will,
i think you misread my exchange with jim. it was he who damned s:ai. i called it an accomplishment. my personal opinion is that s:ai has _not_ received its critical due. (i'm well aware that nearly all critics don't like it.) but perhaps eventually it will be recognized as one of salinger's finest successes. in my pantheon of favorite salinger works, it takes first. i fully agree with your eloquently expressed post below.
kim
Will Hochman wrote:Kim, S:AI is an innovative story that is about story writing. I use
it in my creative writing classes...the dear tyger letter alone is
worth it for my students. As a critic, I see the story as breaking
out of standard forms and conventions of fiction in some pretty
interesting ways, not the least of which is achieving an almost dual
narration between Buddy and JDS. I would also defend the story in the
way it handles the beautiful paradox set up by Kafka and Kierkegaard.
Characters are impossible and imperfect and yet the whole story
brings Seymour to life in ways that make me love him deeply and in
ways that make it easy for me to revisit this story. I respect your
opinion Kim and I really enjoy your posts on this list, but I
respectfully disagree about your evaluation of S:AI. will
-- Will Hochman Associate Professor of English Southern Connecticut State University 501 Crescent St, New Haven, CT 06515 203 392 5024 http://www.southernct.edu/~hochman/willz.html - * Unsubscribing? Mail majordomo@roughdraft.org with the message * UNSUBSCRIBE BANANAFISH --------------------------------- Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Finance - Get real-time stock quotes - * Unsubscribing? Mail majordomo@roughdraft.org with the message * UNSUBSCRIBE BANANAFISHReceived on Sun Sep 1 14:59:03 2002
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