Okay, so I finished the book today. And I have to admit, the benefits of this book club to me, is that I completed reading a book I would have otherwise given up on. Overall, I say I agree with wombat that Salinger writes books best suited to those of an age and mindset of youthful rebellion, unwisened by having lived much life. The me of ten years ago would have probably liked this book.
Asherdan, yes the "fat lady on the porch" thing is a nice pay off. I really liked that image, and I really wonder if Salinger got this strong concept/image in his head, and basically built a whole book around it. I don't know that the supposed "pay off" is worth the journey. The book lacked the sort of moments through-out that I need to hold my interest, and only became interesting to me in the Franny section and in the last few pages of Zooey.
I found it a frustrating book, as noted earlier. I agree that characters do not need to be likeable, but these characters aren't unlikeable, detestable or villainous (all interesting incentives for me to want to figure them out) - they are just annoying to the point where I built a strong psychological distance from them to the point where I just wanted to get away from them most of the time, not continue reading. I was deeply annoyed at the whole bloody family. Zooey as a know it all, Bessie as being so damn much of a mother... Franny, for being a whiney baby, Seymour for failing his family in his absence, and Buddy, for being a weirdly looming presence as the absent, but always "there" narrator. This is exactly like being part of a family - for each person/character to be able to get totally on your nerves, but each in a different way. I dread visiting my family, just like I dreaded picking up this book.
The narrative of the book came off as clunky to me. We start with Franny, and we're presented with what seems to be your standard omnipotent 3rd person narrative. Then we shift to Zooey, and we get a weird first person narrative that seems to be Salinger himself using Buddy as a mouthpiece, "the general reader will no doubt jump to the heady conclusion that the writer of the letter and I are one and the same person. Jump he will, and, I'm afraid, jump he should." Then we get the letter as a strong first person (Buddy) as narrator, followed buy the rest of the story, where Buddy sort of recedes to the background for the most part, and it begins to feel like and omnipotent 3rd person narrative again, and I started wondering how Buddy, who wasn't there, would know anything about what went on. Only then I started to wonder when Zooey impersonates Buddy on the phone as to exactly what the hell is going on... Why did Salinger create such a strange narrative technique? The only sense I can make of it is that he's made a self conscious effort by creating such a weird narrative structure, to keep himself as author present in the story in a awkwardly incongruous way.
Overall, this is not a book that I enjoyed. That said, I did like the entire Franny section, and there were moments and fragments that I enjoyed in the Zooey section.
Some favorite quotes:
Lane blowing steam: “the think you could say he lacks is testicularity. Know what I mean?”
Franny of acting: “to be backstage after the play was over. All those egos running around feeling terribly charitable and warm. Kissing everybody and wearing their makeup all over the place, and then trying to be horribly natural and friendly when your friends came backstage to see you. I just hated myself….” This is a perfect portrait of how I feel about theatre sometimes, even though I usually love my work, the ego behind performance is… insulting. I don’t know anything about Salinger, apart from the fact that he’s some sort of a recluse, but he must have some experience with the stage, actors, theatre life.
Buddy of those detestable academics: “no doubt we all deserve the dark, wordy, academic deaths we all sooner or later die.”
Zooey on the melancholy state of mind “ ‘God damn it,’” he said, ‘there are nice things in the world – and I mean nice things. We’re all such morons to get so sidetracked.’”
Zooey on art: “An artist’s only concern is to shoot for some kind of perfection, and on his own terms, not anyone else’s.”
Anyone else have thoughs, comments?
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Topic: Franny and Zooey - the August book o the month! (Read 2727 times)