Re: favorite re-reads

Rebecca McCallum (remc@uhura.cc.rochester.edu)
Sun, 30 Nov 1997 16:17:27 -0500 (EST) 

  There's been a lot of mention of the letter that Buddy wrote to Zooey,
from the infamous bathtub scene in F&Z.  But the letter that I turn to
again and again is the short note that Seymour wrote to Buddy, in S:AI.
It's the one that starts "Dear old Tyger that Sleeps:"  Somehow, if I ever
start to slide away from being completely honest to myself, that letter
brings me right back.  Self-doubt, competition with others, trepidation -
it all goes right out the window.  All that matters is honesty and coming
from the source
  There are two other passages that have lodged in my mind as particularly
beautiful moments.  One is the part in S:AI when Les comes over to Buddy
and Seymour's apartment in a fairly scowling mood, and asks Seymour if he
remembered the time he'd ridden on the handle bars of Joe Jackson's
bicycle, and Seymour "replied gravely and at once, and in the special way
he always answered questions from Les -- as if they were the questions
above all others, he preferred to be asked in this life.  He said he
wasn't sure he had ever got off Joe Jackson's beautiful bicycle."  It
always reminds me of the sense of wonder and joy that we probably all had
as kids, and that is possible to win back, I hope.  The other passage is
from the already-mentioned diary of Seymour, quoted in RHTRBC, but
especially the paragraph about scars on his hands from touching certain
people, the heads of children and their hair leaving permanent marks on
his hands... 
  Why have these passages stuck with me?  Who knows...

                                        - Rebecca



> ------------------------------
> 
> Date: Fri, 28 Nov 1997 15:14:58 -0500 (EST)
> From: Lagusta Pauline Yearwood <ly001f@uhura.cc.rochester.edu>
> To: bananafish@lists.nyu.edu
> Subject: Re: First Catcher memories?
> Message-ID: <Pine.SOL.3.96.971128132853.20867B-100000@uhura.cc.rochester.edu>
> 
> 
> > Susan Pearson wrote:
> > 
> > > I thought it was interesting what someone said about parts of JDS books
> > > that they read over and over again. I do that all the time and I was
> > > curious as to what parts other people read when they are feeling
> > > depressed or happy or they just want to lie in bed a little longer on a
> > > rainy Saturday with a good book. The part that I always turn to is
> > > Seymour's diary in "Raise High..." Reading that bit is like a chat with
> > > an old friend.
>