Subject: Re: Matthew: An Introduction, and theoretical Glass stories
From: Tim O'Connor (oconnort@nyu.edu)
Date: Sat Jul 21 2001 - 21:55:27 GMT
On Sun, Jul 22, 2001 at 01:44:46AM +0000, Matthew Jones wrote:
> I agree that there are endless possibilities to explore the aftermath of
> Seymour's suicide in other Glass stories. As Salinger has said that Buddy is
> his alter-ego, maybe we'll have Buddy living in seclusion in New England for
> decades, living off the royalties of "The Catcher In The Rye", and being
> stalked by college students and Rupert Murdoch's paparazzi!
There's an idea I somehow can't imagine him mulling over in his
seclusion! By the way, the one change over the years -- his move
from outside concrete "bunker" to writing room -- is hard to take,
because I somehow always loved the image of him locking himself in
something so solid it had to be called a "bunker"; and I say this,
knowing what hell it wreaked upon his family -- having him sacrifice
himself for the creative life in that concrete structure.
I confess as well that on those mornings or late nights when I stare
at my own blank piece of paper, I envy him that ability to wall
himself away from sound and interruption and distraction.
Or at least that's how it was. Some days it's hard to remember that
all the lore about his writing habits is 25, 35, sometimes 40 years
old, and that at his present age he is probably quite unlikely to put
in 18-hour days as he used to do.
> Cecilia, can you imagine how difficult it would be to destroy 35 years of
> artistic work? Salinger seemed to really love those Glasses (didn't his
> daughter say that he loved the Glass children more than his own offspring?),
> and as such I can't imagine him wanting to destroy the stories.
It's hard to imagine him destroying his beloved work, but Kafka would
have done it had Max Brod not rescued the manuscripts from the flames,
and I can imagine the spiteful Salinger doing this just to show the
world. (I'll show 'em, I imagine him thinking.)
And I can imagine him to have plenty of spite stored up over the
years. It saddens me to think so, and if I could take the cup of
bitterness from his lips, I would do so. All I can do, along with the
rest of us, is to wait in hope.
> situation would be for him to leave meticulous instructions in his will for
> the release of the writings. Who knows, in five years there may be 20 or 30
> Salinger books on the shelf. By the way, Cecilia, I wish him a long and
> healthy life, but I'm hoping to give him a run for his money!
Good, very good, wish, Matt!
> Tim, here are Van Dyke Park's words to the song "Surf's Up" that I
> mentioned. I enjoy their colorful imagery. Like them or not, they're
> immeasurably more interesting than the "let's have fun in the sun" type
> thing:
Thanks for the pointer!
Cheers!
--tim
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