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/lit/ - Literature

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3752427 No.3752427 [Reply] [Original]

/lit/, I just finished reading all of Salinger's work and I really like it. Franny and Zooey was by far the best, though a few short stories are pretty damn close. What I like most about his work is that the characters really give a god damn about whats going on in their lives. Contrast this to de-attached Murakami

If I liked this, what do you recommend?

>> No.3752431

the rest of his work which you haven't read available only at princeton

>> No.3752435

>>3752431
Dang I was just about to recommend this.

I haven't read it, but apparently his short story "The Ocean full of Bowling Balls" is supposed to be amazing, but you'll need to make the road trip to Princeton to read it.

I'd make the trip but I'm poor and can only afford to travel to one place this summer.

>> No.3752446

>>3752435
Just read up on this. That's kind of ridiculous what you have to go through to read it, but it sounds like it'd be worthwhile. If I'm ever in the area, I'll look into it.

>> No.3753179
File: 89 KB, 500x508, 1360479162906.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
3753179

>>3752431
>>3752435
>>3752446
Also heard of this and I plan to look this up when I head over there towards the end of summer.

For the time being though, advice on what to read?

>> No.3753225

>>3752435
How does this work? Can I just drop by and ask for it? How many of his works can I find there?

>> No.3753768

>>3753225
I was going to ask the same thing.

>> No.3753795

>>3752431
Didn't they have a lot of his shit at UT Austin? I remember seeing it 2 or 3 years ago when I was down there.

>> No.3753804
File: 251 KB, 612x352, splittingthedifference.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
3753804

>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ocean_Full_of_Bowling_Balls

>Those who wish to read it must check in with two forms of ID with the librarian, and are then supervised while they read the story behind the closed doors of a special reading room.

Wait how do you read then.

Why was Salinger such a fuck.

>> No.3753918

>>3752427
I've read Salinger's entire work too. My favorite was Seymour-An Introduction

>> No.3753983

Random questions:
Where does Salinger's family live now?
How would I be able to contact them if I wanted to?
Why do you think he was such a recluse?

>> No.3753992

>>3753983
Tempted to answer your last question with "Because he thought everyone was phony". But no, it goes way deeper than that

>> No.3753998

>>3753992
haha I agree. I just think he must have some sort of problem with society that is rooted in himself.
Any stories of his upbringing that would help bring to light my question?

>> No.3754022

>>3753992
But everyone is phony.
You'll never completely know anybody other than yourself. People naturally put up barriers to remain within the confines of societally acceptable discourse.

>> No.3754089

>>3754022
And why is that bad? Why would he seclude himself because of that?

>> No.3754864

Salinger thought it would be easy. He thought America was 'good,' and he would just go and defeat the bad guys. Nothing prepared him for the limbs that would rip from his platoon, the thick red blood of his friends that would stick to his eyeballs and blind him, the nights spent shaking and crying after sticking his finger into someone's bullet hole to prevent the bleeding only to have the guy die while his fingers were still inside his chest.

Salinger didn't just get PTSD when he returned, he had depression and a misanthropic outlook. He was traumatised by how such seemingly innocent children could turn into such adult monsters that were capable of burning women and children alive. He said 'the sound of a burning child's screams will never leave my ears.' He had to integrate back into society, but couldn't do it. He couldn't sit back and worry about celebrity culture, the charade of politics, or other distractions that seemed forever trivial to him. So he started writing.

His first piece was about a suicide. This, he said, was expressing his own desire to kill himself, but writing it down was a way of coping. He never managed to tackle his disenfranchisement and growing resentment towards society, so create the ultimate character to express himself; Holden Caulfield.

Holden was the child of innocence, free from the burden of seeing war atrocities, yet possessed the adult view that Salinger had. To the average, popular media-consuming, modern child, Holden's going to appear 'edgy' at a surface glance. But he really shouldn't to someone who understands that he's not supposed to be a normal child; he's one who carries the emotional baggage of someone who has seen too much horror and pain, yet has the child-like innocence to not understand where his outlook comes from. He's supposed to encapsulate two extremes, and does so perfectly.

>> No.3754982

>>3754864
Sauce? I see this posted pretty much whenever there is a Salinger thread. Is it from a book/essay/whatever or is it just /lit/ copypasta?

>> No.3756844

>>3754864
Bumping for sauce on this.

>> No.3756958

Bumps.

>> No.3756962

>>3754982
Looks like it's a 4chan copypasta,

>> No.3757077

Bump because I want to know if it's worth it to go to Princeton for Salinger's other stories.

>> No.3757145

>>3757077
It most definitely is.

>> No.3757269

>>3752427


Dat picture in the OP.

>> No.3757623
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3757623

>>3757077
I think I may make the jaunt to Princeton this summer. It's only an hour or so away from Philadelphia.