Rebel in the Rye Page #6

---

on the same path

that has led you to me.

Do you think

the nightmares

will ever go away?

Oh, yes.

But first, you must heal

from the violence

that has been inflicted

upon your soul.

But how?

Right.

Our religion

consists of meditation

on the spirit

of full consciousness.

Come. Remove your shoes.

This is how we will

begin to heal the pain.

Those are very

handsome shoes.

Thank you.

Come. Sit.

Very good.

Now, close your eyes.

It's alright.

It won't hurt you.

Ultimate reality

is an all-pervading..

...uncreated..

...self-luminous..

...eternal spirit.

It is the consciousness

that animates

all conscious beings.

[instrumental music]

I, I try to write.

Every day, I sit

at the typewriter,

but I can't start.

What do you think about

when you stare

at the blank page?

Well, that it

won't be good.

That I've lost

my talent.

So, what if you have?

Then I shouldn't write.

You write to show off

your talent?

Or to express

what's in your heart?

I finally

started yesterday.

- Good.

- No, it wasn't good.

I mean, the writing

was terrible, and I

only managed one page.

Then what happened?

Did you enjoy it?

- Writing?

- No, ripping up the page.

Yeah.

I ripped up

five pages yesterday.

Sounds like fun.

[instrumental music]

[music continues]

Seymour Glass.

"Are you going

in the water,

Seymour Glass?" she said.

He suddenly

got to his feet.

He looked at the ocean.

"I'll tell you

what we'll do.

"We'll see if we can

catch a bananafish.

This is a perfect day

for bananafish."

[knock on door]

Well, I love what you've

done with the place.

You're writing again?

Mm-hmm.

The Caulfield novel?

Uh, no. No,

I -- I tried.

- But..

- Thank you.

You know,

it's just some..

...short stories,

I've been working on them.

They're not very good,

but at least

I'm getting pages done.

Well, that's why

I'm here.

You remember that story

that "The New Yorker"

was going to publish?

"Slight Rebellion

Off Madison."

My first

Caulfield story.

Well, they've been

reviewing all their

past submissions

from before the war,

and they are considering

publishing it.

Really?

- Yes, really.

- Oh.

I don't know

if you remember

but they had

specific notes

you didn't want to take.

And if you want them

to publish it

you're going to have to

make their changes.

Oh, come on,

at least hear them out.

Publishing

is everything.

Well, "The New Yorker"

holds a special place

in American literature

and it's important to us

that our stories

have a uniform vision.

We want the reader to be

able to read a story

and know that

it could only run

in "The New Yorker."

Well, that's exactly

what I don't want.

You don't want

to be...published

in "The New Yorker?"

No. No, I love

"The New Yorker."

I just don't want

to write stories

like everyone else.

You know, the war hero

doesn't always

get a parade.

Sometimes, he blows

his head off.

I want to create

a new form of writing

a modern form

about modern society

in which the pain

of our existence

is laid out truthfully

for everyone to see.

I'll make

a deal with you.

If you try the notes

and don't feel they make

your story better

then I'll submit

your original version.

I don't want

Holden and Sally

to end up together.

That's not what happens

in real life,

at least not in my life.

Well, that's fine.

It was just

a thought we had.

I thought it was

a big sticking point

for you.

Not if you feel that

it destroys the integrity

of the piece.

Look, Jerry, I'm not

trying to take

your story over

or write it for you.

You have

a wonderful voice,

but you over-explain.

You know, trust that

the reader is going

to understand you.

What do you mean

I over-explain?

[instrumental music]

It's better.

Your notes worked.

Thanks.

You're welcome.

I'll submit it to

Harold Ross and the team.

It should take a few weeks

to get an answer.

I wanted to give you

another story I wrote.

I thought you could

help me make it better.

Well, shouldn't

"Bananafish," be

two wor --

- No, it has to be one.

- Why?

Because two words would

make too much sense.

Dear Jerry, I've sent you

several letters

but you never respond.

I hope you believe me

when I tell you there

was nothing I could do.

I begged them

to publish it,

I really did.

And now I'm begging

for your forgiveness.

Because I -- I truly..

I've read several

of your stories

and they're very

impressive

for someone your age.

My writing changed

a lot after the war.

The war changed

a lot of writers.

The ones that survived.

Jerry, I brought you here

today because I wanted

to tell you personally

that "The New Yorker"

would like to publish you.

Uh, which -- which

story?

All of them.

All of them?

I would like

to offer you a

first rejection contract.

We'll pay you

a handsome yearly salary

and in return,

we get to read

all of your stories first.

The ones

we don't publish

you're free to sell

to other magazines.

It's the most

prestigious contract

in American publishing.

Congratulations, Jerry.

You did it.

I love to hear

our laughter mingle

Hah hah ho ho

Gliding through

the snow

May I present

Jerry Salinger?

Peggy Siskin.

"The New Yorker's"

incipient Great man

of American Letters.

Jerry, if I may,

I am also a writer.

Fantastic.

I thought "Uncle Wiggily

In Connecticut"

was marvelous.

I'm simply dying

for your next story.

When Seymour Glass

shot himself

you weren't just

talking about the war

you were talking

about the bourgeois

capitalist infrastructure

of a modern plutocracy.

Or maybe it was the war.

But it's really

up to the reader.

Jerry is in

the very beginnings

of his first novel.

And Bill says you may be

writing a novel.

So, when are you going

to write a novel?

- Hopefully, it won't

be too long.

- Let's get a picture.

Ooh, thank you so much.

The main picture.

Here we are.

Jing a ling jing

a ling jing a ling

[exhales]

[sighs]

There's one thing that's

been weighing on me.

A novel I'm trying to..

Wanting to finish,

but can't.

I'm scared if I work

on it, the nightmares

will come back.

Is it about the war?

No, it's about

a character I wrote about

during the war.

He was with me

everywhere I went.

Every time you attempt

to work on it

you feel the war again.

You know, you never

really get the smell

of burning flesh

out of your nostrils.

Perhaps finishing

this book is the way

for you to move on.

Right.

There's just

so many distractions

everywhere, I..

Then you must

remove distractions.

[instrumental music]

Well, this is it.

It gets a little drafty,

but the price is right.

What are you gonna

do up here?

Oh, just

a little writing.

Mmm.

I'll just tell you about

this madman stuff

that happened to me

around last Christmas..

...just before I got

pretty run-down.

Finally, what I decided

I'd do, I decided

I'd go away.

I decided I'd never

go home again.

I'd never go away

to another school again.

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