Salinger and Eastern Religions
citycabn (citycabn@gateway.net)
Mon, 20 Sep 1999 09:33:05 -0700
This post is just to get Sonny to knock us over again.
Look, I know next to nothing re the subject line, but would venture to say
we are in the dark re the exact chronology of JDS's
involvement--for lack of a better word--with Eastern Religions.
Camille recently tilted toward early to mid forties (and she adheres to
their influence on The Catcher);now there is the 1947 "Inverted Forest"
reference; in the new Alexander bio--why should we listen to *him*--he
states on p. 148, "In the last part of 1950, as friends would later report,
Salinger seems to have become more and more fascinated by alternative
religions. Specifically, Salinger started to study Advaita Vedanta." In
the Hamilton bio, *he* states in March of 1952, JDS tried to get his British
publisher to do an edition of The Gospels of Sri Ramakrishna. At least with
the Hamilton we *know* because of a JDS letter.
I still think the Inverted Forest thing is interesting; not because there
is a "Vedantic" angle, but that it indicates JDS must have read the
Upanishads by then, or an least an essay on them. Does any one know of the
first CONCRETE reference to Eastern Religions in the work? The earliest I
can come up with offhand is in The Catcher, in the scene with Luce: "I
simply happen to find Eastern philosophy more satisfactory than Western.
Since you ask." "You do? Wuddaaya mean 'philosophy'? Ya mean sex and
all?..." (Hardly something that would score points with Swami Nikhilananda.)
I like Camille's idea of a Bananafish effort on JDS. *I* would propose an
as-in-depth-as-possible Timeline of the Work and Life (as it would relate to
the Work), with endnotes for commentaries. Another part of the FAQ?
--Bruce