Book Review: Franny and Zooey

Book #79

“Then, like so many people, who, perhaps, ought to be issued only a very probational pass to meet trains, he tried to empty his face of all expression that might quite simply, perhaps even beautifully, reveal how he felt about the arriving person.” — J. D. Salinger, Franny and Zooey

I’ve been dreading getting to this review, because the minute I put it down I knew it was going to be really difficult for me to review. I wondered whether I should skip this review — but then it would be the first review I’ve skipped in eighteen months, and Salinger deserves better than that. So what I’m going to do is post this, and when I reread it, which won’t be too long in the future, I’ll rereview.

I loved it. I loved, loved, loved it. Salinger’s elegant turn of phrase is even more apparent here than The Catcher in the Rye. I loved Franny, and I wish that Salinger had made her section longer. I was infatuated with her life and her thoughts, in no small part because I could see sections of my life mirrored in them. I also liked the description of the relationship between her and Lane. The book was my introduction to the Glass family, and upon beginning it I was unaware that they featured in other writing by Salinger. It makes me incredibly glad, though, because I felt how rich and developed the characters were for what is a slip of a novel. Or rather, a short story and a novella. Regardless, I’m glad he delved deeper into the Glass family.

I was disturbed with some aspects of the family dynamic, but the entire thing felt so authentic, much the same way I felt with Holden. The writing is ageless, but it ever-so-slightly dated by a few details (the hats, the telephone lines) — but you can’t make every text as completely transformable as Catcher is. I’m not sure which I loved more, but I know as a reader and writer I treasured his style and impeccable turn of phrase much more in this book.

The only problem I have is trying to chose what should go next — Nine Stories or Raise High The Roof Beam.