JD the genius
Lomanno (lomanno@ix.netcom.com)
Mon, 14 Sep 1998 10:42:33 -0400
Camille wrote:
> I guess the best writers are the ones who
> give the least impression that there's a lot of mechanics going on under
> the smooth skin of the story. Salinger's a master at this, when I first
> read TCIR I thought it was so wonderfully random; yet now I know how
> tightly structured it is in some ways.
That, to me, is what makes Salinger my favorite author. He writes as if
he's talking to you personally, telling stories off the top of his head.
Yet when you read carefully you realize that every sentence, every word,
every LETTER has been painstakingly and meticulously chosen for a
certain purpose.
One of my favorite scenes is in "Zooey" when Mrs. Glass is in the
bathroom while Zooey is taking a bath, and every tedious detail of their
conversation and movement is given. Page after page, the reader is
forced to remain in this painful scene, and although on the surface it
appears to be just a mother and son annoying each other, there is this
underlying tension that you can't name specifically, but it's definitely
there. This scene, to me, is one of the most important in the book, and
Salinger writes it as if it's completely irrelevant. That is the genius
of JD.
I've really been enjoying our lively discussions, but it's nice to get
away from all the theorizing and just enjoy the texts. I have a
question: I know at least one of the list members is a college professor
teaching a class on Salinger, and I'm not sure who. Could you tell me
where you're teaching and how you came to teach a Salinger class? That
is one of my career aspirations when I graduate (to teach Salinger), but
there are no such classes in my area right now. I'm wondering how one
would go about petitioning to get a class like that started.
--Kari Lomanno (there was nothing "mysterious" about my lack of a
signature; I just did not yet know the e-mail protocol!)