Re: Hapworthless
Ed Fenning (ed361@yahoo.com)
Mon, 04 Oct 1999 15:32:55 -0700 (PDT)
Now, I have a little time at work to reply re:
Hapworth.
I read it just once and am baffled – never read
anything like it. I wonder what Salinger is trying to
pull off here; what he’s expecting us to believe?
That his character is a seven year old with a 180+
I.Q? That he is an extraordinarily omnivorous reader
of many adult subjects?
In his letter, it’s as though from his reading,
his intellegence allows him to affect and try on adult
roles, values, and worldviews much the way any older
child or adolescent does but with a sophistication
that is *unbelievable* for a seven year old. I was
thinking that is the only interpretation that could
give this character any ring of truth.
If this Salinger’s premise, I think it's *a real
stretch*. Have any other people been able to do
better with Hapworth?
Please refer me to any recent postings (last 2 or
so weeks) if someone has written something that probes
a little about this – I can only scan a few or so at
work each day and just deleted a whole lot last week
when Yahoo warned I had very little storage space
left.
- Ed
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