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Good Morning
Dec. 31st, 2020 08:00 am
Dec. 31st, 2020
J. D. Salinger "For Esmé - with Love and Squalor: And Other Stories" (Penguin)
I read this paperback slowly, savoring and reflecting upon each story as I went along. A few of the stories touched me deeply: For Esme, With Love and Squalor, Teddy and A Perfect Day for Bananafish, which is 16 pages of literary perfection. Each detail, each line of dialogue rings out with church-bell clarity. The encounter between Seymour and Sybil is one of the most tender and heartbreaking conversations between adult and child I've read.
Some of these stories are filled with tenderness and a mixture of whimsy and wistfulness, which I much prefer to sardonic and profane. The one exception to this is Uncle Wiggly in Connecticut, which I soaked up in greedy delight. The story is a conversation between to two college (drop-out) friends, Mary Jane and Eloise. The brilliance is in the snap-sharp dialogue and Salinger's brief expository details. The conversation begins on a gossipy note but drills down, as a whisky bottle empties, to reveal Eloise's bitterness over her spent, superficial life. My heart broke for Ramona, Eloise's daughter, who is treated by the adults with as much regard as a pet goldfish.
Others stories were less moving in their narrative, but contained details that made the mundane fresh and astonishing: the gestures between the couple, he on the phone, she listening next to him in bed, and their shared ritual of smoking in Pretty Mouth and Green My Eyes; the fumbling and irresistible fabrications of a young man, and his surreal week as an art-by-correspondence teacher in the service of an inscrutable Japanese artist and his wife in Toronto.
Salinger's voice echoed long after I finished each story and its volume increased as I started another. Each character, each voice, observation, conversation, very closely echoed another within and between these works; in turn, these are all echoed in Salinger's novels.
This was such a perfect book of stories with a broad vocabulary and a strong sense of reassurance in the world. I would recommend this to anyone,and surprisingly such a joy to read!
I read this paperback slowly, savoring and reflecting upon each story as I went along. A few of the stories touched me deeply: For Esme, With Love and Squalor, Teddy and A Perfect Day for Bananafish, which is 16 pages of literary perfection. Each detail, each line of dialogue rings out with church-bell clarity. The encounter between Seymour and Sybil is one of the most tender and heartbreaking conversations between adult and child I've read.
Some of these stories are filled with tenderness and a mixture of whimsy and wistfulness, which I much prefer to sardonic and profane. The one exception to this is Uncle Wiggly in Connecticut, which I soaked up in greedy delight. The story is a conversation between to two college (drop-out) friends, Mary Jane and Eloise. The brilliance is in the snap-sharp dialogue and Salinger's brief expository details. The conversation begins on a gossipy note but drills down, as a whisky bottle empties, to reveal Eloise's bitterness over her spent, superficial life. My heart broke for Ramona, Eloise's daughter, who is treated by the adults with as much regard as a pet goldfish.
Others stories were less moving in their narrative, but contained details that made the mundane fresh and astonishing: the gestures between the couple, he on the phone, she listening next to him in bed, and their shared ritual of smoking in Pretty Mouth and Green My Eyes; the fumbling and irresistible fabrications of a young man, and his surreal week as an art-by-correspondence teacher in the service of an inscrutable Japanese artist and his wife in Toronto.
Salinger's voice echoed long after I finished each story and its volume increased as I started another. Each character, each voice, observation, conversation, very closely echoed another within and between these works; in turn, these are all echoed in Salinger's novels.
This was such a perfect book of stories with a broad vocabulary and a strong sense of reassurance in the world. I would recommend this to anyone,and surprisingly such a joy to read!
The Last Post
Dec. 31st, 2020 02:59 pm
My very best wishes to you all for a Happy, Healthy and Safe New Year!
Laurie Anderson's Bardo
Dec. 31st, 2020 10:12 pmMusic for a lifetime -
Laurie Anderson / Jesse Paris Smith - Awakened One
The Three Jewels
Brilliant Lights
Enjoy
and may your Buddha smile.
Wihing you all a better 2021.
Laurie Anderson / Jesse Paris Smith - Awakened One
The Three Jewels
Brilliant Lights
Enjoy
and may your Buddha smile.
Wihing you all a better 2021.
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