Re: Who wrote Catcher? [Was :Re: Basketball with the Big Boys [was RE: Words...


Subject: Re: Who wrote Catcher? [Was :Re: Basketball with the Big Boys [was RE: Words...
AntiUtopia@aol.com
Date: Thu Jan 27 2000 - 21:12:44 EST


In a message dated 1/27/00 8:22:08 PM Eastern Standard Time, wh14@is9.nyu.edu
writes:

<<
 Following a Swami, even Vivekananda, can mean a lot of things that don't
 necessarily translate into Glass family fiction...I don't think Salinger
 had a mission to get the good Swami's word out (perhaps though it was the
 Swami's mission to get the word in?) so much as become a Yogi in his own
 way...and I still subscribe to that having less to do with his writing
 (published) than we're guessing...Salinger's sense of spirtuality is
 strong in his writing, but his religious allusions, though direct, do not
 strike me as abundant.
 
 will >>

I wish you had quoted the post you were replying to, BUT, I'll respond anyhow
:)

My theory is that Salinger found in Eastern philosophy a voice for beliefs
already held by him. So I wouldn't want to depict him, ever, as a
propogandist for any particular religion or philosophy. But since I would
say his study provided him with a language and a context for beliefs he
already held, it doesn't hurt to (at least at times) try to understand
Salinger's beliefs within the context of eastern philosophy.

I would only do so when the connection seems too strong to ignore.
Salinger's view of intelligence isn't something I've really seen anywhere
else except in Vedic theology. Intelligence isn't associated with
spirituality in the west. The best views of western spirituality say that it
transcends natural intelligence, while the worst depicts all forms of faith
as a form of irrationality (sound familiar?). Salinger's connection between
intelligence and spiritual development, therefore, seemed more an overlap
with Eastern philosophy to me than just Salinger's own opinion.

A connection seems more likely to me, anyways, than a coincidental
similarity.

Jim
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