Nothing but a Memory

The world shook today, but not in quite the same way it did a couple of weeks ago. This was more of communal shudder of the grim variety; JD Salinger died, aged 91. You may not have read any of his books - I haven't, though I still want to - but if you know anything about books you know The Catcher in the Rye is perhaps one of the most finely written books of the twentieth century.

This blog post is something like jumping on the bandwagon - everyone is talking about Salinger and the as yet uncertain reasons regarding his passing. I haven't bothered reading more than the first link I saw, and that was only to confirm that it wasn't just an internet rumour.

At times like this, people often come out and say "He's nothing but a memory now." Those people are wrong. A fantastic writer by the name of Jeremy C Shipp taught me that in his book Vacation. Nothing and memory don't belong in the same sentence, he says. He's right. We are more than a memory when we pass on, and we're more than a body void of life and an idea of a soul fluttering away to destination unknown.

We are the sum of our accomplishments and failures. We are every word we ever wrote, every word we ever spoke, every sound we uttered or screamed and every sigh of relief we make. We are the people we loved, and the people we hated, the ones we hardly knew and the ones we never knew. We are our actions and our thoughts. And a memory. We are always a memory, but never just a memory. And we're always people. Dead or alive, we are always people.

The literary world, and the friends and family, and friends of family, will all mourn the death of the reclusive writer who chose not to publish for the last half of his life. But he never really needed to. His voice, his perfect literary achievement, was already out there in the world, the modern classic, the cult fiction piece, the fantastic piece of coming of age literature; it is perhaps one of the greatest books ever written, and I'm yet to get past two pages of it. Does that mean it was bad? Not at all. It means I wasn't in the right mind set for the book.

As a homage to the late author, I encourage you to give his book a read, and pay your own silent respects for him. The world of books lost one of its finest in the craft.

RIP JD Salinger, the Man, the Memory and the Life Lived.

Review - Vacation

Well, it's been a while since I reviewed anything here, so I thought I'd bring it all back with a review of a book by a Twitter friend of mine. His name is Jeremy C Shipp, and in the last few years, he's become one of the biggest names in the Bizarro genre. His début novel, Vacation, is marked as Literary/Science Fiction, and tells a remarkable story of a world gone wrong, with nobody knowing it. That's a bit vague, but I don't want to ruin the plot.

First and foremost, I loved this book. I'm not just saying that either; it got me thinking, more so than any other book I've ever read. It's one of the most intriguing books I've ever laid my eyes upon! And not just about the general way the world is falling apart; smaller things too, or larger, depending on how you look at it. I had to read the book in small doses to prevent an overload of thoughts flooding into my head. Safety first!

Secondly, it really is well written, and it's no wonder it was published! Jeremy has a fantastic style, and he keeps his character alive with a voice that remains true. There are lines that you read later in the book and think "He said something similar to this earlier, only he was more depressed before..." It's a good thing, I might add, that he seems to repeat. It's character development. Plus, the book is written as if it were to the protagonist's parents, as a letter, so it's nice to see a human side to him.

Thirdly... well there is no thirdly. Not really. The book doesn't need a thirdly. It did, however, get a mention in my vlog! I read out the inscription in it that Jeremy added before sending it to me. In the future, there will also be my pathetic attempt to be philosophical, so make sure you stay tuned for that, as it's all related back to Vacation.



And remember, though it may be a Vacation, it's no walk in the park.