Re: hi everyone
WILL HOCHMAN (hochman@uscolo.edu)
Wed, 08 Jul 1998 08:56:35 -0600 (MDT)
Several months ago I went to hear Richard Ford read at the Tattered Cover.
Afterwards, we got in a discussion of his use of "X" in _The
Sportswriter_. He claims he had totally forgotten it in Esme` but I think
the point of writers using "X" is likely not to be guess who it really is,
but to encourage readers to imagine it could be almost anyone...will
On Wed, 8 Jul 1998, Tim O'Connor wrote:
>
> > Hi I am new to Bananafish. My name is Paula, I just thought I'd introduce
> > myself. Can anybody tell me, about how many people are subscribed to this
> > mailing list?
>
> We have about 275 subscribers at present, though only a small number
> actually posts; most of us are readers here, not contributors.
>
> You can always review the list archives at:
>
> http://www.nyu.edu/acf/staff/oconnort/JDS/
>
> > I look forward to hearing from you all soon! My first question.... who does
> > everybody think Sergeant X is????? Waker???? Or maybe not a Glass at all?
>
> I've occasionally imagined that X is really Buddy (if we want to pin the
> tail on a Glass) or (more tantalizing) a thinly veiled portrait of the
> author himself. Certainly Sgt. X drops enough clues to make himself seem
> to be the author in a none-too-subtle disguise. I consider it tantalizing
> because of the lengths to which Salinger has gone to hide behind the
> theatrical masks of his other characters and narrators, while X is pretty
> nakedly undisguised. (I've never been able to imagine X's coal-black G.I.
> filling and not think of it as a purely autobiographical detail. Some
> things are so concrete, it's hard to imagine them as anything but drawn
> directly from experience.)
>
> --tim o'connor
>
>
>