Subject: Re: Italian Holden
From: Sofia Helgegren (i98sofhe@island.liu.se)
Date: Tue May 23 2000 - 12:09:57 GMT
Tania said:
> But, you see, with Salinger's books for me it's not like they
> are a tool for me to understand better life, or myself, or whatever;
when I
> read them it's like I'm touching life itself. No tool, no
intermediate.
This is what I too feel about Salinger. And if you, being Italian, and
me being Swedish, can feel this about Salinger's fiction, published 26
years before I was born, there certainly must be a strong sense of
universality in his message.
I am currently writing a University essay, comparing _The Catcher_
with "Franny " & "Zooey", and this has renewed an interest in Salinger
that started when I was 14. The reason I mention this is that it has
forced me to take in a lot of secondary material on Salinger that I
might not otherwise have bothered ever reading, something I am
eternally grateful for. In connection with the globally applicable
message I argue Salinger's fiction conveys, I would like to quote
critic Malcolm Bradbury, someone perhaps most of you know inside out,
like you seem to know everything that way.
Anyway: "the store of wisdom of the Glasses, gained at the expense of
neurosis throughout the family and the death of Seymour, is oddly
reductive, since the Glasses are a withdrawn Elect, living outside the
world with a philosophy of almost total exclusion of others"
I argue thw wisdom of the Glasses is not reductive, as the key to
harmony in "Zooey" is (in my humble opinion) to learn to love all. If
anyone agrees, it would be nice to know exactly what Mr Bradbury might
be hinting at with it being "a philosophy of almost total exclusion of
others"".
Please not that I ask this question out of quriosity, I do NOT intend
to use any of the thoughts shared on this list for my essay, I would
never bertray you all in such a way. If this was my goal, I could just
as easily have read the log for this list, as I am sure you realise.
Comment, please, if you wish,
/Sofia.
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