Re: Salinger's world
AntiUtopia@aol.com
Sun, 15 Aug 1999 08:58:39 -0400 (EDT)
In a message dated 8/15/99 5:15:19 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
c_scaysbrook@yahoo.com writes:
<< The very fact that Catcher has its roots in legends such as that
of Gautama Buddha and his bretheren points to the fact that Holden's
adventures could have taken place in ancient India as easily as modern New
York? Something like `Ulysses' would fall into the same category. Whereas,
say, `Franny' to me would in a strange way not, despite the fact that her
concerns are in many ways similar to Holden's.
Camille >>
Oh lord...an on topic post. What's happening to the list? God help us all :)
Catcher and Ulysses are narratives describing a journey home. That's about
as common as it gets :) People have been doing that in many, many cultures
for thousands of years.
But think about "Franny and Zooey." "Franny" is about Franny talking with
Lane in a restaurant then having a breakdown. "Zooey" is about Zooey talking
with his mother in a bathroom about Franny having a breakdown. I can't think
of any immediate parallels in world literature off the top of my head :)
This kinda validates Scottie's point, I think, about the nature of at least
some of Salinger's fiction -- he's writing about a narrow range of
experiences. I still love F&Z, of course, simply because of its attention to
the "observation of details," as you pointed out. But that's only because
the details being observed are very familiar to me, and invested with a lot
of meaning.
Jim