Queen Phoebe
Lomanno (lomanno@ix.netcom.com)
Thu, 29 Oct 1998 08:07:27 -0500
Sarah wrote:
> Hi everyone, I (following the directions on the disclaimer that I recieved
> when signing up for this list) just want to introduce myself because I am
> new to this list. Um...My name is Sarah; I'm a philosophy major at Mills
> College (all-girls school) in Oakland, Ca and I'm 18. Let's see, I don't
> really know what else to say except that I guess I am joining the list
> because, even though I first read all of J.D. Salinger's books a long time
> ago and many times subsequently, I have just recently realized how much
> they affected and meant to me , particularly _Franny and Zooey_.
> That is about it; this is my first real news group so I am not really sure
> how this all works. But I'm excited.
Welcome, Sarah! Besides some completely non-Salinger topics such as
religion and Ayn Rand (although I 'm sure they can be traced to Salinger
somehow), a question has been raised about who our favorite female
Salinger characters are.
I was getting ready to throw in my unoriginal vote for Phoebe Caulfield.
She's one of the few female Salinger characters who is not neurotic or
completely annoying. She just kind of sits there in her bed like some
skinny, 10-year-old Buddha. In one scene, Holden even describes her
sitting on her bed "like one of those Yogi guys." That phrase is
particularly funny because Salinger must have been familiar with
Buddhism and Yoga at the time (if not actually practicing), and yet,
he's got the sense of humor to poke fun at it.
That's one of the mysteries about Salinger to me; to read his stories,
the man's hilarious. I chuckled a thousand times reading TCIR. Yet, he
comes across as so serious and unfriendly in real life. I wonder if his
humor only comes out in his writing, or if those close to him see that
side of him as well.
--Kari