Re: Academic Salinger Conference Presentation
Pierrot65@aol.com
Sat, 13 Mar 1999 13:27:42 -0500 (EST)
Re myself on the Gehrig/Allie thing (which is more than a little onanistic,
sorry Jesus):
You know, I can't for the life of me remember when Gehrig made that "Luckiest
Man" announcement at Yankee Stadium, or "The House that Sloth Built". But,
taking whole gobs and bucketloads of artistic license, let's call it 1939
(someone correct me when you read this). That would make Salinger ... 20,
right? Now, I'm pretty opposed to biographical criticism, or at least I am
opposed when it is used sort of casually as a catch-all, to the detriment of
formalist study of the text (if that makes any sense). But you wonder what
Salinger's reaction to that announcement, surely one of the saddest and most
surprising turns of fate in our sporting century, might have been. (I guess
you don't wonder if you are fortunate enough to have read the letter someone
mentioned, which I guess is what I'm asking for -- more info). Is Allie
Salinger's alter-ego, at least in Catcher? Probably not. Is Holden the young
dissatisfied Salinger? More likely (although still, mostly, a literary
character, I think). Is Gehrig the tragic angel on the young Salinger's
shoulder? Is that part of Catcher, the Allie & the broken windows, the part of
Salinger's ... biography that he transferred into his art? (Being an only
child, feeling like his sports heroes were his surrogate older brothers).
Furthermore, did Salinger see the "broken glass" as some sort of clever
connection to the "broken Seymour Glass" dying tragically?
I don't know how much stock I would put into those ideas. Not much, I guess.
But that Gehrig angle sure makes for interesting fodder. The part about Allie
in Catcher has always affected me very strongly, very viscerally. I think it
is one of the strongest, if not THE strongest, passages in the book. It is the
strongest proof, to me, that this is a work of literary art and not merely
some populist toy that speaks directly to adolescence. To think that it was
somehow inspired by Gehrig is, at least, very interesting.
(To think that George Steinbrenner and Reggie Jackson and Bucky Phucking Dent
took over a legacy of Gehrigs and DiMaggios and Whitey Fords and Mickey
Mantles is more than a little sad.)
rick