Re: reviews
Malcolm Lawrence (malcolm@wolfenet.com)
Fri, 17 Oct 1997 00:19:06 -0700
That Updike review is crap. All he could see were trees. He has no
inclination to even bother trying to find a forest there whatsoever. He
never once tries to discuss anything more than Salinger's technique or the
(to him) "esoteric ephemera" and even deems it worthy to quote Salinger's
own admittance that he may disappear into his own technique altogether. Kind
of funny that he wrote that review in 1961 since he basically decries
internalized stories and tensions, which not only had been around for fifty
years at that point, but would also dominate the entire century as far as
advancements in modern literature are concerned. Not to mention the fact
that it would only be a few years later when he himself would pen the Rabbit
Run series which if anything is the devil's advocate to internalized
narratives. "See what happens with the unexamined life? You lose yourself in
basketball memories. The End." That wasn't a review. It was a lame attempt
at using a red pencil on what he assumed was an English 101 paper. I had
profs in college like that. Drop a reference they're not familiar with and
they mark you down because you're not writing for the lowest common
denominator.
Speaking of which, a question to Sonny, who must be pretty busy because I
can't remember the last time I saw his signature in my inbox...after being
on this list for the better part of a year and seeing how much you know
about Eastern philosophies, I've always been curious how much you knew of
Eastern philosophies before you read Salinger...or did Salinger introduce
you to them?
Malcolm