- Great transaction.This was a smooth and easy transaction. The book was in perfect condition and I received it promptly.
Evaluación:
- What's it all about, Alphie?I picked this one up expecting to love it. And, at times I did. I thought the deep philosophical questions were great and it was wonderful to read an author who clearly is thinking deeply...Somehow, though, it was very hard for me to remain engaged completely. Frankly, I've never had such a short book feel so long.
Evaluación:
- Marvelous!This little book packs quite a big punch of witty descriptions and thought-provoking dialogue in a succinct but moving religiously themed novel.
Not much happens plot-wise throughout the 200 or so pages of "Franny and Zooey." Instead, the book is set on a foundation of a few excellent character interactions: first between Franny, a college student, and her boyfriend; then between Zooey, Franny's older brother, and their mother; and finally between Franny and Zooey. I simply love the way Salinger paints his characters and their surroundings: he's perfectly precise when he has to be, but skillfully indeterminate the rest of the time, allowing the reader to actively engage the book by creating a visual and audio picture of what is going on.
While the book is religiously involved, it is absolutely accessible to non-religious people. In fact, Salinger does an excellent job of incorporating religions from all corners of the world in "Franny and Zooey," making this novel enlightening on multiple levels.
This book comes with a high recommendation. It was a breath of fresh air in my lineup of fiction and definitely a satisfactory find.
Evaluación:
- Franny and ZooeyI had the opportunity to read "Franny and Zooey" for a book group following upon the death of J.D. Salinger (1919 -2010). I had read "Catcher in the Rye" and this book as well, as I remember, late in high school but had not revisited the author since then.
I was struck by the religious, spiritual themes of the book, especially its involvement with Eastern religion and with mysticism. My interest in Buddhism has increased in recent years as I have become older. Salinger's books, which appealed to young people many years ago, seem to have aged with the time.
The book includes two short interrelated stories written a few years apart, "Franny" (1955) and "Zooey" (1957), which were published in book form in 1961. The two are the youngest children of the Glass family that Salinger created. Franny is 20 and her brother Zooey 25. There were seven Glass children, all of whom were intellectual and child prodigies who appeared, over the course of nearly 20 years, on a radio quiz show called "Its a Wise Child." Their intellectual brilliance, among many other factors, have left them confused about themselves. The oldest Glass child, Seymour, had committed suicide seven years before the events described in "Franny and Zooey". In these two stories, Franny and Zooey are shown with their difficulties and with their attempts to come to a sense of peace, understanding, and detachment in terms which are overtly spiritual.
The story "Franny" takes place over a college football weekend in 1955 where Franny comes to visit her boyfriend, Lane Coutrell. The story takes place over lunch between Franny and Lane and consists of their conversation. Franny is critical of her boyfriend and of his conventionality. She criticizes her professors amd most of the people around her for what she sees as complacency, ignorance, and egoism. In seeming contrast to what she perceives, Franny carries with her a Russian religious book called "The Way of a Pilgrim" The Way of a Pilgrim which discusses the need for continuous prayer as a well to self-illuminations. She discusses "The Way of a Pilgrim" and other forms of religious mantras found in Eastern religion with a skeptical and uninterested Lane during the course of their lunch. She collapses.
The longer story "Zooey" takes place a few days following Franny's weekend with Lane. It is set in the Glass family home in New York City. The first character we meet is Zooey who is rereading a long letter from his brother, Buddy, which recounts the Glass family story and urges Zooey to be active and to make something of his life. The remainder of the story consists of conversations between Zooey and his mother, Bessie, and between Zooey and Franny. Zooey struggles to overcome his feelings as a "freak" and as an ousider and to suppress his disdain for a culture devoted to television. Zooey is concerned for his sister and for her devotion to what he perceives as a religious cult which will separate her from the need to go forward and live. Franny and Zooey have two intense conversations, the first face-to-face, and the second over the telephone where Zooey initially disguises himself as the brother, Buddy. Both Franny and Zooey seem to find ways of moving forward following their conversations.
The book as a whole reminded me most of the Bhagavadgita in its theme of activity and doing what one needs to do more than of any Buddhist teaching. The book also reminded me of Kerouac who was active at about the same time as Salinger. Reading it as someone who is far from young, I had a sense of the quandries in which Franny and Zooey found themselves. I have struggled with some of the same religious texts and issues over the years. For all its success, this is a book that should be read quietly and in solitude.
Robin Friedman
Evaluación:
- the mental agonyI think this book speaks about the mental agony of the two characters--exceptionally intellectual, raised in extraordinarily cerebral upbringing--when they are faced with the schism between their intellectual and spiritual ideals. Franny chooses obssessive recitation of "Jesus Prayer" and her nervous breakdown seems the result of this split (Schzophrenic) between these two very important worlds in her life. Zooey, on the other hand, decides to choose what appears to be more functional (at least superficially) way to manage this agony, however, clearly without satisfaction. I didn't really like this book because of too much similarity to The Catcher in the Rye, but with less discipline in writing and the plot.