Subject: Re: Why (NOT) Read Biographies?
From: Otto Sell (o.sell@telda.net)
Date: Sat Nov 04 2000 - 12:38:56 GMT
Hello Bernie,
I cannot but agree with you and admit having had the same uneasy feelings
about some of the biographical facts revealed in "Dream Catcher" but on the
other hand it made me curious as well, doing some re-reading, even preparing
a small website of my own to gather my thoughts. But of course inevitably I
will read it some day, considering it as a source which has to be
interpreted very carefully.
I am mainly concerned with Thomas Pynchon, the other great reclusive who
followed Salinger in his decision to keep his private life private.
On my own short biographical site on Pynchon I have a link to an article
from someone who tried to find Pynchon, gives it up in the end (after
finding him) and feels kind of ashamed:
http://www.salon.com/media/1998/09/22media.html
After seeing an unauthorized video of Pynchon he reminds us of the message
we should have learned from the Wizard of Oz:
"Don't pay attention to the man behind the curtain"
There are of course parallels between the characters in the books and the
author, but JDS is *not* Holden Caulfield, Charles Bukowski is *not* Henry
Chinasky and of course Thomas Pynchon isn't Tyrone Slothrop (Gravity's
Rainbow), whose fictional forefather bear a remarkable resemblance to the
Puritan forefathers of Pynchon.
Otto
-------------------------
o.sell@telda.net
http://www.itap.de/homes/otto/index.html
(Golden Web Award 2000-2001)
http://www.itap.de/homes/otto/pynchon/episode.htm
http://www.itap.de/homes/otto/jds/jdsdex.htm
----- Original Message -----
From: Bernd Wahlbrinck <Bernd.Wahlbrinck@t-online.de>
To: BANANA NEU <bananafish@roughdraft.org>
Sent: Saturday, November 04, 2000 3:23 PM
Subject: Why (NOT) Read Biographies?
> Bernd Wahlbrinck 04.11.2000
> email: Bernd.Wahlbrinck@t-online.de OR bernd@wahlbrinck.de
> Germany, Home of the Wadel
> ______________________________________________________________________
> ______
> Hello
> I have to admit I could not read all of the discussion concerning THE
> DREAM CATCHER, but I did have an uneasy feeling about the whole
> thing.
> That is why I added the following item to my Catcher site (yes, I am
> quoting myself here ;-) - which might interest some of you fishes...:
> *****************************************************
> Why (NOT) Read Biographies?
>
> I used to be very interested in biographical information
> concerning Salinger. In fact, Ian Hamilton's In Search of J.D.
> Salinger, first published in 1988, offers remarkable details about
> him, especially regarding parallels between the author and his
> protagonist Holden Caulfield. Thus this kind of extrinsic approach
> can easily expand your view of the novel itself and contribute to a
> better understanding of various aspects.
>
> However, since the publication of Margaret Salinger's Dream
> Catcher in September 2000 I have begun to change my mind. According
> to amazon.com, she writes in the introduction: "I grew up in a world
> both terrible and beautiful, and grossly out of balance." She
> continues: "My father, a writer of fiction, is a dreamer who barely
> can tie his own shoelaces in the real world, let alone warn his
> daughter she might stumble and fall. In real life, when he chooses to
> make himself available, he can be funny, intensely loving, and the
> person you most want to be with." However, she adds: "To get in the
> way of his work, to interrupt the holy quest, is to commit sacrilege."
>
> So far, so good. But after reading about other details on the
> Bananafish Mailing List - e.g. that Salinger used to drink his own
> urine etc - I more and more got the feeling that it might not be such
> a brilliant idea to go and buy the book in the first place. Here are
> 2 reasons:
> 1. What makes us think that we have the right to learn about very
> intimate aspects of a person, especially if we know for sure that
> this person does not want us to know about these things?
> 2. I have a hunch that after reading such a book, chances are the
> negative or strange views you get of the author will somehow rub off
> on his protagonist Holden Caulfield. I mean, I have the feeling that
> while reading CR you just cannot help thinking of those weird things
> at the same time, which will not exactly enhance the joy of reading...
> What do you think?!
> ***********************************************
> Bernie
> ______________________________________________________________________
> ____
> Come to think of it, why don't you take a trip to my website:
> "THE CATCHER IN THE RYE by J.D.Salinger - and related matters"
> url: http://mitglied.tripod.de/BerndWahlbrinck/index.htm
>
-
* Unsubscribing? Mail majordomo@roughdraft.org with the message
* UNSUBSCRIBE BANANAFISH
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b25 : Sun Dec 17 2000 - 17:06:19 GMT