Although my reaction to his work has changed some since I first encountered him as a young adult, my admiration for J.D. Salinger's talent as an author remains undiminished. Recently, after finishing his final full-length book - Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour, an Introduction - it dawned on me that Salinger had entered an exclusive club other book nerds may relate to because I've now completed reading the famous recluse's entire catalog. This places Salinger alongside Truman Capote, the only other author of note who holds that dubious distinction. Given neither was terribly prolific, this is not a particularly noteworthy achievement, unless being a completist holds any allure for you. I suspect regular readers will not be surprised to learn it does hold some allure for me.
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To fully appreciate Salinger's gifts, Raise High ... is best read alongside two of his other books - Nine Stories & Franny and Zooey. Four of the short stories in the former feature the fictional Glass family to varying degrees, and the two eponymous characters in the latter book are the two youngest members of that same family. Buddy Glass narrates both novellas included in Raise High ... and each involves Seymour, the eldest of the seven Glass children. The way Salinger weaves in the Glass family's exploits throughout the three books - toggling back and forth from the parent's years as vaudeville performers right up through the mid 1950s - is a literary marvel. And I can say with 100% certainty that the final paragraph of the first story in Nine Stories - A Perfect Day for Bananafish - will linger with you long after you've finished it.
J.D. Salinger is arguably best known for his first book - and his only novel - Catcher in the Rye. But every story contained in his three other books mentioned above is worth any discerning reader's time.
(BTW, before you make fun of me for being a completist with authors, be sure to check yourself out. Do you have to own every recording made by a specific musician or a performance of every piece written by a specific composer? Same thing. Seen every movie starring a specific actor or directed by so-and-so? Uh-huh, that's being a completist. Stamps, coins, Hummel figurines, commemorative anything? See what I mean about the allure of completism?)
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Good afternoon, Pat. I have a feeling you know what I'm about to write, but ... Having only read 'Catcher In The Rye', I now have more to add to my list. And to be honest I was not aware that Mr. Salinger wrote short stories. ButI do enjoy reading short stories very much so I have a feeling I will get to these sooner than the many books on my list. Thanks for that.
ReplyDeleteBe well,
Bob
Hey Bob; First, apologies for continually adding to your reading list. On the other hand, if you like short stories and/or novellas, Salinger will not disappoint. Of the three books I mentioned in the post above - aside from "Catcher in the Rye" - I'd suggest you begin with "Nine Stories" so that if you do decide to move onto either of the later books - "Franny & Zooey" or "Raise High ...", four of the stories in "Nine Stories" that feature Glass family will have provided you with some useful background for those two later books. Each of the later two books - each contains two novellas - are ALL about the Glass family.
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