Franny and Zooey (edition 2001)

i really, really enjoyed the first section of this book (franny) but had a much harder time with the second (zooey). i like what salinger does, in part, and i like how he writes, but i didn't really care for most of the dialogue (and this entire book is basically a dialogue). the characters are hard to like, or at least they are on the surface. but everything that franny spouts off about in that first section, i thought was so spot on, and felt so real. (does this mean i'm going crazy?) maybe the rest was more of a struggle for me because it turned philosophical and religious. i did also like how at least one central character (seymour) figured so prominently (really the entire family is centered around him) and we don't even meet him, except through the 3 people in the family we do meet. and i didn't like how very much every character used the word goddam in every sentence, it was distracting. as was how much they smoked - i could hardly visualize the scene and the characters the rooms were so smoke-filled. but it was pretty amazing he made an entire book basically out of 3 conversations, and a good chunk of it (maybe as much as half) takes place in a bathroom. up and downs for me in this one. ( )

I think I give it three stars anyway. I'm not completely sure I know how I feel about this book. It was a bit of slow going in the beginning. To be honest I didn't know what the hell the point to the whole thing was, I just wasn't getting it. Near the end it began to come together somewhat and became engaging at that point.

I remember reading Catcher in HS and liking it. I also remember Salinger's penchant for swearing. But, I find that I cannot get the word "goddamn" out of my head now, he used it two and three times a sentence whenever Zooey was talking! I have no real issue with curse words in books, I'm a big girl, and I use them myself on occasion. This was almost like a challenge to see how many times he could fit it into a book without making the story unintelligible.

The funny thing is, as much as it took for me to get to the point of being engaged and the fact that I can't get that "goddamn" word out of my head, I did like the book. I liked Zooey, a few times I wanted to slap Franny. Though, when I was the age of her character I went through my fanatical Jesus-ie phase as well, so I get it. I didn't have a mental breakdown that I know of, but I was quite as ridiculous as she was to be sure. ( )

After I read this book I kept thinking about the last two pages. YaleCourses (a youtube channel) has a 47 min lecture on this book that made the ending more unambiguous. ( )

I read this so long ago. I had enjoyed, or at least identified with, Catcher in the Rye, so I thought I would try this, which is much less known. And for good reason. I think his teenage angst had run its course and when he didn't feel it anymore he couldn't manufacture it for the book,nor transition into one more concerned with adult emotions. ( )

Definitely not a bad read, just not really my thing. I really just found the characters incredibly unlikeable. ( )