Re: Salinger
J J R (jrovira@juno.com)
Tue, 10 Nov 1998 21:07:40 -0500 (EST)
Pasha--The silliest thing is to think I'd be tired of you :)
(eh, maybe not, I can be a real jackass. But not this time)
Ok, I KNOW literary criticism can be just people writing drivel for the
sake of getting published. It can be someone with an agenda forcing it
on every text he or she reads. It can be drivel hiding behind shop talk.
And it can be just plain stupidity.
On the other hand, you asked your students some direct questions about
the impressions they had while reading Salinger--the character's
motivations, maybe how the readers felt while reading the story, etc.
Now, start asking HOW that was accomplished in the text, WHY you all
think that, specifically, How Was It that Salinger was able to make us
feel that, and you start getting closer and closer to the better side of
what so many people think is drivel. We're asking how and why the text
"works."
Why did the ending of For Esme rip my heart out? Why did so many people
tell me it was their favorite story in Nine Stories?
Jim
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