Re: Pilgrim Books
Robert Morris (winboog@gis.net)
Tue, 13 Oct 1998 13:22:26 -0400
>
> Recall the author's claim at the beginning of "Zooey" that the story is
> about love, not mysticism. I think Salinger is urging the reader here to
> interpret the story as one concerned primarily with human beings, not
God,
> the universe, or other theological beasts.
>
I guess this gets us to the fundamental idea of what God is. I think
transcendent love is mysticism.
> Was Salinger actually advocating the Jesus prayer as a means to spiritual
> transcendence? Great God in heaven, I hope not, because that would really
> dumb down the story in my mind. I prefer to think this had to do with the
> despairing soul's craving for ritual, for meaning.
Dumb down? hmmmm. I think good ole JD is presenting the old dilemma of
the esoteric vs, the exoteric. The problem to paraphrase another of our
little ignorant God seekers, is that if you're an American it's nearly
impossible to lead a spiritual life. One of the main ponts of all the Glass
stories, for me, is that Salinger presents the sacred as right here in
front of us rather than putting it off in some netherworld. This is a very
wise man, this JD.
>
> It ought to be possible for a story to talk about religion without itself
> being religious.
Jung said that religion stands in the way of having a religious
experience. I can't help but get the feeling from the nature of your
comments that you are using the word " religion" as a near expletive. This
is unfortunate. Most of the religion I've seen practiced is discouraging,
but the religion I understand is beautiful. I wonder what you would
consider religion? I'm not sure that Salinger's entire point of these
stories is to break down all the walls of understanding concerning
"religion" This twisted hagiography in Brooklyeese accomplishes this in
spades for me.
Robert Morris
winboog@gis.net