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Okay, I know it comes with "Seymour, an introduction," but I checked the copyright thingy inside, and it turns out they were published separately 4 years apart, so technically it's a separate book.
Muah.
Another example of something I love most about Salinger. He seems to have a knack for 'drive-by' story telling. That is, he moves into a moment in someones life, and then moves along without much warning. What happened before doesn't matter, and often enough neither does what happens later. He writes about moments instead of the full history of a person's life. "Catcher" is a great example of this, as it starts off with little antecedent action and moves on through Holden's life until he reaches a good stopping point, then moves on again out of the way. Salinger succeeded with "Raise high..." again.
The old deaf mute was by far my favorite character (although Seymour seems like he'll be someone I'll never forget, if this mouth wetting lives up to it's hype), as he had such a simple experience. He smiled, and enjoyed everything around him, and was content. I like that feeling that a character is happy. The Matron of Honor is a devil of a woman, and without Buddy making snide 'internal monologue' comments about everything around, her character would have been unbearable. Good job Salinger, in making a woman so easy to hate that I'd like her to be real, just so I can smack her around. Just kidding. Woman beating is wrong.
Salinger's style was good, as always, and his choice of words were excellent and easy. The quick asides the narrator gave us to explain things were a good break, and also a nice change from the 'this isn't a story, and it's not a book' attitude that comes with fiction writing.'
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