Re: those tiny little things that make it all worthwhile.

patrick flaherty (pfkw@email.msn.com)
Tue, 15 Sep 1998 09:55:58 -0400

I remember erasing a "Fuck You" off of my high school's bathroom wall after
I read _Catcher_ for the first time--about ten years ago.

You are so right on the money, Craig.  It's the little things about
literature that make them a part of the individual reader's
consciousness--that's what it's all about.  That's why I keep picking up new
books, and old ones too.

Patrick
pfkw@msn.com

-----Original Message-----
From: craig king <craig.king@cwcom.net>
To: bananafish@lists.nyu.edu <bananafish@lists.nyu.edu>
Date: Monday, September 14, 1998 12:27 PM
Subject: those tiny little things that make it all worthwhile.


hello hello . . .

apart from the theories of interpretation i've been enjoying reading,
something else occured to me. less academic but valid. clearly we
all love salinger. hell, if we didn't we wouldn't be here. the peculiar
thing about salinger for me, is that when i think about franny i think
about martinis, when i think about zooey i think about that
splendidly ugly shower curtain. it's more than a meticulous
attention to detail, for me, it's that they remain as vivid in my mind
as the words these characters speak. more than any other of my
favourite writers (pynchon, ballard, kerouac, etc.) salinger seems to
capture the intense pleasure of the object. as object. not as
symbol, metaphor, etc. but as object. in all its integrity. numerous
ideas fall into place as i write concerning this object-love of mine
but i'm interested to see if any one else is interested. if not, never
mind. if so, do tell, as it is the peculiar sharpness of image i see
when thinking about salinger that makes me love him, in the end,
more than most other scribes. i've always enjoyed lengthy
discussions of theory but i also believe that there's much
substance in those intangibles that bind an author to a reader. for
me, it's those tricky, can't-quite-place-the-why moments that make
salinger who he is. well, what he is, perhaps. as for who he is? like
lord lucan with a pen . . .

hope for a response,

craig king