In a message dated 8/15/99 5:15:19 AM Eastern Daylight Time, c_scaysbrook@yahoo.com writes: << The very fact that Catcher has its roots in legends such as that of Gautama Buddha and his bretheren points to the fact that Holden's adventures could have taken place in ancient India as easily as modern New York? Something like `Ulysses' would fall into the same category. Whereas, say, `Franny' to me would in a strange way not, despite the fact that her concerns are in many ways similar to Holden's. Camille >> Oh lord...an on topic post. What's happening to the list? God help us all :) Catcher and Ulysses are narratives describing a journey home. That's about as common as it gets :) People have been doing that in many, many cultures for thousands of years. But think about "Franny and Zooey." "Franny" is about Franny talking with Lane in a restaurant then having a breakdown. "Zooey" is about Zooey talking with his mother in a bathroom about Franny having a breakdown. I can't think of any immediate parallels in world literature off the top of my head :) This kinda validates Scottie's point, I think, about the nature of at least some of Salinger's fiction -- he's writing about a narrow range of experiences. I still love F&Z, of course, simply because of its attention to the "observation of details," as you pointed out. But that's only because the details being observed are very familiar to me, and invested with a lot of meaning. Jim