Re: Is Salinger from the Geat Generation?

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Matt Kozusko writes:

<So, for instance, readers for the next six hundred years will <understand
<(interact with emotionally and intellectualy? feel a personal <bond
<with?) _Franny and Zooey_, but possibly not _Gatsby_?  

My point is that there is little in Salinger's works (most of them, anyway)
that date them to a particular time period, as opposed to Fitzgerald's careful
descriptions of the Jazz age (which is one of the most important traits in his
works).  Isn't one reason why TCIR is so beloved by us is that readers from
any generation can feel the same as Holden?  You can't honestly expect
teenagers today to identify with Gatzby, from the post-WWI prohibition Jazz
age the way they do with Holden.  I personally read Kerouac and Fitzgerald as
an observer, while with Salinger the connection is much more personal.   

JD
Emory University

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