Re: First Catcher memories?

Tim O'Connor (tim@roughdraft.org)
Fri, 28 Nov 1997 16:09:14 -0500

Lagusta said:

> hmm, i've been thinking about this thread off and on a bit. it is a lovely
> thing to think about, and it's made me feel very warm and happy
> towards other bananafish, remembering that all of you share something so
> special to me. do you remember when laura left the list because she
> couldn't talk about salinger because it was too personal, too close to the
> most sacred things in her heart? i really respected that, because i feel
> like that a lot too. when this list is stupid, and people fight and i'm
> reading posts that make me sigh and groan, i think of her and how it would
> hurt her and how it hurts me that these people who on one hand share
> something so incredibly sacred to me can be so annoying.

This is a funny and strange territory, part physical and part psychological
and part emotional.  I wouldn't trade it for anywhere else.

> but, of course, that's life, that's the way it is with best friends,
> lovers, family. but the thing that connects us is not life experiences,
> not attraction or love, not blood, only one author. it's kind of amazing.

Indeed!  I've mentioned this before, but I've just finished reading a copy
of a book, Cyberville, by Stacy Horn, which is about the creation and
maintenance of online communities.  (It'll be in the stores in January.)
She really manages to hit a lot of the key reasons online communities
(whether a BBS or a mailing list or something else) succeed or fail.  There
is a certain momentum that needs to exist for things to proceed well.  (The
fighting and bickering is what happens when things proceed badly, I guess.)

> and yep, that letter in _Zooey_. i actually used to have 2 copies of
> _F&Z_; one to read out of the tub and an old falling apart, waterlogged
> yard-sale copy i read almost every time i took a bath. i'd rest the book
> on my knees, just like in the book, and read that letter pretending i was
> zooey and buddy was my brother. sometimes my mother (quite a salinger
> fan herself) would be outside, and since she knew what i was reading,
> she'd urge me to take a "washrag."  (weird family, mine..)

My mother always called it a washrag too.  But I could never stand the
things because they always smelled like mildew, and there are few thing
that are as sickening to me as that smell!

> then after I
> got out of the tub, i'd always look right into my eyes when looking into
> the mirror, because the eyes were "neutral territory,  a no man's land in
> a private war against narcissism he'd been fighting since he was six or
> seven years old."

For as long as I've been shaving, I've had this in mind while standing in
front of the mirror.  But I will guarantee that it is more likely to result
in a bloody face.  As a result, I've made a truce.  I'll respect the
neutral territory at all times except when I shave.

> the thing is, i know this isn't what salinger is about -- copying what his
> characters do -- and i have even a sneaking suspicion that he would frown
> on it. but it brings me closer to the books. it's fun. it's human nature,
> to copy what we love. maybe he wouldn't mind all that much.

I don't think it's good OR bad.  It just *is*, and nobody has any say over
what you prop on your knees in the tub.  Or if a Certain Living Author
would like to discuss this, I'd be happy to do so.  8-)

I've been out of town for a few days, just keeping an eye on the list to
make sure it's alive, but without enough time to read and respond to
anything except personal mail.  This thread is really hopping, and I hope
the weekend will give me a chance to catch up.

Cheers, all!

--tim o'connor (not too far from Seymour's hotel, I reckon)