What's your favorite piece of work by Salinger?
And, if you have the time, why is favorite piece of work by Salinger your favorite?
What I've found strange about these books is that there's neither a decline or incline in Salinger's writing, the quality of it. Where typically writers become better as they age, it seems like in the earliest of these books Salinger's writing is as meaningful and technically impressive as the latest of these books; however, I haven't finished Raise high the Roof Beam, so maybe I'll prove my own idea untrue.
Are there some writers that speak of Western religion the same way he speaks of Eastern religion?
>>7750223
>be mid 30s
>forced to read Catcher in both 8th and 10th grade due to curriculum changes
>dont care for it
>people do book reports on it every year, lecture to class about it
>still dont care about it
>get to college, forced to read it in contemp lit
>still dont get the big deal
>try to date /lit/ qts
>they namedrop it and want to discuss it
>little cousins get older and want to talk books with me since my aunts tell them im a goto for help with humanities shit
>my kids are getting older and i look on their junior high book curriculum
>there it is
>look at hs
>there it is
>go on /lit/
>there it is
Seriously fuck this book. The Bell Jar is better.
>>7750237
Why don't you care for it?
Have you read his other work?
>>7750248
Ive actually thought about this.
The plot, prose, games with sexuality, existential crisis...whatever, Ive read similar stuff before. Shit, No Longer Human is very similar albeit a bit more sociopathic.
I think its that I absolutely hate Holden more than any protagonist Ive ever read, and being forced to read it over and over as only made me hate him more. Every sentence is whining to me.
>>7750260
He's deeply irritating and the only interesting thing is Salinger's language-play, which is itself on quite an irritating base of 50s vernacular.
Franny and Zooey is quite nice though, especially if you can ignore his prediliction for buddhist bollocks.
>>7750260
I read it a long time ago, but what struck me so strongly was Holden's inability to articulate some rather complex things. I'm not smart enough to define whether they were psychological or philosophical, but like a lot of Salinger's works TCITR it doesn't really make a difference. He captured deep some authentic dissatisfactions about contemporary life, about living without suffering. About the aggression of adolescence. That's why I liked it.
>hate Holden
I believe this speaks to Salinger as a writer. With Holden he was able to portray very new and very old dilemmas. That, along with his employment of qualia, impressed me to no end.
>>7750295
>his predilection for Buddhist bollocks
I half agree with you on this.
>>7750311
>along with his employment of qualia
wat
>>7750315
I'm gonna link you to some stuff I posted in the archive. Give me a minute to find it.
>>7750315
Is warosu down or something?
Here's the link:
4archive.org/board/lit/thread/7461214
My posts where I give explanations are these:
7461378
7467749
7470245
It's a little long, but I think they're appropriate to the discussion.
Besides Nine Stories, everything he has written fucking stinks.
>>7750323
the archive is back up?
OP, I read Catcher when I was Holden's age and quite liked it, but when I re-read it in my late 20s, I found it annoying. In retrospect, I think I missed the point when I was young--Holden is supposed to be annoying. Not a controversial position, but I didn't have /lit/ back then so I wasn't so good at analysis.
More recently, I read The Ocean Full of Bowling Balls when it leaked (thanks, bros) and quite liked it. Having the perspective of Holden's brothers rounded out my view of Catcher that way, but that's not really important, I just liked the story on it's own merit.
>>7750399
I dont understand the fear of every torrent site from the Salinger estate, when they tell every recording, publishing, and film distribution company to go fuck themselves on a daily basis. Also, its available on open torrent very, very easily.
>>7750399
>the archive is back up?
Warosu? It's down on my laptop. I'm not sure how long it's been down. The link I posted (>>7750351) was to some budget archive. Don't click anything in it. It just gives you sketchy popups.
>Holden is supposed to be annoying
I should give it another read. I, like you, read it when I was Holden's age. However I've never believed it was written with the intention of the young audience that reads it so often.
>The Ocean Full of Bowling Balls
Is it published in print yet? I'm curious what its cover will look like, being that all the others are so iconic.
Found 9 stories for 2 bucks, did I do good?
>>7750223
bump
>>7750519
Warosu is dead, been dead for awhile. Saved this gem from the memetery, thankfully.
http://www.cosmoetica.com/B238-DES178.htm
>>7751989
>been dead for awhile
you know why?
>that pic
lel
>>7751997
fuck off dan
>>7750223
Raise High / Seymour is a masterpiece.
>>7752010
>you know why?
The admin had some issues with the server. I think it might've crashed. Announcements have been posted to the top of the cached warosu page, and there's been about eight or so as it's been down for the past two months I think. I think it should be back up around the middle of March.
