Re: the "Maynard on Salinger" article
Camille Scaysbrook (verona_beach@geocities.com)
Sat, 08 Aug 1998 11:21:53 +1000
> Seems to me that there's ego inherent in the very act of recording.
This is what I've always thought. By their very nature a writer has to be
one of the most egotistical people in society. Not in the sense of snotty,
but just self-absorbed - after all, when you write something, you're
asserting `*My* story is far more important than anyone elses. So important
in fact that it needs to be recorded permanently.' Biography even more so
(I'm thinking of Malachy McCourt's `A Monk Swimming' when I say this - an
egoist in both senses) - I often think `Well, why did you think your life
story was any more interesting and important than anyone else's?' Perhaps
Salinger is trying to remove this element, but I don't think he'll ever be
entirely successful. What could be *more* egotistical than adding yet
another conundrum : `My story is too important to float into the ether, but
*I'm* the only person important enough to read it'?
Camille
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