Re: Pilgrim Books

Erin McLaughlin (erinseyes@hotmail.com)
Thu, 15 Oct 1998 20:08:52 -0700 (PDT)

----Original Message Follows----
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1998 14:23:34 -0700 (PDT)
From: Emily Friedman <bananafish_9@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Pilgrim Books
To: bananafish@lists.nyu.edu
Reply-to: bananafish@lists.nyu.edu


> 
>    I've often wondered why folks who have no interest whatsoever in
> spiritual matters would be interested in these books.( the Glass
stories,
> the rest of you  can have that snotty Holden Caufield as far as I'm
> concerned.) 

Well, I think two things about this message are pretty funny. First, 
that you honestly seem to be implying that people who don't appreciate 
literature for the same reasons you do could actually get some sort of 
meaning from it. Second, that your remark about Holden Caulfield being 
snotty exemplifies my first point.

I mean, really, do you think that Holden Caulfield is just "snotty"? 
That's pretty much what my teachers thought of me in high school, I 
think. The less aware ones, I mean. But even if you do thik that of 
Catcher, can you honestly see no link between Holden and Salinger's 
martyrs? Come on. 

As for atheism, well, I don't understand it. I don't think I can, since 
I spend so much time looking around. Maybe it's just the things I'm 
looking at. Anyway, I see religion in just about every literary work, 
and I especially see it in Holden. I mean, he's searching for meaning, 
right? For truth and non-phoniness and all that other stuff. I think 
that's the place where most religion stems from--those BIG questions, 
and that horrible search. Maybe atheism stems from not being able to 
find an answer that fits you. Who knows? 


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