Re: Sleepy

Camille Scaysbrook (verona_beach@hotpop.com)
Sun, 12 Sep 1999 21:20:18 +1000

I've often thought of how I would rank the Nine Stories should I be prosaic
enough to do something like that ... less prosaic would be why I would
choose the ones I would. Although this sounds dangerously like the J Evans
Prichard scale of poetry appreciation immortalised in `Dead Poets Society',
the ones I think best tend to be the ones that match sentiment, artistry,
and directness. To just name my Top 3 - De Daumier Smith, The Laughing Man,
and To Esme - I'd say the first has the first two, the second has the first
and third, and the third has the first and second. The whole collection
still constantly interests me and demands my attention - they're such
complex, bizarre little gems, I never get tired of trying to peer into
them!

Camille
verona_beach@hotpop.com


Cecilia wrote:
> Oh, I could probably tell you a couple of hundred reasons not to like De
Daumier Smith...  
> 
> Actually, it was the story that I always skipped when rereading Nine
Stories, because it bugged me so much the first time.  He was a hero that I
just could not like - - he was too self-involved for me.
> 
> I read it again recently, though,  and I guess that I have to say that...
well, I don't hate it anymore.  There's a couple of neat points that make
me smile, like when he goes crazy for the artistry of the nun, or the story
that he makes up for his past.  
> 
> I think it will always be the story that I will like the least, though. 
Once or twice, I'll find that I missed the first time that I read it that
adds a whole new dimension to the story.
> 
> I'm still looking.  I'm willing to be convinced, though, Camille...
> 
> Regards,
> Cecilia.
> ---
> On Fri, 10 Sep 1999 10:22:33   Colin wrote:
> >In message <19990909094442.5E2E2639CA@zagnut.hotpop.com>, Camille
> >Scaysbrook <verona_beach@hotpop.com> writes
> >>I'm always up for a good
> >>round of  `De Daumier Smith: Salinger's Unsung Hero Who Nobody Likes
But
> >>Me' (: )
> >
> >How could anyone not like De Daumier-Smith!!  He has to be one of the
> >most charming characters JDS has written.  'De Daumier-Smith's Blue
> >Period' is one of my favourite Salinger stories.  It has to be the
> >funniest story he has written.  
> >-- 
> >Colin
> >
> 
> 
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