JDS FAQ

Sundeep Dougal (holden@giasdl01.vsnl.net.in)
Tue, 02 Jun 1998 03:14:13 +0500

About the FAQ.

More than a year back, Matt Kozusko and I had begun work on a page
tentatively titled, "JDS FAQ: A Preliminary Collection of Material" and
after the initial excitement subsided in our own heads, and we felt
overwhelmed by the enormity of the task, and got busy with other
preoccupations, we had just put up a raw unproofed version of the page,
made a rather sheepish sans-fanfare announcement to the list and all this
combined with a p2c2e (that's a Rushdie-ism: Process Too Complicated To
Explain) led to our forgotting all about it.

Helena has taken the initiative and prodded us back into action, and I am
sure the project would find some semblance of fruition with her
involvement. Matt has promised to come up with his promised entry on
Seymour/Bananafish.

That page has existed now for over a year at:

http://members.tripod.com/~SundeepDougal/faq.html

in all its unfinished glory. So here's the renewed invite to all interested
to have a look and comment as to tone, content, form, errors and so on.

Camille's hilarious proposed entries (I am very tempted to include the
whole thread, or atleast a link to that in the FAQ) made me take a look at
how we had then decided to address such questions in the FAQ:

<Begin excerpt from the FAQ>

6. TEXT RELATED

Q Why did Seymour kill himself? 
Q Was Mr. Antolini making a pass at Holden?
Q Why did Seymour marry Muriel?
Q Is Franny pregnant at the end of "Franny"? 
Q Is Holden addressing his narrative to a psychiatrist?
Q Who dies in Teddy? Is it open-ended?
Q What are the exact contents of Bessie Glass' kimono pockets?
Q.Is Jane Gallagher related to Betty Gallagher Glass?
Q What is the sound of one hand clapping?

The way we'd like to answer all these is that it depends upon your
subjective reading and interpretation. And mood. And the weather. And
general disposition. And the philosophical bent, faith or belief. Not to
mention the price of onions. Ever been to the "Shit Happens" page? That
might give you an idea. Try it. No, seriously, for answers to all such
questions we merely suggest a closer reading of the text and if you have
pet theories, insights, deductions, research findings or plain revelations
to share, feel free to post to the Bananafish List.

<End excerpt>

Hmmm. Seems too flippant (and juvenile) even to me. All my fault as I had
just put it up w/o vetting by Matt thinking I'd revise it later after
getting feedback from the list in general and the elders in particular
(Tim, Will, Stephen, Malcs, D and all others who have an opinion on this). 

Whaddya all say?
That we forget about it and just have all the purported answer links
leading to blank pages by way of explanation? Or would that be excessively
cute?

Well, anyway, all feedback is welcome.

Sonny
(Malcs' absconding man in New Delhi, India)