When a zen monk passes you on the street...
Bethany M. Edstrom (Bethany.M.Edstrom@Dartmouth.EDU)
Sat, 06 Dec 1997 14:38:16 -0500 (EST)
Peggy,
I had a surprise Salinger moment yesterday too. I went to see the school play
of a 12 year-old boy I know. The play was based on a childen's book, adapted by
someone, but the director and the kids had also written a few scenes and
inserted them, so I don't know who came up with this, but anyway, there was one
scene in which a teenaged girl was sitting in her counselor's office talking
about friendships, and all of a sudden the kid playing the counselor said, "In
certain zen monestaries it's a cardinal rule, if not the only enforced
discipline, that when one monk calls out 'Hi!' to another monk, the latter must
call back 'Hi!' without thinking!" I sat up with a jolt, thinking "I've heard
THAT before!" and then noticed that she was reading out of RHTRBC! The play
proceeded , and there was another scene where the father (played by my friend)
of the girl in the office came in and did a very admirable acting job of
screaming at the counselor for reading Salinger to a twelve year-old. Then I
was in a good mood for the rest of the day, thinking of all the kids in the
audience (and the ones in the play, if they hadn't already) going home and
grabbing the first copy of Salinger they could find, because there's nothing
more enticing to a 12 year-old than a banned book. That's how I discovered JDS
at the age of 12, after all...
Bethany