Psych, back to the old format.
The Flannery O'Connor I read in January got me hankering for some good short stories. One of my favorite collections (books, even) is Nine Stories, which I also reread (for the billionth time) in honor of JD Salinger's recent death.
Please indulge me as I muse on Salinger. Like, most people I was first exposed to his work - The Catcher in the Rye - in my ninth grade english class. In its tone, honesty and energy, it was unlike anything I had ever read before. I loved it not just for the storytelling, but for the what it showed me about what books could do and what reading should be like.
Anyway, later that year I picked up what is if not my favorite book, then at least is in my Top 5: Franny and Zooey. As the introduction to the intricately imagined Glass family, Franny and Zooey opened the door to a style of writing that I never ceased to be in awe of, no matter how many times I reread. Salinger built his characters through simple, well-turned phrases and a humor that no writer since (in my mind) has come close to achieving. I'm not sure I can string words together to sufficiently describe what that book means to me. Let's just say when I've seen people reading it on the subway, I've actually struck up conversations about it. And I am NOT that kind of person.
My curiosity about the Glass family now engaged, my next Salinger was Nine Stories, which I read again this month. The first story of the collection, A Perfect Day for a Bananafish, is tragic and sweet and jarring. I'm the type of person that forgets what she's read before I've closed the back cover, but I remember every detail of this story and always have.
The other eight stories are funny, heartbreaking, sentimental, but never maudlin. If I were to list the best ones, I'd just end up listing them all. But for good measure, here are two other highlights: For Esme - with Love and Squalor AND Teddy.
Read this book, it's very, very good (and read all the others too):
5 out of 5 stars
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