Subject: Re: hello
From: Tim O'Connor (oconnort@nyu.edu)
Date: Sat Apr 07 2001 - 14:42:55 GMT
On Sat, Apr 07, 2001 at 01:55:44PM -0400, allen beaman wrote:
> Hello, my name is Al.
Welcome to bananafish, Al!
> Anyway, I am a fairly new Salinger reader (just the
> published paperback works).
Well, unfortunately, aside from the four paperback titles, that's it
-- for more Salinger, you'll have to find the underpublished stuff
(the magazine stories, the anthologized stories), or, if you hit the
jackpot, one of the pirated editions of UNpublished stories that would
include manuscripts that never made it into print anywhere.
> Like most it started with The Catcher, then nine
> stories. etc. When school lets out I plan on finding the older stories.
Good! As Will Hochman said, slightly before you subscribed to the
list, part of the pleasure of reading the older stuff is the thrill of
the search. There's nothing quite like digging and digging and then
coming across a hitherto unread story.
> I also read Alexanders biography and almost felt guilty knowing about him. A
> very interesting author, is he cool, or just a jerk?
I'm always suspicious of labels like "cool," perhaps because they're
mostly meaningless to me, but there's no need to feel guilty in
increasing your knowledge of the man who wrote the stories you enjoy.
Whether he's "a jerk," I don't know that any of us can say that, one
way or ther other, and, besides, there's another of those suspect
labels.
I think of him as a complex and troubled guy who happens to possess the
rare gift of having a direct line into the kinds of insights that
govern the behavior of unusual and complicated people. Beyond that,
it's up to you as reader to discern what kind of person Salinger is.
Perhaps to you he will turn out to be (as he says in Catcher) the kind
of author you want to call up after reading his book. Or perhaps
he'll turn out to be your personal kind of wise man. All I can do is
encourage you to read and share your insights here, where we welcome
comments and reactions.
> Well thats my
> introduction to bananafish, I hope it is satisfactory.
Absolutely. And again, welcome to bananafish!
--tim o'connor
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