Video review

More varied than its most famous stories would lead you to believe, with enough silliness and crystalline sadness to balance the misery and grimy sadness. Even at a superficial read you can appreciate Salinger's influence on how Americans write, and think about plots.

একটা বই পড়তে গিয়ে ইমোশনগুলো এত রোলার কোস্টারে চড়ে, কিছু কিছু ভালো লাগা, না লাগা - এমনকি শেষটাতে বইটাতে ৫তারা দিয়ে আমি নিজেই অবাক হয়ে গিয়েছি।

৯টা গল্প সবমিলিয়ে কেমন?

কিছু গল্প আজিমপুর থেকে নীলক্ষেতে যাবার পথে সন্ধ্যার পর যে একটা দীর্ঘায়িত ট্র্যাফিক জ্যাম পড়ে, সেই জ্যামে বসে চিবানো পপকর্ন এর মত নিরর্থক কিন্তু প্রয়োজনীয়। আবার কিছু গল্প বছরের এই দীর্ঘায়িত দিনগুলোতে অফিস থেকে আগে আগে ফিরে বিকেল-ঘুম দেবার মতই আকাঙ্ক্ষিত। কিছু গল্প কোন কাজ করতে ভালো না লাগা মন নিয়ে দেওয়ালের দিকে মুখ ফিরিয়ে আলস্যে শুয়ে থাকবার মতন। আবার কিছু গল্পাংশ ভর দুপুরে বাসে জানলার পাশের সিটে বসে কড়া রোদের তাপে পুড়বার তিতবিরক্তির মতন। আবার কিছু মাঝরাতে মিথ্যা ক্ষুধায় অকারণ চীনাবাদাম চিবানোর বিলাসিতা করবার মতন।

I was surprised by just how good some of these stories turned out to be, after not getting my hopes up for anything that special. And as a fan of the short-stories of John Cheever, Raymond Carver, and Richard Yates, Salinger sits in this company pretty well, in creating brief snapshots of life that capture glittering sharp moments, generally focusing on adults encountering overly aware, truth-telling children. The heart of each story is set to the beat of its characters accounts of the way in which they move through the world and interact with one another, from their confidential phone-calls and wisecracking conversations, to the cautious articulation of their understated feelings and nascent beliefs. Salinger's characters are chosen chiefly for their capacity to spark potent dialogue.
And the heavy dialogue used in some of the stories just works superbly well. Vividly told, with gentle humour and a heightened sense of emotion, this collection opens with the stunning 'A Perfect Day for Bananafish', and sets the scene for the other eight stories, all of which ranged from good to very good. There was also a little bit of Scott Fitzgerald in there, just less on the love travails.

My faves were -

A Perfect Day for Bananafish
The Laughing Man
For Esme: with Love and Squalor

Over the past year or so, I have re-read (50 years apart) all four of Salinger's most famous published works. This is my most recent. It consists of nine brilliant stories, the most famous of which are "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" and "For Esme--with Love and Squalor." They are wonderful, but I must say that my favorites are "DeDaumier-Smith's Blue Period" and "The Laughing Man", both of which are unforgettable. J. D. Salinger is one of the great American writers of the 20th century and his books have impressed and moved both a teenager and a senior citizen.

Not being too fond of Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye – and having, in fact, a vivid recollection of me chucking it after about a 100 pages into a far-flung, dusty corner out of sheer tedium in high school (reading assignments are hemlock for stubborn minds) - I wasn’t particularly looking forward to his short story collection. Would it just be an assortment of variations on Holden Caulfield? I feared the worst.

Boy was I happy to be proven wrong. Talk about rising to low expectations, huh? How I wish now that the scholastic "authorities" had assigned us this instead of that boorish novel. In that case, I wouldn't have had to look up an online summary to pass my bloody test. In fact, I might have even been stupid enough to found a hipsterish J.D. Salinger worship cult. A missed opportunity, I tell ya!

These subtle tales are replete with memorable, flawed, authentic (non-irritating!) characters one can invest in. Clear highlights are A Perfect Day for Bananafish and especially the poignant, immensely moving For Esmé – With Love and Squalor, but they are all fine examples of quality writing. Not a dud in the bunch.

Turning the last page, it is hard not to feel a pang of sadness, of irretrievable loss. One wishes Salinger had foregone the infamous reclusiveness that beset his last 45 years and had written more of these. What masterpieces the world has missed out on as a result can only be guessed at.

3,5 ⭐️

I’m going back through Salinger’s works again. The stories that stand out to me this time are "Teddy" and "For Esmé - with Love and Squalor," which have always been my favorites. The other stories are good too, but they just didn’t leave as strong impression on me.

A collection I have been delving into for a couple of weeks. At first, it was just seeing how the stories affected me as I let them be. 3 of the 9 stories, on first reading them, made me shut the book and walk away: A Perfect Day for Bananafish, For Esmé—with Love and Squalor, and Teddy. As of now, I am reading some secondary texts about these, so I may come back and add to this. I will, however, say this: I had not read any of it before. No spoilers. Nothing. I didn’t know what any of this was about. So, in a way, I get why Salinger refused to allow his material to be adapted. I get the cover designs. It’s nice to sit down with nothing but the text and be shot in the face with what it has to offer.

دختر گفت شما می‌دونید نکبت چیه؟
گفتم گمونم هرروز دارم بیشتر باهاش آشنا میشم
گفت: خداحافظ، امیدوارم تو جنگ روحتون سالم بمونه



حتما تصاویرِ اعزام سربازان به جنگ را دیده‌اید. سربازان سوار بر قطار و زنان در صف هایی بلند و پهن برایشان دست تکان می‌دهند تا شجاع‌ترشان کنند و ترس را از آنها دور کنند.
در آن لحظه شاید سرباز با لبی خندان به بازگشتی افتخارآمیز می‌اندیشد که معشوقش برای او آغوش خواهد گشود و مردم بر سرشان گل خواهند ریخت.
اما آنچه که بعدها اتفاق می‌افتد فرق زیادی دارد!!
در صورت زنده ماندن، لبان او به ندرت خواهند خندید و جامعه که او را به سمت مرگ هُل داده بود، از دیدن جسدِ زنده‌ی او بیزار است...

سالینجر در چند داستان از این کتاب به زندگیِ غم انگیز سربازانِ جنگ پرداخته؛ به طرد شدگی و اینکه چقد دوباره شانس این را دارند کودک درونشان زنده شود!؟

Come scrivere racconti e renderli memorabili

Questa raccolta di racconti mi ha consentito di riflettere, dopo tanto tempo (son tardo, lo so...), sulla grande differenza che c'è tra il racconto e il romanzo.

Il racconto, a differenza del romanzo, deve accalappiare immediatamente il lettore, non ha tempo per lunghi preamboli. E' una fotografia di un momento, di una situazione e deve quindi essere sintetico, deve dire tutto in poche parole. Questa estrema sintesi impedisce l'uso di ripetizioni; ogni cosa viene detta una volta, se il lettore perde il punto, lo perde definitivamente. I personaggi sono funzionali ad una specifica rappresentazione, non c'è una loro caratterizzazione approfondita e di conseguenza non si riesce ad affezionarsi a nessuno di loro. Ogni significato, ogni dettaglio è descritto con pochi accenni e deve essere proposto in forma interessante e fruibile, magari con differenti chiavi di lettura.

A volte poi il significato non si nasconde tanto nel racconto stesso, quanto nell'accostamento di differenti racconti. In ogni raccolta di racconti bisognerebbe quindi analizzare i punti comuni per capire meglio perché lo scrittore ha messo insieme racconti apparentemente diversi tra loro.

Tutto questo probabilmente risulta ad un lettore medio (come me) non immediato e i racconti, letti genericamente senza la dovuta attenzione, restano insapori, senza collegamento, di significato approssimativo, creando disamoramento o insofferenza verso il genere. "No, i racconti non fanno per me".

Ecco di cosa mi sono accorto leggendo questi nove racconti di Salinger: la lettura dei racconti, se ben fatta, è faticosa. Richiede più impegno, calma e concentrazione. Richiede ragionamento ed attenzione. Ma può regalare, come in questo caso, delle grandissime soddisfazioni.

Questi “Nove racconti”, perfettamente caratterizzati, autentici, nitidi, raffinati, hanno come comune denominatore la solitudine di una vita senza affetti e senza significato. Iniziano e finiscono in modo terribile, con il suicidio di un uomo e con il grido lacerante di una bimba precipitata in una piscina vuota.

Racconti che mostrano il disagio dell'uomo di fronte alla guerra e alla fede; l'uomo nel quotidiano appare fragile e indifeso, soprattutto in contrasto con le belle illusioni dell'infanzia, incarnate da bambini meravigliosi che sembrano essere gli unici custodi della saggezza.

Adulti che si comportano da bambini e bambini che accolgono le paranoie degli adulti, mostrando maggior maturità, comprensione e tenerezza che gli adulti invece non riservano per loro.

"I miei genitori non sono capaci di voler bene a me e a mia sorella nello stesso modo, così come siamo. Non sono capaci di volerci bene se non possono sempre cambiarci un poco. Amano le ragioni per le quali ci amano quasi quanto ci amano, e quasi sempre di più. È una cosa che non va bene."

Dialoghi perfetti, folgoranti. Ritmo impeccabile. Stile che varia dall'ironico al brillante, dal triste all'euforico. Vere e proprie perle.
Semplicemente bellissimi.

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.

Spotless short stories. Perfectly constructed, not even a single extra word. And they fit perfectly together.

n  n

Most of these stories make a statement (or two, or more) about how our past, and our interactions with each other, affect our lives. I had this feel that in some way, the stories represented our disconnections from one another, from reality, and from full knowledge; the slippery grasp we have of our perceptions, and our tendency to judge too quickly.

Salinger often gets this across through arresting dialogue among individuals, typically with at least one of the individuals in some way being "different" from your "normal" standards. Entering the inner world of a Salinger character is an experience everyone should have. His children are the best I’ve experienced; as are his hard-edged, outcast characters -- you know the type: they chain smoke, say “goddamn” a lot, and have a sharp, smartass tongue that bespeaks toughness. Yet it gets revealed that they’ve been hurt in some way in the past, and that they have a soft spot inside. Salinger shows this in some beautiful ways and eventually, by the end of the story, you see a special side to these people. Characters that at first seemed ridiculous and entertaining end up making you see something in them. Yes they’re faltered and off, but they’re also special, and you see that their reality may in fact be superior to yours.. at least in some ways.

Isn’t that true of children, in general? That they see the world in specifically different ways from us adults? And aren't some of these paradigms innocent, beautiful, and pure? Or maybe it's exactly because they don't have a paradigm, that this is the case. While we can't escape from all of our preconceived notions, they are free from them. Even some of Salinger’s non-children characters have this element to their personality.

A lot of the endings to these stories are phenomenal. They always contain a surprise, sometimes with room for broad interpretation; typically making you think and reflect. Yet there’s still a feeling of mystery; of not knowing the full story. Through these endings your interpretation of what you had read, changes; the way you saw the story shifts, often resulting in quick, new perceptions and “aha!” moments. And, if your experience is like mine, you then continue to reflect and question your perceptions of the story further.

I couldn’t quite give this five stars. Some of the stories, such as Just Before the War with the Eskimos and Down at the Dinghy didn’t flow enough for me, and ended up lacking in either coherence or emotional pull. (By the way, my star ratings per story are in the picture above, just to the left of each story listed. You can change Teddy from a 4.5 to a 5, too. It started as a 4; I thought about it more, and gave it a 4.5; then today, I thought about it even more and have decided that it’s a 5. That’s what some of these stories can do to you: They really get you thinking.)

The other Salinger I’ve read is The Catcher and the Rye, which I’ve read twice and enjoy, but come up short of loving. After reading this I can further see how Salinger has a following that loves him. His characters are unusual and intriguing, and his way of viewing the world is special and ingenious. This is a book you should get a hold of.