Subject: hello
From: flux (aeonflux@xmission.com)
Date: Tue Feb 11 1997 - 05:52:11 GMT
On Mon, 10 Feb 1997 Majordomo@cassatt.Mass-USR.COM wrote:
> Please send a hello message to the list at the address,
> bananafish@mass-usr.com when you are added. This is sort of a
> "getting-to-know-you" thing so others can know what sort of audience is
> out there! Just say anything you feel like.
well, hello everyone. my name is todd and i just subscribed. i've been a
Salinger fan since i first read 'Catcher' when i was a senior in high
school. after that i hunted down everything i could find by him,
including 'Hapworth' at the local university library. i photocopied it,
lent it to my girlfriend at the time, broke up with my girlfriend, and
have been wanting to read it again ever since. i'm so excited to learn
that it's finally going to be published as a book (although, i imagine
it'll be a tiny book).
since i only just found this list, can someone bring me up to speed?
1. how long has the list been set up?
2. about how many subscribers are on here?
3. what day exactly is 'Hapworth' supposed to be available?
and now to plunge into the discussion:
On Mon, 10 Feb 1997, Jon Tveite wrote:
> It's not my favorite either, but it blew my 19-yr-old mind when I first
> read it. Quite a blast of Eastern mysticism for someone who was raised by
> professional Christians (my dad's a Lutheran pastor). I still have a hard
> time drinking milk without thinking about "pouring God into God."
(with an eye that says, "hey, don't i -know- you from somewhere?!")
i'll have to agree. i was raised by stalwart mormons, and this whole
story managed to contradict almost everything i'd ever been taught about
god. maybe that's why i loved it so much.
> (could Seymour be the midpoint between Teddy and Holden? I dunno
> -- probably a dumb idea).
not that dumb. in "Seymour, an Introduction" Buddy essentially says
that Holden was based on Seymour. he also tells how the description of
Teddy's eyes was somewhat getting at Seymour's eyes. since Salinger
placed so much importance on the eyes of poet's, i always kind of just let
Teddy be a "Seymour" in my mind.
(he also says that the "Seymour" of "Perfect Day" was more modeled
more after himself than after -the- Seymour. you gotta love how Salinger
recontextualizes previous stories through the later ones.)
> I think "Teddy" functions better as an intro to
> Eastern thought than a literary short story, however.
yeah, but it sure did that well, didn't it? who hasn't looked a lot more
deeply into Eastern thought and religion after reading good ol' J.D?
which reminds me. maybe it's been discussed here before, but while i was
in my major Salinger phase, i found a -fantastic- book at the university
library. can't remember who it's by, but it was called something like
'Reading Salinger's Glass Stories as a Composite Novel'. brilliant! the
guy really helped explain a ton of the Eastern connections, and how
Salinger's work is rooted much more in the Vedas and Taoism than any
Buddhism. it also explains the evolution of Salinger's prose as a
progression towards a very Eastern ideal of aesthetics. if anyone knows
what i'm talking about, and knows how i could get a copy of this book,
please e-mail me.
well, i'm glad to be on the list. i look forward to a lot of good
discussion. sorry this first post got so long. i'm kinda long-winded
(Jon will vouch for that).
take care,
todd
aeonflux@xmission.com
'i realize a miracle is due'
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