bookshops, characters and solitude

I recently found out a friend of mine works, part-time, in a local bookshop which has been there my whole life. Same place, same people. The owners are two sisters who, I understand, decicated their entire life to books. Since they never got married they share a flat not far from the bookshop and their daily routine is something like...they open the bookshop at 9 am, close it at 12:30 am for lunch, open it again at 2.30 pm and close it at 7pm.

I confess I was always curious about them, what they do, how their lives are really like and I was somehow happy to find out someone knew them. I didn't get to know anything special, nor of great interest...but in a way they look like characters from a book - to me at least - and the feeling was that of finally opening the book.

Still, it was also quite upsetting: do all people who dedicate their lives to books die 'alone', have no children, no love, nothing of the kind?

Do people from small bookshops do nothing but read and read and...read? I know there's a lot to say about theme, I know they have so much to offer but I also have the feeling books are losing their ability to connect people.

I remember attending a conference once about the importance of tales for kids. The speaker pointed out that tales give children the opportunity to learn about life, to understand they are not alone and can overcome problems, just like Cinderella does.

I've always read about the solitary life of writers and I myself know how difficult it is to have a socialise while trying to write a novel but I do have the feeling modern times stole the magic within/around books. We read, but have no time to share.

Not so long ago people would meet in cafes to talk about books, literature in general...where's all gone?

As much as I love internet I think it created a funny idea of what 'Culture' is...need info? Check online...easy, practical, fast. Still I miss the touch and smell of books...

J.D. Salinger

The death of a great writer is, no doubt of that, something to talk about. But it's hard. Hard to think a real talent is no longer with us; hard to be left with nothing but what has been published while he was alive because there's no certainty his heirs will want to share the rest. Or, maybe, there is because of the money they might get, but for those who love books (fiction, non fiction), talent has no price.

J.D. Salinger is no longer with us. He left at the end of January (27, to be precise). But although I did read The Catcher in the Rye and understood (hope so) his amazing American talent, I confess I didn't feel his passing that shocking. Was it because he was born in 1919? To be honest, it was not. Point is...he wasn't much around. Only two interviews were ever published while he was alive: one for a local magazine (if I don't get wrong from Cornish) and the second to The New York Times in 1974.

We do not know much about Jerome as a person. We only know what he wanted us to, almost nothing, which is somehow weird considering the number of people wanting to be "famous" (who would do everything to get there). Weird also because characters in The Catcher in the Rye  are rebels, people who are going to get noticed, in a way or another. Still, Jerome, was different, somehow his rebellion was fitting the role of the perfect "outsider" by being as normal as he could ever be.

You may have not read his books, you may feel they are not that good...but at least as far as I'm concerned, J.D. Salinger represented my idea of "writer", of someone who feels the need to write, not because he wants to be famous, but because it's a necessity, something he couldn't live without. And I think a life spent writing is worth it, do you?

I guess a part of me will always love Salinger because he was born in 1919, just like grandad who's still here (hopefully for many years to come): silly, and sentimental, but that's me;-)

Ps Did you know that when The Catcher in the Rye  was firstly published it was banned in most parts of the US because of words such as "go**amn" (used 255 times)!?