a terrible invasion of my privacy. I like to write. I love to write. But I write just for myself and my own pleasure."