Re: The Inverted Forest

ADS -- That's it, though...we're not led to believe the poet is a failure as a
poet. He seems to be a genuinely remarkable poet. The story leads you to
believe the thing that's torturing him emotionally (and yeah, it is related to
his mother at the beginning of the story) is part of what makes him a great
poet. He's being tortured by beauty and has to express it -- remember the
conversation between the wife and Waner? Kim nicely quoted part of it.

Kim -- I wasn't thinking psychopath. I was thinking sociopath. But we're along
the same lines.

Are you saying Salinger wished it was never published because of the connections
people drew between him and Ford, the poet?

Bunny Croft the biggest poetry groupie ever? Or do you mean Joyce Maynard? :).
I can see why Salinger may have regretted publishing this thing.

Jim

Aaron Sommers wrote:

> You once mentioned the Oedipal/mommie-dearest theme a la Bessie and Zooey
> and also Seymour and women in general. Raymond Ford is no exception here. I
> think this story is a great example of how Salinger gives us characters with
> so much potential but little actual value to the world. What does one guy
> say about Ford? "He is Blake, Rilke and Whitman all in one" or something
> like that. It is similar to Buddy's claim Seymour will rank among the great
> poets. However the line "not a wastland but an inverted forest/ with all the
> foliage underground" is alot beter than John Keats John Keats/ John Please
> put your scarf on.
> If I remember the end of the story the genius ends up being a let-down and
> this is mostly due to his twisted relationship with his mother and more
> importantly for Salinger's theme, an inability to find beauty in the vapid
> life he chose to live.
>
> -ADS

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Received on Mon Mar 17 22:30:00 2003