Re: intelligence of the author vs. intelligence of the characters

Yep, will, you did confuse mine and Kim's opinion on this one. I was
the one dissing S:AI -- I didn't feel it was that great an
accomplishment on Salinger's part. I didn't mean to sound like I
thought it was "bad" -- just not "great."

Both you and Kim may be right -- I may be just one of the great numbers
of underappreciators. Part of it may be that there's a bit of self
indulgence to it -- too much for my taste -- and even the playfulness is
a bit too self consciously intelligently playful. You could say this is
recognized and addressed in the text, too, and that would speak well of
it, but it still just doesn't sit as well with me.

Deserves a reread, again, I suppose :)

Jim

Kim Johnson wrote:

> 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
>
>
>
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