Re: Justice to J.D.


Subject: Re: Justice to J.D.
From: Will Hochman (hochman@southernct.edu)
Date: Thu Jun 07 2001 - 21:51:46 GMT


Although Janet Malcolm has had past problems, her piece in the NYRB
is important. I think she does a fine job of reading F&Z for the
powerhouse of a book that it is...though Updike and others questioned
how well the two stories work together (I think it was Updike who
suggested that "Franny" was not the same character in each story...)
Malcolm makes the argument for why this book is a timeless classic.
F&Z furthers some of the thinking in Catcher by taking the problem of
phonynees to the next age level. I think what happens in "Franny"
furthers Holden's sense of writing and meaning beyond school so
clearly that I wonder why that hasn't been a large point in Salinger
criticism so far...

I've never been able to read "Zooey" without crying at the end...for
me at least, it's a story of seeing god in everything and everyone.
I like the way Malcolm turns the tables and shows that critics
haven't done enough with F&Z...

And if you think about it, the next book, SAI&RHTRBC, continues
maturation from Holden's adolescence to Seymour's Marriage and then
attempts to give readers a whole life of Seymour in retrospect and in
the remains of the Glass family...yes, Salinger is the great writer
of our time and I'm really thrilled that fine thinkers like Malcolm
are returning to Salinger with more critical insight and respect, Will

-- 
Will Hochman
Assistant Professor of English & Composition Co-Coordinator
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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