خوندن این کتاب با ملال و سختی همراه بود...سالینجر! اصلا نمیتونم باهاش کنار بیام
یک روز خوش برای موزماهی:4
عمو ویگیلی در کانه تی کت:1
پیش از جنگ با اسکیموها:1
مرد خندان:1
انعکاس افتاب بر تخته های بار انداز:2
تقدیم به ازمه با عشق و نکبت:2
دهانم زیبا و چشمانم سبز:3
دلتنگی های نقاش خیابان چهل و هشتم:5
تدی:1
میانگین میشه 2

Salinger's "Nine Stories" should be renamed "How to Write Short Stories." While many hold up "Catcher in the Rye" as the zenith of his achievements for me it will always be this wistful and brave little book. I re-read it two or three times or year. I love it that much.

To be honest out of the nine stories collected here I would say that only a third are Salinger's best. "Perfect Day for Banafish," "For Esme - With Love and Squalor," and "The Laughing Man" are to me the peaks of short fiction. Everything that Salinger does best he does in these three tales. Nobody wrote children better than him. They leap off the page at you right into your lap. Esme, her brother, Seymour's little friend and the narrator of "Laughing Man" are so vivid and real you feel like running them all down the street for ice cream and cake. They are that true to life.

Same goes for Seymour in "Banana Fish" and the narrator of "For Esme." Nobody got into the heads of brilliant but troubled young people better than Salinger. What we hear about Seymour as opposed to what we see creates a palpable (and beautiful)tension. The narrator of "For Esme"'s war inflicted emotional problems are drawn with such artistry as to flood over you as you read.

"Uncle Wiggly in Connecticut," "Daumier-Smith's Blue Period," and "War with the Eskimos" to me fall into the "damn entertaining but not great" category. These stories are beautifully observed, funny, poignant and always a pleasure to read but lack that magic the first three have to spare. Of course that being said even being good but not great Salinger makes them better than most.

Finally "Teddy," "Down in the Dinghy" and "Pretty Mouth Green My Eyes" are good stories but I feel they suffer from being collected in the same book as the others. Each alone is enthralling but not a one of them is a patch on "Esme," or "Bananafish." Where the other stories feel like a full meal these come off more like snacks. Tasty but not quite filling.

If you like Salinger and want to read something by him that won't make you want to shoot a president or a sixties rock star this my friend is the book for you.

بسیار عالی. ترجمه خوب بود، ولی نه فوق‌العاده.
حتما بخوانید.
اگر کسی فکر می‌کنه «این» سلینجر و نوبسنده‌های کارگاه‌رفته‌ی امروز آمریکا (و ایران) توی یک دسته می‌گنجن باید یک بار دیگه با دقت مضاعف هر دو گروه رو مطالعه کنه.

I bought this collection in college after an overnight work shift, having not even realized it existed until I saw it on the shelf at the Borders Books and Music (RIP, amazing book chain) near my apartment. I was thrilled and texted a bunch of people all naively saying "did you know Salinger wrote a short story book!?" They all did, of course, but the weird part was that when I woke up to all the reply texts after having fallen asleep reading the book, they were all saying "woah, he actually just died today."
So I've always felt like Salinger was so outraged by my Salinger ignorance that he up and died. Sorry all.

But this is a fantastic collection. To Esme – With Love and Squalor and The Laughing Man were the big standouts to me. Much of his best writing is in here and the collection is a perfect catalyst to his themes across a collection of beautiful gems that flow thematically.

Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger

It’s so silly. All you do is get the heck out of your body when you die. My gosh, everybody’s done it thousands and thousands of times.
- The character Teddy McArdle

The quality of the writing in this collection of stories is impeccable. Published nearly seventy years ago, these nine stories have aged little with the passage of time. All the stories are about adolescence or life as a young adult post WWII. Many of the stories seem semi auto-biographical as well.

Here are the five that I loved and consider to be five stars.

1. A Perfect Day for Bananafish - Salinger’s most famous short story and it packs a wallop. Muriel has recently married Seymour, a WWII vet. Seymour is unstable — probably as a result of his PTSD. Muriel’s parents are concerned about her welfare as they believe their son-in-law should be readmitted to the psych ward. While at the beach Seymour interacts with a young girl and tells her they can find banana-fish if they look close enough under the water. The girl initially plays along as they search under the water but runs away when Seymour continues to touch her. In the final dramatic scene Seymour heads back to the hotel room where his Muriel is waiting for him.

2. Just Before the War with the Eskimos - Selena and Ginnie are East coast classmates and tennis partners. Selena keeps stiffing Ginnie on the cab fare after their lessons and Ginnie decides to call Selena’s bluff. But when she goes to Selena’s house to collect Ginnie is enthralled by Eric, Selena’s very eccentric but handsome older brother. Eric keeps saying odd things like the next war will be fought against the Eskimos. Unique and poignant story.

3. Down at the Dinghy - Boo Boo Tannenbaum is the wealthy lady of the house and her four year old son Lionel is a handful — petulant and very fond of running away. His father is not around much and Lionel decides to go sailing in his dad’s dinghy. Boo Boo shows a gentle touch as she tries to coax Lionel out of the boat. Very sweet and poignant story.

4. Teddy - Teddy McArdle is on a passenger ship with his dysfunctional family. A story about different world philosophies including materialism as discussed with a very worldly ten year old. There is a lot going on in this story. The ending is open to interpretation and it is clear that something horrible happens.

5. For Esmé - with Love and Squalor - The other famous short story in the collection. An American GI is stationed in England right before D-Day and heads to a wedding and a tearoom afterwards. He strikes up a conversation with a young girl Esmé and her little brother — they were also at the wedding. They are both very precocious and quiz the soldier on everything and tell him how boorish most Americans are. He is amused and partly intrigued by the encounter. He is later part of the D-Day invasion force and while he recuperates in the psych ward from PTSD receives a letter from Esmé. An extraordinarily well written story. Salinger’s stories remind me of some of Tennessee Williams’ best works. He is able to convey so much with dialogue. The drama is so much about what is not said.

5 stars. One of the best collection of short stories that I’ve read. Catcher in the Rye was no fluke. I am a little late to the party here but Salinger was a genius.

Each of his phrases was rather like a little ancient island, inundated by a miniature sea of whiskey.
Nine Stories ~~~  J.D. Salinger


n  Oh Mr. Salinger, why couldn’t you have published more of these amazing stories in your life time???n

n  n     Nine Storiesn  n -- a collection of brilliant short stories from J.D. Salinger. It is in this collection where the Glass family, the main constituents of n  Franny and Zooey,n is first introduced. In the next eight stories, we meet and get to know characters with an assortment of mental and physical ailments, and self-discoveries.

This is my second journey with Salinger after n   Franny and Zooey.n My favorites here are n  To Esme – With Love and Squalor,n n  The Laughing Man,n n  De Daumier-Smith’s Blue Period,n and n  Teddy.n A shared thread through all nine stories is the mood of desperation, of frustration, and of higgledy-piggledy identities. The characters are very real; these are real people with real issues starting to overspill into their everyday lives.



These stories haunt me. I found n  To Esme – With Love and Squalorn a story about the effects of war on an individual stayed with me for days. It’s so simply written, and yet, packs so much emotion and observation on the state of war and the mental and physical drain it can take on one person. From the one line note about a twitch on the face, to a shaky hand, the subtle differences from the first half of the story to the second half create an overall dreadful vision.

What is n  De Daumier-Smith’s Blue Periodn -- loneliness, isolation, misrepresentation, reinvention, escape, connection? Who is Jean De Daumier-Smith -- we never really know since this the name the narrator calls himself. The fact that we never know Jean’s real name is significant; it serves to highlight the idea of misrepresentation and reinvention. Jean appears to be uncomfortable with who he is and by changing his name Salinger allows Jean to reinvent himself. The trigger for Jean wishing to reinvent himself stems from the loneliness and isolation that he feels possibly due to his mother’s death. By reinventing himself, Jean is able to escape from the painful realities of the world around him. We, all of us, can relate.



This collection of stories should be read over and over again. When I next read these stories I’ll discover something new about one of the characters or catch a new allusion or reference. What insights will I glean about the Glass family?

I could go on forever about the themes here. I could write pages about these people. I wonder where Esme is now. What will become of Teddy? Does the Chief find love and is he actually The Laughing Man?

It's what's left unsaid here that really intrigues. Words may go unuttered, but still one hopes ...

Coincidentally, I found myself reading Mr. Salinger's short-story collection right after I finished Richard Yates' "Young Hearts Crying", a novel set amidst postwar blues, trauma, and 1940s and 50s struggle to conform. Of course, the only exposure I had with Mr. Salinger's work is that ever popular novel about the misadventures of a misfit who goes by the name of Holden Caulfield.

I found the stories in this collection biting and a bit disturbing; however, certain images and symbols tended to be a bit heavy-handed and obvious. I particularly liked the strange

"De Daumier-Smith's Blue Period" in which an artist finds himself working in a faux art studio, run by a wayward Japanese couple and who finds himself drawn to the work of a renegade nun named Sister Irma.

“A Perfect Day for Banana Fish" is that minor masterpiece of a man suffering of PSTD and trying to enjoy a holiday in South Florida; and "Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut" is a cruel exercise in hypocrisy and coping with betrayals and the trappings of suburbia (reminded me very much of Richard Yates' stories and novels).

Ho preso questo volume di racconti per il racconto Banana fish, in italiano tradotto come Un giorno ideale per i pescibanana, che è il racconto che apre questa raccolta e che mi ha colpito anche se aspettavo qualcosa di diverso. Cosa che ho ritrovato anche negli altri racconti. Sono tutti ben raccontati, anche appassionanti ma molto particolari e strani. Credo che il mio preferito sia stato Il periodo blu di De Daumier-Smith, ma anche Per Esme che credo sia un po’ autobiografico dell'autore. Non è la prima volta che mi avvicino a Salinger quindi mi ha fatto piacere rincontrarlo e in generale è una buona raccolta di racconti, ma appunto il problema delle raccolte, in generale, è che è difficile giudicarle nella loro interezza e non basandosi sui diversi racconti che spesso sono variegati. Però in generale sono rimasta soddisfatta e consiglio a chi ama questo autore.

Hepi topu dört kitabı olan Salinger’ın okuduğum üçüncü kitabı, sıcacık 9 öykü içeriyor. Neden bu kadar az ürettiğine şaşırıyorum bu mükemmel kalemin. Amerika toplumunu (özellikle orta sınıfı) çok iyi gözlemlemiş ve o geniş toplumdan seçtiği biraz uç sayılabilecek farklı karakterleri öyle güzel betimliyor ki, Amerikan toplumunun büyük bir fotoğrafı ortaya çıkıyor.

Kitaptaki öykülerin hepsi güzel ama “Esme İçin” yazmış olduğu öykü muhteşem. “Çavdar Talasındaki Çocuklar”ın kendi yaşamından kesitler taşıdığını söyleyen Salinger burada da benim gözlemlediğim üç öyküsünde de kendinden birşeyler naklediyor.

Normandiya çıkartmasına katılan ve ciddi savaşlar gören Salinger’ın savaş ve asker öykülerindeki savaş karşıtlığı dozunun düşüklüğü beni hep düşündürmüştür, detaylı incelediğimde içe kapanık bir yapısı olduğunu, coşkusunu yansıtmayı ancak argo ve küfürle dengelediğini gördüm, yoksa doz düşüklüğü yok aslında, uslubunu böyle kullanıyor. Zaten ölene kadar uzun yıllar inzivaya çekilmesi, hiç yazmaması da bu nedenle..

Sadece öykü sevenlere değil, edebiyat dostlarına öneririm bu kısa kitabı.

If kidnappers had snatched up J D Salinger some time in the early 1970s, driven like madmen through the night and the next day too and imprisoned him in a small but pleasant room somewhere near Boise, furnished him with with all mod cons, and told him he wasn't going anyplace soon until he'd finished at the very least another nine stories, and at best three or four complete novels; and if the kidnappers - due to an endearing cocktail of naivete and compassion (because you know they were just literature fans like you and me, not blank-eyed killers, and they weren't entirely convinced about this whole caper to begin with let it be said) let JD go for long walks (to get inspiration, but really to beat on a nearby farmhouse door and call the cops); and if they were then rounded up (not too hard, said the cops) and put on trial - not a jury in the land would have convicted them.
When the prosecution rested and the defence opened, their lawyer would simply have issued a copy of Nine Stories to all 12 jurors and said "Ladies and gentlemen, I rest my case."

This is not to say that each of the Nine is such a great golden glowing nugget of controlled power, insight and wisdom (some are) but that the whole is such eloquent proof of the perspicacity, intelligence and all-round humanbeingness of JDS that reading this collection is very bittersweet - how lovely it all is, and how very little of it there is, when duller, pudgier-fingered writers type on, and on, and publish, and publish.
Anyone who has encountered comments by myself on Ye Olde Catcher in Ye Rye will now accuse me of inconsistency, or at least, be expecting me to accuse JDS of the same. How can I hate the novel for its unbearable whine and Johnny-one-note somebody-shut-him-up-please tiresomeness and yet enjoy all the rest of JDS as I do? They're cut from the same cloth, it's not like Picasso's blue period and Picasso the cubist which could have been different guys, or the Velvet Underground's first and third albums which could have been a different band. But I've come across this in different areas of the universe - can't stand Tom Waits until Swordfishtrombones, think he's a genius for three albums, then can't stand him again. Shakespeare's tragedies - oui! Shakespeare's comedies - er, non! So maybe not that unusual.

JDS famously published all his stuff between 1951 and 1963 and then STOPPED. (Which is why the kidnappers pounced, they gave him a good ten year rest and that was ENOUGH to their way of thinking.) And he stopped just as things were getting really interesting. He writes of the murderous conformities of American educated middle-class life and of the outcasts and especially young kids who either subvert this button-down world or bail out swiftly. Just as he stopped publishing things began to change. the 60s began swinging, and the youthquake (as it has been termed) was upon us. Just the very stuff that you might have thought would have fascinated JD. What do the kids do when they try to make their own rules up? I feel the absence of JDS throughout the 60s and 70s, as i feel the absence of another American writer who STOPPED in 1963, Sylvia Plath. I want to know what these two clever clogs would have made of the tumultuous ten years which followed the self-stilling of their voices.

But back to the Nine Stories - and to steal a fellow reviewer's catch-phrase:

Is it a classic?

Answer : Yes. Goddamn!


PS : I realise I also speculated upon the advisability of kidnapping Thomas Bernhard elsewhere but that was to save the world from any further novels like Extinction, whereas the JD Salinger kidnap is for the opposite reason. But I would like to publicly state that I do not condone the imprisonment of any writers for any reasons, so please don't try this at home.

L’intenzione è quella di rileggerli, ma non prima di aver studiato.
Perché?
Perché ne percepisco la potenza, il fatto che per alcuni la perfezione sia già evidente da subito, mentre per altri ho bisogno di saperne di più e di contestualizzarli per poterli apprezzare appieno.
Sono quattro stelle intermittenti, dunque, perché già so che a una seconda lettura saranno cinque fisse.

La perfezione dei dialoghi, quella sì, è evidente da subito.

Il miei preferiti, ora, d’impulso, Un giorno speciale per i pescibanana: l’eco di quel colpo rimbomba ancora qui, fra me e la risacca, terribile, solare, liquido e allo stesso tempo denso come il piombo, e Il periodo blu di De Daumier-Smith : semplicemente non riuscivo a smettere di leggerlo, dovevo assolutamente arrivare alla fine per sciogliere il mistero.

Rilettura per #Lit il GdL della Mc Musa.
Mi ha molto colpita, questa volta, L’uomo ghignante, di cui ho trovato in rete questa splendida recensione

http://www.flaneri.com/2019/10/03/see...

¿Qué hace que un cuento se quede contigo?

Un buen cuento no es solo una historia breve. Es un golpe certero. Es un destello que te deja con una sensación que no puedes sacudirte fácilmente. Y si alguien sabía cómo lograrlo, era J.D. Salinger.

Mira, Nueve cuentos no es una simple recopilación de relatos. Es un catálogo de personajes al borde del abismo, de diálogos que esconden más de lo que dicen, de momentos de extraña ternura en medio del desconcierto. Es Salinger haciendo lo que mejor sabía hacer: convertir lo cotidiano en algo inquietante, en algo que, de repente, importa demasiado.

Salinger escribe como si te estuviera dejando espiar conversaciones a través de una rendija. Su estilo es limpio, sin adornos innecesarios, con ese toque de ironía sutil que lo hace parecer fácil, pero no lo es. Nadie dice exactamente lo que siente en sus cuentos, y ahí es donde está la magia: en lo que no se dice.

Si Hemingway llevó la técnica del iceberg a la novela, Salinger la convirtió en el arma definitiva del cuento. No hay grandes gestos, no hay explicaciones, pero al final de cada historia, algo en ti ha cambiado sin que puedas señalar exactamente cuándo ocurrió. Nueve cuentos es una colección de momentos en apariencia simples, conversaciones casuales, recuerdos a medias… y sin embargo, cada uno es un disparo certero que deja una marca profunda.

Aquí van mis impresiones sobre cada relato:

1. Un día perfecto para el pez plátano - 5/5
Un día de playa. Una niña parlanchina. Un hombre con una sonrisa cansada. Todo parece ligero y sin consecuencias, pero Salinger planta pequeños detalles inquietantes en los diálogos, como señales de advertencia en una carretera. Te invade una sensación de que algo no está bien, de que quizás el sol brilla demasiado, que las palabras resbalan sobre algo más oscuro. Y entonces, en el último párrafo, Salinger te golpea. No ves venir el impacto hasta que ya es demasiado tarde. Este cuento no se lee: se experimenta. Una obra maestra del cuento moderno. Breve, inquietante, con un desenlace que te deja sin aliento. Es el relato más icónico del libro y con razón.

2. El tío Wiggily en Connecticut - 5/5
Dos mujeres beben en una sala de estar mientras recuerdan su juventud. Nostalgia, risas agridulces, viejos amores que ya no son más que fantasmas. Pero debajo de esa conversación trivial hay una tristeza latente, una vida que no salió como se esperaba. Salinger, con su precisión de relojero, disecciona el desencanto de la vida adulta sin necesidad de grandes tragedias. Un cuento sobre lo que pudo ser y nunca fue, y sobre la forma en que nos aferramos a ciertos recuerdos porque nos ayudan a sobrellevar el presente. Un retrato descarnado de la nostalgia y la desilusión. Una joya de emoción y sutileza.

3. Justo antes de la guerra con los esquimales - 4/5
Pocas cosas son más incómodas que una visita inesperada a la casa de alguien que no tiene ganas de verte. Este cuento es un estudio sobre la incomodidad social: personajes que no se entienden del todo, silencios que pesan más que las palabras, conversaciones donde el sarcasmo es una forma de defensa. Salinger convierte esa incomodidad en algo casi absurdo, con diálogos afilados y personajes que parecen vivir en su propio universo. Y sin embargo, en medio de esa tensión, Salinger introduce un gesto insignificante —una cortesía inesperada— que altera sutilmente la percepción de los personajes. Un cuento que parece no hablar de nada, pero deja una sensación difícil de sacudir.

4. El hombre que ríe - 5/5
Un grupo de niños idolatra a su líder scout, que les narra una historia épica sobre un forajido enmascarado. La narración avanza en dos niveles: la historia ficticia y la vida real de los personajes, y ambas empiezan a entrelazarse de manera sutil. Lo que comienza como un cuento de aventuras se convierte en un reflejo de la vida misma: hay cosas que nos hacen sentir invencibles, hasta que un día dejan de hacerlo. Salinger nos recuerda que, en algún momento, todos dejamos de ser niños. Hermoso y desgarrador. Juega con la dualidad entre el mundo infantil y la dureza de la realidad de una manera magistral.

5. En el bote - 4/5
Una madre observa a su hijo pequeño y trata de entender qué lo inquieta. La historia parece sencilla, casi insignificante, pero el tema de fondo es la intolerancia, vista a través de los ojos de un niño que aún no ha aprendido a racionalizar lo que siente. Salinger juega con lo que el lector sabe y lo que los personajes desconocen, y el resultado es un cuento que, sin ser dramático, deja una sensación de incomodidad que dura más allá de la última línea. Sutil y lleno de matices. Un cuento pequeño en apariencia, pero que esconde un peso emocional considerable

6. Para Esmé – con amor y sordidez - 5/5
Un soldado encuentra un pequeño consuelo en la conversación con una niña y su hermano. Un cuento sobre la guerra, pero no desde la batalla, sino desde sus secuelas invisibles. La tristeza no se exhibe; se intuye. Y, al mismo tiempo, es un relato de inocencia y de trauma, de cómo las palabras pueden sostenerte en los peores momentos. La narración es delicada, llena de matices. Salinger construye una historia en la que un momento aparentemente banal tiene un peso inmenso. Es un cuento sobre la conexión humana, sobre cómo alguien puede salvarte sin siquiera saberlo. Uno de los relatos más bellos y conmovedores de la colección. Salinger en su máxima expresión: belleza en la tristeza, ternura en lo roto. Inolvidable.

7. Linda boquita y verdes mis ojos - 4/5
Un hombre recibe una llamada de su amigo, quien está convencido de que su esposa ha desaparecido. Lo que sigue es un juego de engaños, medias verdades y silencios cargados de significado. El verdadero peso del cuento no está en la trama, sino en la tensión que Salinger deja flotando entre las líneas. Un cuento sobre la traición, la negación y la forma en que a veces nos mentimos a nosotros mismos para no enfrentarnos con la verdad. Un juego psicológico brillante, lleno de tensión y ambigüedad. Muy bien construido.

8. El período azul de Daumier-Smith - 4/5
Un joven ambicioso entra a trabajar en una escuela de arte y se cree más brillante de lo que es. Con su característico humor irónico, Salinger nos presenta a un protagonista pretencioso y encantadoramente ridículo, que poco a poco se enfrenta a su propia insignificancia. Pero en medio de su arrogancia, hay un momento de genuina belleza, de comprensión inesperada, que le da al cuento una profundidad insospechada. El cuento no es solo una burla: su arrogancia es una máscara. Debajo hay vulnerabilidad, una soledad que se filtra entre líneas. Al final, lo que parece una sátira es, en realidad, un retrato de alguien que anhela ser visto. Uno de los más irónicos y divertidos, con momentos de gran lucidez.

9. Teddy - 5/5
El cuento final es un campo minado disfrazado de charla filosófica. Teddy, un niño prodigio, conversa con un hombre sobre la vida, la muerte y el significado de la existencia. Al principio, todo parece una conversación intelectual más, pero hay una sensación de inquietud que se instala desde el inicio y no se va. Salinger deja pistas, pequeñas señales de que algo está por suceder. Y cuando la historia termina, la realidad se tuerce de golpe. No es un giro sorpresivo en el sentido clásico, pero deja una sombra que se alarga más allá de la última página. Un final perturbador que hace que cierres el libro, pero sigas pensando en él. El broche perfecto para la colección.


Si hay algo que sobrevuela casi todos los cuentos de Salinger, es la Segunda Guerra Mundial. No como gran escenario bélico, sino como un eco que nunca se apaga. Aunque los relatos de Nueve cuentos fueron escritos en diferentes momentos, es imposible no notar cómo la sombra de la guerra, en la que el propio Salinger combatió, se cierne sobre muchos de ellos, como una marca que no pudo (ni probablemente quiso) dejar atrás. La guerra está en los silencios, en los traumas que nadie nombra, en los personajes que quedaron rotos aunque nunca pisemos el campo de batalla. En este libro, la guerra no es un episodio histórico: es una herida que sigue supurando. Seymour Glass carga con una herida invisible en Un día perfecto para el pez banana, pero no es el único: el narrador de Para Esmé, con amor y sordidez deambula por la posguerra como un alma en pena, y Eloise, en El tío Wiggily en Connecticut sigue llorando a un amor que la guerra le arrebató. Incluso cuando los relatos no hablan de la guerra, la guerra ya habló por ellos.

Y si la vida adulta es un campo de ruinas, Salinger nos recuerda que la infancia es el último refugio. Sus niños no son meros espectadores: son ingeniosos, observadores, a veces hasta más lúcidos que los adultos. Sybil, Esmé, Teddy, Lionel… todos parecen ver el mundo con más claridad que aquellos que deberían guiarlos. Pero no son solo niños: son interlocutores, aliados de esos adultos excéntricos que, por una razón u otra, no encajan en el molde. Salinger parece decirnos que, en un mundo que ha perdido el rumbo, la única conversación honesta es la que se tiene con un niño.

Porque, si algo define a los personajes de estos cuentos, es que no encajan. Demasiado raros, demasiado brillantes o demasiado rotos, viven en los márgenes, apartados de un mundo que no los entiende (y que ellos tampoco parecen querer entender). Seymour, Teddy, el narrador de El período azul de Daumier-Smith: todos flotan en un limbo entre la genialidad y la locura, entre la sabiduría y el abismo. Y ese abismo, muchas veces, se llama soledad. No es casualidad que los matrimonios en estos cuentos sean trincheras de incomunicación o que las familias parezcan habitadas por extraños. En el universo de Salinger, los lazos que realmente importan no son los impuestos por la sangre o la sociedad, sino aquellos forjados en la complicidad de la soledad compartida.

Y luego está la muerte. Presente incluso cuando no se menciona, siempre inesperada, siempre abrupta. A veces como un acto definitivo, a veces como una ausencia que lo ensombrece todo. En El tío Wiggily en Connecticut, el peso de una pérdida irrecuperable lo tiñe todo de melancolía. En El hombre que ríe, un giro en la historia marca el fin de la infancia del narrador. Como si Salinger nos recordara que crecer no es solo dejar cosas atrás, sino perder algo que no vuelve.

Y es que Salinger no te entrega grandes conclusiones. Sus cuentos funcionan como ecos: los lees, los dejas atrás y, de repente, un día los recuerdas y te das cuenta de que nunca se fueron del todo.

Y eso es lo que hace que Nueve cuentos siga siendo tan potente. Porque un buen cuento no es solo una historia breve. Es un golpe certero. Es un destello. Es algo que, sin saber cómo, se queda contigo. Para siempre.