Re: reviews
WILL HOCHMAN (hochman@uscolo.edu)
Fri, 17 Oct 1997 10:37:34 -0600 (MDT)
if you think updike was tough on F&Z, try reading Leslie Fiedler's
review...he calls Esme` a "popular little tear-jerker" on his way to
panning salinger's book as a *novel*!? (Nowhere does mr. salinger claim
the two stories are a novel but somehow fiedler has decided they should be
but aren't...)...anyway, fiedler is acutally deconstructing the author's
sense of humor to show how F&Z are a bad joke...I studied this review as
part of my dissertation and found that along with alfred kazin's review,
there seemed to be a critical backlash against mr. salinger's
popularity...I've read later stuff by kazin that seemed more positive and
believe fiedler might also have softened his harshness and come to see mr.
salinger in more respectful ways...
i think some of our listmembers are confusing updike's roles...his piece
was not a critical masterpiece, but it isn't right to criticize it because
you don't love his fiction...as both a critic and writer, I can assure you
we are talking about very separate things...will