Subject: Re: later salinger
From: Kim Johnson (haikux2@yahoo.com)
Date: Thu Jul 18 2002 - 11:36:14 EDT
will,
interesting point about salinger still considering to
publish 'hapworth' in book format. perhaps one should
surmise that he still stands by the work.
as to why he's withdrawn it, wasn't there speculation
that the nytimes book reviewer read it and wrote a
scathing review of the story plus roundly condemning
the glass series?
and why go to the trouble of publishing after 35+
years of silence? and if doing what one has said one
wasn't going to do, why not as well add a 'companion'
tale to 'hapworth'? the story buddy was working on
about that very important party that they attended in
the '20s?
i'm of three minds re 'hapworth'. sometimes i think
it 'works'; sometimes that parts of it are brilliant;
and others that i wished he'd never let it out of the
house. 'seymour' i think is perhaps his greatest
piece of prose. one day a critic will do justice to
it. to come to 'hapworth' on its heels was a huge
letdown. sure, if the story is one of a mosaic of 20
glass stories, its importance is modified by that
fact. but as the *last* story of the (published)
sequence, i find it perplexing. (and i certainly
don't believe alsen's take on the story: that buddy
wrote it.) alsen does some excellent research, and his
heart is in the right place, and many of his insights
ring right; but he's way off on some major points. i
need to reread him soon; it's been a while. i still
think the glasses haven't meet their proper critic;
and perhaps that can't happen till after salinger's
death and the (possible) publication of more glass
stories. at this point, it reads like a brilliant
unfinished opus that's sort of stalled at an odd
intersection.
kim
--- Will Hochman <hochmanw1@southernct.edu> wrote:
> Kim, I like your take on critics. I don't know if
> Hapworth was quite
> a disaster or an intelligent "glass" door closing
> out public readers
> for a few decades and giving close readers plenty to
> chomp on.
> Anyhow, I don't think Salinger would have considered
> publishing the
> story with Orchisis press if it was a total
> disaster...though maybe
> that's why he decided not to? will
> --
> Will Hochman
>
> Associate Professor of English
> Southern Connecticut State University
> 501 Crescent St, New Haven, CT 06515
> 203 392 5024
>
> http://www.southernct.edu/~hochman/willz.html
>
>
>
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