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Three Early Stories
A young and ambitious writer named Jerome David Salinger set his goals very high very early in his career.
He almost desperately wished to publish his early stories in The New Yorker magazine, the pinnacle, he felt, of America’s literary world. But such was not to be for several long years and the length of one long world war. The New Yorker, whose tastes in literary matters were and remain notoriously prim and fickle, was not quite ready for this brash and over-confident newcomer with the cynical worldview and his habit of slangy dialogue.
But other magazines were quick to recognize a new talent, a fresh voice at a time when the world verged on madness. Story magazine, an esteemed and influential small circulation journal devoted exclusively to the art of the short story and still active and respected today, was the first publication to publish the name J.D. Salinger and the story “The Young Folks” in 1940, an impressive view of New York’s cocktail society and two young people talking past one another, their conversation almost completely meaningless and empty.
His next short story was published in a college journal, The University of Kansas City Review. “Go See Eddie” is a tale of quiet menace as an unsavory male character gradually turns up the pressure on a young lady to see a man named Eddie. Also published in 1940, the story is notable for the backstory that is omitted — a technique that Hemingway used to great effect.
Four years later toward the end of Salinger’s war experience saw the publication of “Once A Week Won’t Kill You,” again in Story magazine. Ostensibly about a newly minted soldier trying to tell an aging aunt he is going off to war, some may see the story as a metaphor for preparing one’s family for the possibility of wartime death.
Devault-Graves Digital Editions, a publisher that specializes in reprinting the finest in American period literature, is proud to bring you this anthology by one of America’s most innovative and inspiring authors.
He almost desperately wished to publish his early stories in The New Yorker magazine, the pinnacle, he felt, of America’s literary world. But such was not to be for several long years and the length of one long world war. The New Yorker, whose tastes in literary matters were and remain notoriously prim and fickle, was not quite ready for this brash and over-confident newcomer with the cynical worldview and his habit of slangy dialogue.
But other magazines were quick to recognize a new talent, a fresh voice at a time when the world verged on madness. Story magazine, an esteemed and influential small circulation journal devoted exclusively to the art of the short story and still active and respected today, was the first publication to publish the name J.D. Salinger and the story “The Young Folks” in 1940, an impressive view of New York’s cocktail society and two young people talking past one another, their conversation almost completely meaningless and empty.
His next short story was published in a college journal, The University of Kansas City Review. “Go See Eddie” is a tale of quiet menace as an unsavory male character gradually turns up the pressure on a young lady to see a man named Eddie. Also published in 1940, the story is notable for the backstory that is omitted — a technique that Hemingway used to great effect.
Four years later toward the end of Salinger’s war experience saw the publication of “Once A Week Won’t Kill You,” again in Story magazine. Ostensibly about a newly minted soldier trying to tell an aging aunt he is going off to war, some may see the story as a metaphor for preparing one’s family for the possibility of wartime death.
Devault-Graves Digital Editions, a publisher that specializes in reprinting the finest in American period literature, is proud to bring you this anthology by one of America’s most innovative and inspiring authors.
74 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1940
69 people are currently reading
3800 people want to read
About the author
J.D. Salinger
147 books16.2k followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
Works, most notably novel The Catcher in the Rye (1951), of American writer Jerome David Salinger often concern troubled, sensitive adolescents.
People well know this author for his reclusive nature. He published his last original work in 1965 and gave his last interview in 1980. Reared in city of New York, Salinger began short stories in secondary school and published several stories in the early 1940s before serving in World War II. In 1948, he published the critically acclaimed story "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" in The New Yorker, his subsequent home magazine. He released an immediate popular success. His depiction of adolescent alienation and loss of innocence in the protagonist Holden Caulfield especially influenced adolescent readers. Widely read and controversial, sells a quarter-million copies a year.
The success led to public attention and scrutiny: reclusive, he published new work less frequently. He followed with a short story collection, Nine Stories (1953), of a novella and a short story, Franny and Zooey (1961), and a collection of two novellas, Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction (1963). His last published work, a novella entitled "Hapworth 16, 1924", appeared in The New Yorker on June 19, 1965.
Afterward, Salinger struggled with unwanted attention, including a legal battle in the 1980s with biographer Ian Hamilton. In the late 1990s, Joyce Maynard, a close ex-lover, and Margaret Salinger, his daughter, wrote and released his memoirs. In 1996, a small publisher announced a deal with Salinger to publish "Hapworth 16, 1924" in book form, but the ensuing publicity indefinitely delayed the release.
Another writer used one of his characters, resulting in copyright infringement; he filed a lawsuit against this writer and afterward made headlines around the globe in June 2009. Salinger died of natural causes at his home in Cornish, New Hampshire.
Works, most notably novel The Catcher in the Rye (1951), of American writer Jerome David Salinger often concern troubled, sensitive adolescents.
People well know this author for his reclusive nature. He published his last original work in 1965 and gave his last interview in 1980. Reared in city of New York, Salinger began short stories in secondary school and published several stories in the early 1940s before serving in World War II. In 1948, he published the critically acclaimed story "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" in The New Yorker, his subsequent home magazine. He released an immediate popular success. His depiction of adolescent alienation and loss of innocence in the protagonist Holden Caulfield especially influenced adolescent readers. Widely read and controversial, sells a quarter-million copies a year.
The success led to public attention and scrutiny: reclusive, he published new work less frequently. He followed with a short story collection, Nine Stories (1953), of a novella and a short story, Franny and Zooey (1961), and a collection of two novellas, Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction (1963). His last published work, a novella entitled "Hapworth 16, 1924", appeared in The New Yorker on June 19, 1965.
Afterward, Salinger struggled with unwanted attention, including a legal battle in the 1980s with biographer Ian Hamilton. In the late 1990s, Joyce Maynard, a close ex-lover, and Margaret Salinger, his daughter, wrote and released his memoirs. In 1996, a small publisher announced a deal with Salinger to publish "Hapworth 16, 1924" in book form, but the ensuing publicity indefinitely delayed the release.
Another writer used one of his characters, resulting in copyright infringement; he filed a lawsuit against this writer and afterward made headlines around the globe in June 2009. Salinger died of natural causes at his home in Cornish, New Hampshire.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 366 reviews
September 11, 2025
This collection was released in 2014 and contains three stories – the first Salinger had published. It was also my first time reading his work!
The stories are slice of life. Lots of people smoking, biting their fingernails and describing others as grand. Even though the pieces are largely dialogue, there are great descriptions and much said through subtleties. Occasionally, I picked up possible Hemingway influences.
It simultaneously felt ahead of its time, while also reminding me of classic films. It was immersive, causing me to sometimes forget I was reading a story, and not witnessing two people interacting in real life. It's a quick read, yet each story captivated me.
The book could’ve perhaps benefited from an introduction, giving context for these stories within Salinger’s career, but this didn’t detract from the individual stories, which were:
The Young Folks
The first story Salinger ever had published, it featured in Story Magazine, 1940. I immediately felt dropped into a New York party, like a fly on the wall, listening to random conversations. It depicts a shallow interaction between two young characters, Edna and Jameson, who both seem caught up in petty details of their own lives.
Go See Eddie
Salinger received numerous rejections for this in 1940, before it was ultimately published in the University of Kansas Review. It follows Helen and Bobby, a fiery brother and sister.
“The sun was on them both, lushing her milky skin, and doing nothing for Bobby but showing up his dandruff and the pockets under his eyes.”
Bobby is worried about his sister’s reputation and ongoing affair. He urges her to call a producer about performing in a new production.
Once A Week Won’t Kill You
A strong finish – my favourite story in this collection. Husband and wife are talking on the eve of him going to war. He wants his wife to take his somewhat eccentric aunt, who raised him, to the movies once a week while he’s gone.
I could feel Salinger injecting himself into this, as he would’ve been deploying around the time he wrote it. A touching read that still lingers in my mind.
“He looked out across the park, searching between the trees for the way to tell her that he was leaving. He had wanted her to be the one woman in 1944 who did not have someone’s hourglass to watch.”
I read Three Early Stories one cold evening while drinking chamomile tea and listening to rain falling on the roof, my dog asleep beside me on her favourite soft blanket. I enjoyed it and now want to read more of his work.
The stories are slice of life. Lots of people smoking, biting their fingernails and describing others as grand. Even though the pieces are largely dialogue, there are great descriptions and much said through subtleties. Occasionally, I picked up possible Hemingway influences.
It simultaneously felt ahead of its time, while also reminding me of classic films. It was immersive, causing me to sometimes forget I was reading a story, and not witnessing two people interacting in real life. It's a quick read, yet each story captivated me.
The book could’ve perhaps benefited from an introduction, giving context for these stories within Salinger’s career, but this didn’t detract from the individual stories, which were:
The Young Folks
The first story Salinger ever had published, it featured in Story Magazine, 1940. I immediately felt dropped into a New York party, like a fly on the wall, listening to random conversations. It depicts a shallow interaction between two young characters, Edna and Jameson, who both seem caught up in petty details of their own lives.
Go See Eddie
Salinger received numerous rejections for this in 1940, before it was ultimately published in the University of Kansas Review. It follows Helen and Bobby, a fiery brother and sister.
“The sun was on them both, lushing her milky skin, and doing nothing for Bobby but showing up his dandruff and the pockets under his eyes.”
Bobby is worried about his sister’s reputation and ongoing affair. He urges her to call a producer about performing in a new production.
Once A Week Won’t Kill You
A strong finish – my favourite story in this collection. Husband and wife are talking on the eve of him going to war. He wants his wife to take his somewhat eccentric aunt, who raised him, to the movies once a week while he’s gone.
I could feel Salinger injecting himself into this, as he would’ve been deploying around the time he wrote it. A touching read that still lingers in my mind.
“He looked out across the park, searching between the trees for the way to tell her that he was leaving. He had wanted her to be the one woman in 1944 who did not have someone’s hourglass to watch.”
I read Three Early Stories one cold evening while drinking chamomile tea and listening to rain falling on the roof, my dog asleep beside me on her favourite soft blanket. I enjoyed it and now want to read more of his work.
May 20, 2020
Don't know why I said I would write a review of this, considering I already have not one but TWO pre-reviews below.
I have probably already surpassed the word count of the entire book at this point in the review alone.
Anyway. This is not Salinger's best, in my opinion (not enough Glass family by a mile), but Salinger's mediocre is still miles ahead of most people's best.
That's enough of a review.
Bottom line: If you need a book you can read in 15 minutes, you can't find much better than this one!
--------------
nobody does it like salinger.
(do NOT mention the fact that i'm now done with his published works. DON'T.)
review to come / 3.5 stars
--------------
hard to say which drove me to this book more: that it's Salinger, or that it's the teeniest tiniest book i've ever seen.
considering my incoming reading slump: probably option 2.
I have probably already surpassed the word count of the entire book at this point in the review alone.
Anyway. This is not Salinger's best, in my opinion (not enough Glass family by a mile), but Salinger's mediocre is still miles ahead of most people's best.
That's enough of a review.
Bottom line: If you need a book you can read in 15 minutes, you can't find much better than this one!
--------------
nobody does it like salinger.
(do NOT mention the fact that i'm now done with his published works. DON'T.)
review to come / 3.5 stars
--------------
hard to say which drove me to this book more: that it's Salinger, or that it's the teeniest tiniest book i've ever seen.
considering my incoming reading slump: probably option 2.
![Profile Image for s.penkevich [hiatus-will return-miss you all].](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.gr-assets.com%2Fimages%2FS%2Fcompressed.photo.goodreads.com%2Fusers%2F1735525095i%2F6431467._UX200_CR0%2C11%2C200%2C200_.jpg&w=128&q=75)
July 14, 2023
'...young hands holding lighted cigarettes and wet highball glasses.'
J.D. Salinger is a household name in literature. People who don't even read books have read and loved at least his most known work, and he has earned the reputation as a Essential Voice in American Literature. Three Early Stories, released surprisingly under the radar in mid-2014 is a legal anomaly that skirted the tightly-clenched first of the Salinger estate to bring to print (or more accurately, re-print) three stories Salinger published in magazines that had not been officially licensed to him¹ This is the first official release of a Salinger story in nearly 50 years², and gives the reader a glimpse at Salinger's early efforts. The first two stories date back from 1941 and the third from 1944 and offer a wonderful insight into his literary prowess. It is interesting how in unpolished works the real gems of an authors signature abilities can shine so brightly and clearly, standing out from the rest almost as a caricature of the author's style. These three stories aren't particularly stunning—there is hardly a quote worth highlighting as the stories tend to stick to necessary descriptions and never wander into the realm of philosophizing or making sharp bold statements about humanity, yet manage to be quite engaging and thought-provoking nonetheless—yet display Salinger's acute observations of manner and speech that feel authentic and reveal a lifetime of insight into a character without ever having to enter into a discussion on it. The first story, my personal favorite of the three, details a college party that brings to life all the sexual angst, awkwardness and peer interaction of such a scene that makes it feel so authentic in the readers mind and interchangeable with any college era party they had attended. The interactions between a young girl on the prowl³ and a boy clearly attempting to evade her and watch the blonde object of everyone's affection be flirted with by the all-american boys he can never hope to be, form a fabulous short fiction full of half-hinted backstory and skillfully observed human mannerisms. Salinger shows his mastery over dialogue, filling it with slang and italicizing key words that let the speech pattern fill the mind's ear like music ('It had been three years and she had never stopped talking to him in italics' is a humorous line that connects the written word and the shrill tone of the character).
Unfortunately, these are not the Salinger stories we had all hoped for. If rumor is true, then those should still be forthcoming, but until then (or as a complimentary read to them), Three Early Stories is a worthwhile and insightful look into the development of J.D. Salinger as a writer. There are no Gass or Caulfield members here, but Salinger gives literary wings to human interaction that feels so authentic that it is no wonder he quickly blossomed into the famous author that he became. Plus, this collection features many wonderful illustrations, mostly of people smoking cigarettes (though the illustrator didn't pay close attention, as one illustration features two people smoking side by side with a taller male when the text on the previous page makes special emphasis that the girl was taller than the boy). And until there is more of the inevitable Salinger releases, we still are blessed with the exquisite parodies done by Gordon Lish that had Salinger experts pondering for for a brief time. These stories are simple and short—more cigarettes are smoked in the stories than you could smoke while reading them—and while they are lacking in the depths one would expect, they are still quite the satisfying snack.
3.5/5
¹ A more informative account of the legal voyage to bring this collection to print can be found in this article by Publisher's Weekly.
² A few years back, another Three Stories 'collection' was leaked online, containing the well-worth-the-read story The Ocean Full of Bowling Balls (click the link, you know you want to at least skim it) that was gifted to Princeton University under the solemn promise that they would not publish the story until 2060.
³ Unfortunately, female characters tend to get a bad reputation in the stories here. Two of the three feature weak male protagonists wrestling with what they consider a sneaky agenda of sultry, or attempting to be sultry, females, while the third features a male ordering around his wife “for the good of the extended family.” It’s…not great.
J.D. Salinger is a household name in literature. People who don't even read books have read and loved at least his most known work, and he has earned the reputation as a Essential Voice in American Literature. Three Early Stories, released surprisingly under the radar in mid-2014 is a legal anomaly that skirted the tightly-clenched first of the Salinger estate to bring to print (or more accurately, re-print) three stories Salinger published in magazines that had not been officially licensed to him¹ This is the first official release of a Salinger story in nearly 50 years², and gives the reader a glimpse at Salinger's early efforts. The first two stories date back from 1941 and the third from 1944 and offer a wonderful insight into his literary prowess. It is interesting how in unpolished works the real gems of an authors signature abilities can shine so brightly and clearly, standing out from the rest almost as a caricature of the author's style. These three stories aren't particularly stunning—there is hardly a quote worth highlighting as the stories tend to stick to necessary descriptions and never wander into the realm of philosophizing or making sharp bold statements about humanity, yet manage to be quite engaging and thought-provoking nonetheless—yet display Salinger's acute observations of manner and speech that feel authentic and reveal a lifetime of insight into a character without ever having to enter into a discussion on it. The first story, my personal favorite of the three, details a college party that brings to life all the sexual angst, awkwardness and peer interaction of such a scene that makes it feel so authentic in the readers mind and interchangeable with any college era party they had attended. The interactions between a young girl on the prowl³ and a boy clearly attempting to evade her and watch the blonde object of everyone's affection be flirted with by the all-american boys he can never hope to be, form a fabulous short fiction full of half-hinted backstory and skillfully observed human mannerisms. Salinger shows his mastery over dialogue, filling it with slang and italicizing key words that let the speech pattern fill the mind's ear like music ('It had been three years and she had never stopped talking to him in italics' is a humorous line that connects the written word and the shrill tone of the character).
Unfortunately, these are not the Salinger stories we had all hoped for. If rumor is true, then those should still be forthcoming, but until then (or as a complimentary read to them), Three Early Stories is a worthwhile and insightful look into the development of J.D. Salinger as a writer. There are no Gass or Caulfield members here, but Salinger gives literary wings to human interaction that feels so authentic that it is no wonder he quickly blossomed into the famous author that he became. Plus, this collection features many wonderful illustrations, mostly of people smoking cigarettes (though the illustrator didn't pay close attention, as one illustration features two people smoking side by side with a taller male when the text on the previous page makes special emphasis that the girl was taller than the boy). And until there is more of the inevitable Salinger releases, we still are blessed with the exquisite parodies done by Gordon Lish that had Salinger experts pondering for for a brief time. These stories are simple and short—more cigarettes are smoked in the stories than you could smoke while reading them—and while they are lacking in the depths one would expect, they are still quite the satisfying snack.
3.5/5
¹ A more informative account of the legal voyage to bring this collection to print can be found in this article by Publisher's Weekly.
² A few years back, another Three Stories 'collection' was leaked online, containing the well-worth-the-read story The Ocean Full of Bowling Balls (click the link, you know you want to at least skim it) that was gifted to Princeton University under the solemn promise that they would not publish the story until 2060.
³ Unfortunately, female characters tend to get a bad reputation in the stories here. Two of the three feature weak male protagonists wrestling with what they consider a sneaky agenda of sultry, or attempting to be sultry, females, while the third features a male ordering around his wife “for the good of the extended family.” It’s…not great.
March 13, 2017
من نمیتونم از خوندن سلینجر، حتی خامدستیهای سلینجر لذت نبرم. داستان اول معرکه بود. واج به واجشو باید لمس کنی. توصیفا و تصویرها به شدت دقیق و ناب بودن و دیالوگها، دیالوگهای سلینجری... عمراً دلت برای همچین آدم نازنینی تنگ نشه. چرا نخوای دوتا داستان نپختهشو بخونی؟ من حقیقتاً عذابوجدان گرفتم وقتی فهمیدم سلینجر راضی به انتشار اینا نبوده. ولی خوندن مصاحبههاش و البته مقداری هم یادداشت مترجم، بهم فهموند سلینجر خاکیتر ازین حرفاست و دلگندهتر. جداً دوتا داستان دیگهشم دوست داشتم، یحتمل فوقالعاده نبودن مثل اولی. ولی به هیچوجه داستانهای سطحیای نبودن.
October 4, 2023
سه داستانی که به اندازه ی کافی فرصت شکل گرفتن و عميق شدن پیدا نمیکنن...
داستان اول، با وجود کوتاه بودن روان، غمگین و پر احساسه... و دو داستان بعدی، با اینکه موضوع های جالبی رو دنبال میکنن اما مثه ی طراحی اولیه ی رها شدن که فقط ی زیبایی بهم ریخته ای رو نشون میدن که هدف و مفهوم واقعیشون گنگ باقی موندن...🫠
داستان اول، با وجود کوتاه بودن روان، غمگین و پر احساسه... و دو داستان بعدی، با اینکه موضوع های جالبی رو دنبال میکنن اما مثه ی طراحی اولیه ی رها شدن که فقط ی زیبایی بهم ریخته ای رو نشون میدن که هدف و مفهوم واقعیشون گنگ باقی موندن...🫠
November 15, 2017
شاید ثبت همهی اینها او را از این جا بیرون ببرد. او با هولدن رفت ایتالیا، و با من آمد فرانسه و بلژیک و لوکزامبورگ و قسمتی از آلمان. من طاقتش را ندارم. او این روزها نباید بماند.
از متن کتاب
از متن کتاب
February 10, 2019
I giovani sono tre racconti brevissimi, in tutto circa 45 pagine, scritti da un precocissimo Salinger e poi pubblicati su riviste letterarie americane.
In Italia sono diventati un caso editoriale.
Il Saggiatore li aveva pubblicati nel 2014 ma, pare, senza il permesso degli eredi dell’autore, acquistandone i diritti direttamente da una piccola casa editrice americana che si occupa di dare la caccia a opere letterarie indite.
Gli eredi hanno poi deciso di fare causa al Saggiatore vincendo, ottenendo un indennizzo di circa trentamila euro e soprattutto l’imposizione di ritiro dal mercato italiano e la distruzione di tutte le copie in commercio (per quelle rimaste beh…per chi le possiede che se le tenga ben strette al petto)
Questa la storia editoriale interessante, come lo sono tutte le questioni legate ai diritti d’autore; per inciso le opere di Salinger saranno free solo nel 2080, settant’anni dopo la sua morte (immagino purtroppo che non ci sarò più a meno che, nel frattempo, non inventino la pillola miracolosa, l’elisir di lunga vita, o io non mi faccia ibernare come può succedere solo nei romanzi di Dick)
I tre racconti sfruttano la tecnica (cara anche a a Hemingway) dell’antefatto omesso, si reggono essenzialmente su dialoghi, Salinger è un autore di dialoghi, fatti di parole che però spesso e, in questa raccolta moltissimo, invece di collegare le persone fanno da scollante le separano non solo dagli altri, ma anche da se stessi, diventando strumenti di incomunicabilità.
Non credo comunque che per questi tre racconti sia il caso di gridare al capolavoro, d’altronde la fama di Salinger è anche alimentata dalla sua repentina e mai spiegata decisione di sottrarsi alla pubblicazione e probabilmente alla scrittura tout court.
E Salinger è diventato un po’ il simbolo della sacralità della letteratura onorata dal silenzio
Come se lui avesse deciso di vivere in presa diretta e da protagonista assoluto quella finzione letteraria che aveva immaginato e scritto in realtà per il giovane Holden , la sua creatura letteraria più famosa che in un moto di anarchia, di anticonvenzionale ricerca di solitudine e di ripiegamento in sè ebbe a dire:
Ho pensato che potevo fingermi sordomuto. Così mi risparmiavo tutte le chiacchiere stupide e inutili. Se qualcuno voleva dirmi qualcosa, doveva scriverlo su un foglio e piazzarmelo davanti. Dopo un po’ si sarebbero stancati, e io avrei chiuso con le chiacchiere per il resto dei miei giorni
Lo stesso Salinger si è trasformato nella sua migliore creatura o in un giovane Bartleby della scrittura che un giorno decide di rispondere I would prefer not to - preferirei di no al suo editore, al suo pubblico che gli implorava di uscire da un incompreso silenzio e di scrivere ancora una volta, per loro e per noi lettori, sempre così affamati di parole.
In Italia sono diventati un caso editoriale.
Il Saggiatore li aveva pubblicati nel 2014 ma, pare, senza il permesso degli eredi dell’autore, acquistandone i diritti direttamente da una piccola casa editrice americana che si occupa di dare la caccia a opere letterarie indite.
Gli eredi hanno poi deciso di fare causa al Saggiatore vincendo, ottenendo un indennizzo di circa trentamila euro e soprattutto l’imposizione di ritiro dal mercato italiano e la distruzione di tutte le copie in commercio (per quelle rimaste beh…per chi le possiede che se le tenga ben strette al petto)
Questa la storia editoriale interessante, come lo sono tutte le questioni legate ai diritti d’autore; per inciso le opere di Salinger saranno free solo nel 2080, settant’anni dopo la sua morte (immagino purtroppo che non ci sarò più a meno che, nel frattempo, non inventino la pillola miracolosa, l’elisir di lunga vita, o io non mi faccia ibernare come può succedere solo nei romanzi di Dick)
I tre racconti sfruttano la tecnica (cara anche a a Hemingway) dell’antefatto omesso, si reggono essenzialmente su dialoghi, Salinger è un autore di dialoghi, fatti di parole che però spesso e, in questa raccolta moltissimo, invece di collegare le persone fanno da scollante le separano non solo dagli altri, ma anche da se stessi, diventando strumenti di incomunicabilità.
Non credo comunque che per questi tre racconti sia il caso di gridare al capolavoro, d’altronde la fama di Salinger è anche alimentata dalla sua repentina e mai spiegata decisione di sottrarsi alla pubblicazione e probabilmente alla scrittura tout court.
E Salinger è diventato un po’ il simbolo della sacralità della letteratura onorata dal silenzio
Come se lui avesse deciso di vivere in presa diretta e da protagonista assoluto quella finzione letteraria che aveva immaginato e scritto in realtà per il giovane Holden , la sua creatura letteraria più famosa che in un moto di anarchia, di anticonvenzionale ricerca di solitudine e di ripiegamento in sè ebbe a dire:
Ho pensato che potevo fingermi sordomuto. Così mi risparmiavo tutte le chiacchiere stupide e inutili. Se qualcuno voleva dirmi qualcosa, doveva scriverlo su un foglio e piazzarmelo davanti. Dopo un po’ si sarebbero stancati, e io avrei chiuso con le chiacchiere per il resto dei miei giorni
Lo stesso Salinger si è trasformato nella sua migliore creatura o in un giovane Bartleby della scrittura che un giorno decide di rispondere I would prefer not to - preferirei di no al suo editore, al suo pubblico che gli implorava di uscire da un incompreso silenzio e di scrivere ancora una volta, per loro e per noi lettori, sempre così affamati di parole.
November 20, 2017
از داستان اولش راضيتر بودم..
July 23, 2014
چهار ستاره به خاطر داستان اوّل، به خاطر معصومیت تحمّلناپذیر کنت و بیشتر از همه به خاطر آن سه-چهار خط توصیهاش به وینست:
«... ولی اگه تو میتونی این چیزها رو از خودت دربیاری، چرا یه چیزی از خودت درنمیآری که خوب باشه، میدونی؟ منظورم اینه که کاش یه چیزی از خودت درمیآوردی که خوب باشه. چیزهای خوب هم اتّفاق میافتن. تو میتونی را جع به چیزهای خوب بنویسی، منظورم آدمهای خوب و این جور چیزهاس. ای بابا، وینست!»
سه-چهار خطی که انگار مخاطب اصلیاش خود سلینجر بوده است. او باید این حرفها را از کنت میشنیده. و شنیده که اگر نشنیده بود، تهِ تهِ قصّههاش این معصومیت و این «خوب»ی عمیقِ به ظرافت در قالب کلمات گنجیده موج نمیزد...
همیشه راضی بودم ازش به خاطر این که در قصّههاش بی«طرف» نیست. نظارهگری خنثی نیست که فقط آنچه میبیند را برای من و تو تعریف کند. آنطور که مثلاً کارور یا یودیت هرمان این کار را میکنند. و امروز از همیشه راضیترم. به خاطر پردهبرداری از کنت -یا آنطور که پیشترها باهاش آشنا شده بودیم: الی- با آن حجم از خوبی که هرگز تصویر کردنش از آدمهای بیطرفی مثل کارور برنمیآید.
من هم طرفِ هولدن و کنتام.
«... ولی اگه تو میتونی این چیزها رو از خودت دربیاری، چرا یه چیزی از خودت درنمیآری که خوب باشه، میدونی؟ منظورم اینه که کاش یه چیزی از خودت درمیآوردی که خوب باشه. چیزهای خوب هم اتّفاق میافتن. تو میتونی را جع به چیزهای خوب بنویسی، منظورم آدمهای خوب و این جور چیزهاس. ای بابا، وینست!»
سه-چهار خطی که انگار مخاطب اصلیاش خود سلینجر بوده است. او باید این حرفها را از کنت میشنیده. و شنیده که اگر نشنیده بود، تهِ تهِ قصّههاش این معصومیت و این «خوب»ی عمیقِ به ظرافت در قالب کلمات گنجیده موج نمیزد...
همیشه راضی بودم ازش به خاطر این که در قصّههاش بی«طرف» نیست. نظارهگری خنثی نیست که فقط آنچه میبیند را برای من و تو تعریف کند. آنطور که مثلاً کارور یا یودیت هرمان این کار را میکنند. و امروز از همیشه راضیترم. به خاطر پردهبرداری از کنت -یا آنطور که پیشترها باهاش آشنا شده بودیم: الی- با آن حجم از خوبی که هرگز تصویر کردنش از آدمهای بیطرفی مثل کارور برنمیآید.
من هم طرفِ هولدن و کنتام.
July 5, 2014
Apparently a lot of people haven't gotten the word that the first official and legit J.D. Salinger book in 50 years has been released. But here it is -- Salinger's first two published short stories from 1940 and another story from 1944. In my opinion Salinger showed his great talent from the first. His clever use of dialogue infused with slang and leaving endings ambiguous with little backstory -- these are hallmarks of the singular Salinger style. The book is small in size but is a classy product with nice graphic design, etc. and 10 illustrations that add to the stories. I think this is a must-have addition to the Salinger canon.
July 26, 2022
THE OCEAN FULL OF BOWLING BALLS
rating: 5 stars
reading this story at all is still making me absolutely dizzy with disbelief.
reading the last sentence from this story was a punch to the stomach that i won't recover from.
i'm pretty loud about the fact that i am a massiveeeeeee The Catcher in the Rye fan. it is one of my favorite books of all time and with every reread, i still feel that same embarrassing, shameful sickness of being so known. i will never shut up about the fact that when every other male author in America was writing about soldiers coming back from war and narratives about the "american hero", jd salinger wrote about a 17-year-old traumatized and grieving kid having a nervous breakdown. i still cannot emphasize how radical that was. but honest to god, i literally teared up when holden showed up in this story—it felt like seeing an old family member again after so many years of being apart. this story definitely definitely deserves to be considered one of salingers best, and i still cannot believe that i finally got to read it. sorry salinger but i'm not sorry. poor allie, poor d.b, poor holden, poor caulfield kids :(
BIRTHDAY BOY
rating: 4 stars
PAULA
rating: 3.5 stars
----------
i remember when these stories were leaked back in 2013, and i remember saving them on Microsoft Word in 2014.
out of guilt and my lifelong love for salinger, i never read them because i thought it would mean i was "dishonest" or simply just a bad person; he didn't release them for a reason.
but i can't wait anymore. and what better way to ring in the new year than by reading the secret stories of my favorite author (in addition to it being salinger's birthday!!!). i really, really hope they live up to the mysticism and intrigue after all these years!
i don't know about you, but i'm feeling (20)22! 🎆🎉💕🍾✨
rating: 5 stars
reading this story at all is still making me absolutely dizzy with disbelief.
reading the last sentence from this story was a punch to the stomach that i won't recover from.
i'm pretty loud about the fact that i am a massiveeeeeee The Catcher in the Rye fan. it is one of my favorite books of all time and with every reread, i still feel that same embarrassing, shameful sickness of being so known. i will never shut up about the fact that when every other male author in America was writing about soldiers coming back from war and narratives about the "american hero", jd salinger wrote about a 17-year-old traumatized and grieving kid having a nervous breakdown. i still cannot emphasize how radical that was. but honest to god, i literally teared up when holden showed up in this story—it felt like seeing an old family member again after so many years of being apart. this story definitely definitely deserves to be considered one of salingers best, and i still cannot believe that i finally got to read it. sorry salinger but i'm not sorry. poor allie, poor d.b, poor holden, poor caulfield kids :(
BIRTHDAY BOY
rating: 4 stars
PAULA
rating: 3.5 stars
----------
i remember when these stories were leaked back in 2013, and i remember saving them on Microsoft Word in 2014.
out of guilt and my lifelong love for salinger, i never read them because i thought it would mean i was "dishonest" or simply just a bad person; he didn't release them for a reason.
but i can't wait anymore. and what better way to ring in the new year than by reading the secret stories of my favorite author (in addition to it being salinger's birthday!!!). i really, really hope they live up to the mysticism and intrigue after all these years!
i don't know about you, but i'm feeling (20)22! 🎆🎉💕🍾✨
December 4, 2015
داستان اولش خیلی خوب بود. رد هولدن را که در داستانهای سلینجر میبینم ذوق میکنم.
June 6, 2015
Il primo racconto è fenomenale, il resto un po' meno. Ma stiamo parlando sempre di quella vecchia sagoma di JD Salinger.
February 28, 2023
Prva priča "The Young Folks" mi je najbolja (Peter Bjorn and John playing softly), dijalog između momka i devojke prosto izaziva nelagodu i osećamo se kao da smo na toj zabavi i terasi i želimo da se izvučemo ili pobegnemo iz sopstvene kože.
July 9, 2015
حقيقتاً نمى دونم چرا اينقد سلينجر رو دوس دارم. اين آدم حيف شد كه مُرد ،از تك تك جمله هاش ميشد فهميد كه ذهن اين آدم هنوز پر قصّه ـس .بايد هزار بار ديگه بدنيا بياد بنظرم :>
+ داستان آخرش و خيلى دوس داشتم .8>
+ داستان آخرش و خيلى دوس داشتم .8>
October 27, 2015
اسم کتاب بهتر بود میشد اقیانوسی پر از گوی های بولینگ و بقیه اش رو هم چاپ نمی کردن اصلا. هرچند که اونوقت یه کتاب بیست صفحه ای میشد ولی ارزشش رو داشت. خب حق داشته سلینجر که نخواد چیزایی مثل دو تا داستان آخر چاپ شه. ولی وسواس زیادش بیشتر باعث حریص شدن آدم ها شده و میشه
December 14, 2013
So this is our first taste of what Salinger kept hidden from the world. I have to say, the suspicion that his unpublished works are not good is entirely false, Salinger proves that he remained the master of short story as a form. Let me express my opinion on each of the stories.
"An Ocean Full of Bowling Balls" is obviously the most important story as it is a prequel to "The Catcher in the Rye" and focuses on Holden's brothers and gives an outside view of him as a person too. The story is moving and great and very sad and works as a great complement to "The Catcher in the Rye". I don't know if the story would have the same attraction and impact if read independently from "The Catcher in the Rye" but I don't think it is meant to be read so. A great story. (The only point of confusion is the fact that Allie is named Kenneth in this story, but that's nothing major).
"Paula": Well this one seemed like a first draft rather than a finished and polished story, and that's because it was so. The conceit behind it was also a bit too weird and not executed well enough. The story suddenly changes narrator in the middle and there's a sudden drop. I also didn't understand what it was trying to say. I didn't like this story, that's why I'm giving the book 4 stars and not 5.
"Birthday Boy": On a purely artistic judgment, this is my favorite story of the three. A great human circumstance with a deeply moving and sad condition, with tragic characters and beautiful prose, with minimalistic approach to narration. I loved it, a masterpiece of short story.
"An Ocean Full of Bowling Balls" is obviously the most important story as it is a prequel to "The Catcher in the Rye" and focuses on Holden's brothers and gives an outside view of him as a person too. The story is moving and great and very sad and works as a great complement to "The Catcher in the Rye". I don't know if the story would have the same attraction and impact if read independently from "The Catcher in the Rye" but I don't think it is meant to be read so. A great story. (The only point of confusion is the fact that Allie is named Kenneth in this story, but that's nothing major).
"Paula": Well this one seemed like a first draft rather than a finished and polished story, and that's because it was so. The conceit behind it was also a bit too weird and not executed well enough. The story suddenly changes narrator in the middle and there's a sudden drop. I also didn't understand what it was trying to say. I didn't like this story, that's why I'm giving the book 4 stars and not 5.
"Birthday Boy": On a purely artistic judgment, this is my favorite story of the three. A great human circumstance with a deeply moving and sad condition, with tragic characters and beautiful prose, with minimalistic approach to narration. I loved it, a masterpiece of short story.
July 12, 2015
«حوصلهتان سر رفته. میخواهید کتابی بخوانید ولی حوصلهی رمانی بلند ندارید. در عین حال باید برایتان جذابیت هم داشته باشد. کتابی با قُطرِ کم از نویسندهی محبوبتان پیدا میکنید. سه داستانی که پس از مرگش منتشر شده. احتمالاً خیلی جذابیت ندارند. اگر اشکالی نداشتند خود نویسنده جلوی انتشارشان را نمیگرفت. با این حال ادامه میدهید. با خواندن مقدمه به نکتهای جذاب پی میبرید. داستان اول در واقع پیشدرآمدی است بر بهترین رمانی که تا به حال خواندهاید! ناتور دشت! در ادامه متوجه میشوید که سلینجر گفته بوده این داستان نباید تا پنجاه سال بعد از مرگش (۲۰۶۰ میلادی) منتشر شود! ولی در هر صورت لو رفته. دیگر این که سلینجر که در گوشهگیری پایان عمرش داستانی نوشته که ادامهای بر ناتور دشت است و احتمالاً تا سال ۲۰۲۰ منتشر خواهد شد! دیگر نمیشود ادامه نداد!»
این شد که این کتابو خوندم! داستان اول خوب بود و کاملاً مشخصه که قبل از خود ناتور دشت نوشته شده. چون اسم برادر هولدن، کنث ذکر شده. در حالی که توی ناتور به الی تغییر کرده. اما داستان دوم و سوم به وضوح ناقص و ویرایش نشدهاند. مخصوصاً داستان دوم که آخرش به طور خلاصه اشاره شده که برای شخصیتهای داستان چه اتفاقی میافته. مشخصه که این خلاصه رو سلینجر نوشته که بعداً بسطش بده که این اتفاق ظاهراً هیچوقت نیفتاده. اشتباههای تایپی و تفاوتهای زیادی بین دو نسخهی خطی و چاپی توی این دو داستان بوده که مترجم هم سعی کرده بود امانت رو رعایت کنه و همهاش رو ذکر کنه که کار بدی نیست ولی خواننده رو واقعا گیج میکنه.
این شد که این کتابو خوندم! داستان اول خوب بود و کاملاً مشخصه که قبل از خود ناتور دشت نوشته شده. چون اسم برادر هولدن، کنث ذکر شده. در حالی که توی ناتور به الی تغییر کرده. اما داستان دوم و سوم به وضوح ناقص و ویرایش نشدهاند. مخصوصاً داستان دوم که آخرش به طور خلاصه اشاره شده که برای شخصیتهای داستان چه اتفاقی میافته. مشخصه که این خلاصه رو سلینجر نوشته که بعداً بسطش بده که این اتفاق ظاهراً هیچوقت نیفتاده. اشتباههای تایپی و تفاوتهای زیادی بین دو نسخهی خطی و چاپی توی این دو داستان بوده که مترجم هم سعی کرده بود امانت رو رعایت کنه و همهاش رو ذکر کنه که کار بدی نیست ولی خواننده رو واقعا گیج میکنه.
October 5, 2018
نویسنده بدبخت یه چیزی میدونسته که نخواسته اینا چاپ بشه دیگه
February 8, 2018
J.D. Salinger'ın daha önce yayımlanmamış üç öyküsü 27 Kasım 2013 tarihinde bir dosya paylaşım sitesi tarafından dolaşıma sokuldu. Salinger bu öyküleri yayımlamamakla kalmamış, bir tanesinin ("Bovling Toplarıyla Dolu Okyanus") yayımlanmasını ölümünden elli yıl sonrasına kadar yasaklamıştı. Öykülerin, yazarının rızası hilafına dolaşıma sokulması çok tartışıldı ve bundan sonra da tartışılmaya devam edeceğe benzer. Kimileri bunun yazara karşı bir saygısızlık olduğunu savlarken, kimileri artık hayatta olmayan ve öykülerin yayımlanmasından dolayı zarar görme ihtimali bulunmayan yazarın arzusunun o kadar da önemli olmadığını ileri sürüyor.
Kısa süre öncesine kadar yalnızca belli kütüphanelerin kilitli salonlarında okunabilen üç J.D. Salinger öyküsü, paylaşım siteleri sayesinde hepimiz için ulaşılabilir hale geldi. Tek bir kitapçıkta “Doğumgünü Çocuğu” (1946), “Bovling Toplarıyla Dolu Okyanus” (1947) ve “Paula” (1948), Salinger okurlarına tanıdık gelecek. Özellikle anlatıcısı Çavdar Tarlasında Çocuklar‘dan bildiğimiz Vincent olan “Bovling Toplarıyla Dolu Okyanus”, Caulfield ailesinin temellerinin daha 1945 gibi erken bir tarihte atılmaya başlandığını göstermesiyle Salinger meraklılarının ilgisini çekecektir.
Salinger'in karamsar edebiyat dünyasını yaratan asıl travma, 1945 Nisan’ında Dachau Kampı’na girince gösterecekti çileli çehresini. Heinrich Himmler’in Münih’te polis müdürlüğü yaparken temellerini attığı Dachau, Nazilerin kurduğu ilk toplama kamplarındandı ve savaş boyunca acımasızca kullanılmıştı. Gene de, tren yolunun iki kıyısına gelişigüzel bırakılmış sayısız kadın ve çocuk cesedi, genç yazar açısından o kadar önemli değildi. Zira, en yakın arkadaşlarının yanı başında vurulup öldüğüne tanık olmuştu birkaç ay önce. Buna karşılık, binlerce insanın tahta barakalara kilitlenip canlı canlı yakılabileceğine dair bir ihtimal, her türlü hayale müsait zihninde hiçbir zaman yer bulamamıştı kendisine. Küller arasından çıkan yarı yanmış cesetler, Salinger’ın son direnç noktasını da tarumar etmekte gecikmeyecekti. “Ne kadar yaşarsanız yaşayın, yanmış etin genzinizde bıraktığı o tuhaf kokudan asla kurtulamıyorsunuz” diyecekti yıllar sonra...
Kısa süre öncesine kadar yalnızca belli kütüphanelerin kilitli salonlarında okunabilen üç J.D. Salinger öyküsü, paylaşım siteleri sayesinde hepimiz için ulaşılabilir hale geldi. Tek bir kitapçıkta “Doğumgünü Çocuğu” (1946), “Bovling Toplarıyla Dolu Okyanus” (1947) ve “Paula” (1948), Salinger okurlarına tanıdık gelecek. Özellikle anlatıcısı Çavdar Tarlasında Çocuklar‘dan bildiğimiz Vincent olan “Bovling Toplarıyla Dolu Okyanus”, Caulfield ailesinin temellerinin daha 1945 gibi erken bir tarihte atılmaya başlandığını göstermesiyle Salinger meraklılarının ilgisini çekecektir.
Salinger'in karamsar edebiyat dünyasını yaratan asıl travma, 1945 Nisan’ında Dachau Kampı’na girince gösterecekti çileli çehresini. Heinrich Himmler’in Münih’te polis müdürlüğü yaparken temellerini attığı Dachau, Nazilerin kurduğu ilk toplama kamplarındandı ve savaş boyunca acımasızca kullanılmıştı. Gene de, tren yolunun iki kıyısına gelişigüzel bırakılmış sayısız kadın ve çocuk cesedi, genç yazar açısından o kadar önemli değildi. Zira, en yakın arkadaşlarının yanı başında vurulup öldüğüne tanık olmuştu birkaç ay önce. Buna karşılık, binlerce insanın tahta barakalara kilitlenip canlı canlı yakılabileceğine dair bir ihtimal, her türlü hayale müsait zihninde hiçbir zaman yer bulamamıştı kendisine. Küller arasından çıkan yarı yanmış cesetler, Salinger’ın son direnç noktasını da tarumar etmekte gecikmeyecekti. “Ne kadar yaşarsanız yaşayın, yanmış etin genzinizde bıraktığı o tuhaf kokudan asla kurtulamıyorsunuz” diyecekti yıllar sonra...
June 29, 2024
"I just have my own standards and in my funny little way I try to live up to them." (23)Having read—devoured—all of J. D. Salinger's published fiction a long time ago, I really don't know why it took me so long to discover this collection of three early Salinger stories. It's a somewhat strange publication with a long and rather unsavory history. Basically, this company—the Devault-Graves Agency—shook the literary world by publishing the first legitimate collection of Salinger stories in over 50 years, after they discovered that three of Salinger's stories had fallen into the public domain (apparently unbeknownst to the Salinger estate). They proceeded to copyright the collection as a unique anthology, thus cementing their rights over Three Early Stories and preventing others from publishing the three stories together. The foreign rights question also became messy, with the Devault-Graves Agency filing a suit against the Salinger Trust for allegedly interfering with the book's foreign marketing. The suit was later dropped, but became a significant case in international copyright law. Anyway, the situation now—as far as I can tell—is that there is still only this Devault-Graves edition of Salinger's early stories, in a rather flimsy, printed-on-demand-looking-and-feeling, overpriced volume, which includes some original illustrations (but no indication by whom these were drawn).
The publication history of the stories, then, is almost as enigmatic as the stories themselves. As the title suggests, there are three:
1. The Young Folks (Salinger's first published work, written in 1939 and first appearing in Story Magazine in 1940)
2. Go See Eddie (first published in 1940 in The University of Kansas Review after having been rejected by Story Magazine and Esquire)
3. Once a Week Won't Kill You (first published in Story Magazine in 1944)
The two best stories are the first and last. The Young Folks takes you right into a New York cocktail party scene, where dull conversations and gestures mask deeper anxieties. Once a Week Won't Kill You is the story of a young man who is about to go off to war and tries to convince his young wife to take out his elderly but still sharp aunt to the movies once a week. The least self-sufficient story was Go See Eddie, a brother-sister tale in which a brother tries to convince his sister to get a job and to quit her affair with a married man. It sounds juicy, I know, but it feels more like a sketch or a scene from a novel than a full-fledged story—neither the background not the ending is sufficiently rounded. Be that as it may, there is enough in the story to make it interesting.
October 13, 2018
داستان های این کتاب قرار نبوده که (به این زودی) پخش بشه و سلینجر (اگه خدابیامرز امروز زنده بود) قطعا دعوای حقوقی راه مینداخت که بیا و ببین ولی بهرحال این داستانها توسط یه نفر توی حراج ebay گذاشته شده و الانم که دست ماست. من این اولین کتابیه که از سلینجر میخونم و جذابیت این کتاب بیشتر به خاطر داستان اقیانوسی پر از گوی های بولینگ هست که مقدمه ای بر ناتور دشته. دو داستان دیگه یعنی پائولا و پسری که روز تولدش بود در بهترین حالت خام هستند و معلومه که هنوز آماده انتشار نبودن (شاید بهمین خاطر سلینجر نخواسته منتشر بشن). این امتیاز رو هم بیشتر بخاطر داستان اول به این کتاب میدم. بریم واسه ناتور دشت
September 18, 2014
3.99 star average? I came on here hoping that this bootleg-looking book I got was fake & had nothing to do with Salinger. Shit is trash.
Young Folks - 1.5/10
Go See Eddie - 2.5/10
Once A Week Won't Kill You - 2.5/10
I love Salinger to absolute pieces, but good riddance.
P.S. I don't know if there's any other version besides the one I have, but shit is trash. They leave every left page blank, with the occasional drawing (which are useless & inaccurate - literally the page before one of them, it says Edna (female) is taller than Billy (or whatever his fucking name was - male), then the picture decides to fill the white space with a picture of a male a good half-a-head taller than the chick. Yeesh.) & on top of that have the nerve to count them in the page numbering.
The back of the book says $14.95. Thank God I found this in a library, because I have a tendency of buying Salinger without knowing thing one about it. I will buy his later works when they're released, because there's close to no chance it will be worthless - some stuff better than other stuff, sure, but none of it worthless. This...
Early Salinger indeed.
& P.S.s longer than the review ftw.
P.P.S. I single-handedly brought the average score down by 0.01 points - I like that. But I'm looking at Nine Stories & it's like 4.19...
"She just got up and went back to her dressing table to resume brushing her hair, her thick red hair."
You show me one single line in Nine Stories as fucked up as that. I thought Hemingway was the drunk. I thought LSD was hardly even freakin' invented when these stories were written. Salinger has no excuse. Not one fucking reason for doing what he did.
Young Folks - 1.5/10
Go See Eddie - 2.5/10
Once A Week Won't Kill You - 2.5/10
I love Salinger to absolute pieces, but good riddance.
P.S. I don't know if there's any other version besides the one I have, but shit is trash. They leave every left page blank, with the occasional drawing (which are useless & inaccurate - literally the page before one of them, it says Edna (female) is taller than Billy (or whatever his fucking name was - male), then the picture decides to fill the white space with a picture of a male a good half-a-head taller than the chick. Yeesh.) & on top of that have the nerve to count them in the page numbering.
The back of the book says $14.95. Thank God I found this in a library, because I have a tendency of buying Salinger without knowing thing one about it. I will buy his later works when they're released, because there's close to no chance it will be worthless - some stuff better than other stuff, sure, but none of it worthless. This...
Early Salinger indeed.
& P.S.s longer than the review ftw.
P.P.S. I single-handedly brought the average score down by 0.01 points - I like that. But I'm looking at Nine Stories & it's like 4.19...
"She just got up and went back to her dressing table to resume brushing her hair, her thick red hair."
You show me one single line in Nine Stories as fucked up as that. I thought Hemingway was the drunk. I thought LSD was hardly even freakin' invented when these stories were written. Salinger has no excuse. Not one fucking reason for doing what he did.
July 1, 2014
داستان اول... اندوهِ داستانِ اول، با همۀ پیشزمینهای که از ناتوردشت و هولدن و الی داشتم، باعث شد اشکم دربیاد حتّی. دلم برایِ سلینجر تنگ شده بود. خیلی زیاد. بدم میآد از ریویویِ احساسی نوشتن، به نظرم ریویو جایِ نقدِ فنّی ه حتیالامکان. ولی درمورد این داستان چیزی جز این که باز سلینجر رو بازیافتم و هولدن و الی و دستکش بیسبال الی و اندوهِ کشندۀ داستانهاش و اندوهِ کُشندۀ ناتوردشت رو.
داستان دوم رو دوست نداشتم، همون طور که تویِ یادداشتها اومده بود بسیار خام بود هرچند ایده به شدّت سلینجری بود.
داستان سوم به نظرم بهتر از داستان دوم بود و برخلاف نظر منتقدها میتونست یه داستان کامل قلمداد بشه هرچند ضعیفتر از کارای دیگۀ سلینجر.
گزارشها و مصاحبه و نقدهای تویِ کتاب هم خیلی خوبن.
در مجموع پنج ستاره به داستان اول، دو تا به داستان دوم، سه تا به داستان سوم. :) ولی داستان اول پنج و بیش از پنج...
× پیشهای هست به نامِ سلینجرپژوهی! تصور کنید!
داستان دوم رو دوست نداشتم، همون طور که تویِ یادداشتها اومده بود بسیار خام بود هرچند ایده به شدّت سلینجری بود.
داستان سوم به نظرم بهتر از داستان دوم بود و برخلاف نظر منتقدها میتونست یه داستان کامل قلمداد بشه هرچند ضعیفتر از کارای دیگۀ سلینجر.
گزارشها و مصاحبه و نقدهای تویِ کتاب هم خیلی خوبن.
در مجموع پنج ستاره به داستان اول، دو تا به داستان دوم، سه تا به داستان سوم. :) ولی داستان اول پنج و بیش از پنج...
× پیشهای هست به نامِ سلینجرپژوهی! تصور کنید!
April 14, 2017
God help me if they ever publish my "early stories." You can see Salinger in here, and the things he later did so well. But they are practice.
February 13, 2020
Tre racconti giovanali di J.D. Salinger con la postfazione illuminante di Giorgio Vasta:
- I giovani
- Va' da Eddie
- Una volta alla settimana
È il primo libro di Salinger che leggo. E per alcuni versi la scrittura mi ha richiamato alla memoria quella di Francis Scott Fitzgerald.
Scrive Giorgio Vasta nella postfazione: "In ognuno [dei tre racconti], i personaggi non fanno altro che conversare. Nel primo, la conversazione ha luogo durante un party, più che altro nel tentativo tragicominco di innescare un flirt [...]; nel secondo, il dialogo coinvolge fratello e sorella nella camera da letto di lei [...]; e infine la conversazione innerva le due scene di Una volta a settimana, dove Dickie preparandosi per partire al fronte discute prima con la moglie e poi con la zia."
Il dialogo come riempitivo del vuoto relazionale, un parlare senza ascoltare, per celebrare se stessi e per nascondere la propria solitudine: il dialogo come forma di rumore.
Scrive ancora Giorgio Vasta: "Perché per i personaggi di Salinger conversare significa più di ogni altra cosa accentuare, caricare, ribadire. La lingua, nella sua nuda referenzialità, è troppo fragile e inadeguata; inoltre l’interlocutore sta sempre per svanire e dunque per trattenerlo (ovvero per riuscire a percepirlo, ovvero per farsi da lui percepire) è necessario che le parole si trascendano marcando e alludendo, in una sistematica esondazione del senso (l’«esse est percipi» berkeleyano è per questi personaggi angoscia e movente)."
Tra 3 e 4 stelle
L'intera postfazione di Giorgio Vasta
http://www.minimaetmoralia.it/wp/i-gi...
- I giovani
- Va' da Eddie
- Una volta alla settimana
È il primo libro di Salinger che leggo. E per alcuni versi la scrittura mi ha richiamato alla memoria quella di Francis Scott Fitzgerald.
Scrive Giorgio Vasta nella postfazione: "In ognuno [dei tre racconti], i personaggi non fanno altro che conversare. Nel primo, la conversazione ha luogo durante un party, più che altro nel tentativo tragicominco di innescare un flirt [...]; nel secondo, il dialogo coinvolge fratello e sorella nella camera da letto di lei [...]; e infine la conversazione innerva le due scene di Una volta a settimana, dove Dickie preparandosi per partire al fronte discute prima con la moglie e poi con la zia."
Il dialogo come riempitivo del vuoto relazionale, un parlare senza ascoltare, per celebrare se stessi e per nascondere la propria solitudine: il dialogo come forma di rumore.
Scrive ancora Giorgio Vasta: "Perché per i personaggi di Salinger conversare significa più di ogni altra cosa accentuare, caricare, ribadire. La lingua, nella sua nuda referenzialità, è troppo fragile e inadeguata; inoltre l’interlocutore sta sempre per svanire e dunque per trattenerlo (ovvero per riuscire a percepirlo, ovvero per farsi da lui percepire) è necessario che le parole si trascendano marcando e alludendo, in una sistematica esondazione del senso (l’«esse est percipi» berkeleyano è per questi personaggi angoscia e movente)."
Tra 3 e 4 stelle
L'intera postfazione di Giorgio Vasta
http://www.minimaetmoralia.it/wp/i-gi...
November 10, 2018
سه داستان منتشر نشده از سلینجر که بعد از مرگش و پیشتر از موعد مقرری که خودش گفته چاپ شده. داستانها میتوانستند بهتر باشند اما در واقع خامدستیهای سلینجر بودن که دقیقا برای همین موضوع علاقهای به چاپشون نداشته و جلوی انتشارشون رو هم گرفته
داستان اول بهترین داستان این مجموعه است که اتفاقا پیش درآمدی بر ناتوردشت و شخصیت هولدن است.
داستان اول بهترین داستان این مجموعه است که اتفاقا پیش درآمدی بر ناتوردشت و شخصیت هولدن است.
October 1, 2020
به جز داستان اول بقیش اصلا خوب نبود، یعنی اصلا داستان نبود، انگار یادداشتهای اولیه که قرار بوده طرح یه داستان باشن، که هیچ وقت نشدن
April 24, 2015
«Non è una notte meravigliosa? Prova a fare un respiro profondo.»
Cosa c'è di più rinfrescante della prosa di Jerome D. Salinger? Cosa c'è di più realistico di uno dei dialoghi - così asciutti, così inutili e necessari allo stesso tempo - tra i suoi personaggi?
Mezz'ora. Ecco quanto è durato nel mio currently-reading shelf questo libriccino piccolo ma potente. Giusto il tempo di un viaggetto in treno fino all'università. Altro che i sonnolenti pendolari! I protagonisti di questi tre fantastici racconti mi hanno tenuto compagnia per quel breve lasso di tempo.
Ma perché sono così fantastici? Semplice! (Come la scrittura di Salinger, d'altronde) Sono fantastici perché necessitano solo di una manciata di pagine per catapultarti, come se fossi un impreparato viaggiatore del tempo, negli spazi e tra le parole di questo brillante scrittore; hanno bisogno di poche righe - magari scritte di fretta - per farti provare, anche solo per un istante, ciò che la sua penna ha voluto tracciare.
Ti trascinano insomma, volente o nolente, questi tre racconti, che dietro all'apparente normalità delle conversazioni - spesso prive di effettiva comunicazione - celano ansie, frustrazioni, preoccupazioni interiori. Ed è questo stesso coinvolgimento che mi ha fatto tanto apprezzare anche il masterpiece di Salinger, quel suo Holden che non riuscirà mai a scomparire, nonostante la sua illusoria banalità.
Ora però vi saluto. Corro in biblioteca, dove mi aspettano altri due amici: Franny e Zooey.
Ciaao.
Cosa c'è di più rinfrescante della prosa di Jerome D. Salinger? Cosa c'è di più realistico di uno dei dialoghi - così asciutti, così inutili e necessari allo stesso tempo - tra i suoi personaggi?
Mezz'ora. Ecco quanto è durato nel mio currently-reading shelf questo libriccino piccolo ma potente. Giusto il tempo di un viaggetto in treno fino all'università. Altro che i sonnolenti pendolari! I protagonisti di questi tre fantastici racconti mi hanno tenuto compagnia per quel breve lasso di tempo.
Ma perché sono così fantastici? Semplice! (Come la scrittura di Salinger, d'altronde) Sono fantastici perché necessitano solo di una manciata di pagine per catapultarti, come se fossi un impreparato viaggiatore del tempo, negli spazi e tra le parole di questo brillante scrittore; hanno bisogno di poche righe - magari scritte di fretta - per farti provare, anche solo per un istante, ciò che la sua penna ha voluto tracciare.
Ti trascinano insomma, volente o nolente, questi tre racconti, che dietro all'apparente normalità delle conversazioni - spesso prive di effettiva comunicazione - celano ansie, frustrazioni, preoccupazioni interiori. Ed è questo stesso coinvolgimento che mi ha fatto tanto apprezzare anche il masterpiece di Salinger, quel suo Holden che non riuscirà mai a scomparire, nonostante la sua illusoria banalità.
Ora però vi saluto. Corro in biblioteca, dove mi aspettano altri due amici: Franny e Zooey.
Ciaao.
December 5, 2014
I feel a little guilty reading this, because these stories were never meant to be republished after their original publications in magazines in the 1940s. And worse--with illustrations? Salinger would have HATED this.
So with that in mind, its hard to give this collection of stories a real rating. As a Salinger fan, I give it 5 stars for overall reading experience--the chance to read some of his earlier works is very exciting. They're not nearly as good as some of his later stories (Franny, Bananafish, Uncle Wiggle in Connecticut, etc.), but you can still hear the distinct Salinger voice in them. The last story--Once a Week Won't Kill You--was the best of the three.
The publication itself is pretty poorly put together and I would give it only one star. The illustrations were horrendous, but apparently the rights to these stories was murky and they could only be published with the addition of annotations/educational information or illustrations. I would have preferred the former. Seriously, illustrations?
So with that in mind, its hard to give this collection of stories a real rating. As a Salinger fan, I give it 5 stars for overall reading experience--the chance to read some of his earlier works is very exciting. They're not nearly as good as some of his later stories (Franny, Bananafish, Uncle Wiggle in Connecticut, etc.), but you can still hear the distinct Salinger voice in them. The last story--Once a Week Won't Kill You--was the best of the three.
The publication itself is pretty poorly put together and I would give it only one star. The illustrations were horrendous, but apparently the rights to these stories was murky and they could only be published with the addition of annotations/educational information or illustrations. I would have preferred the former. Seriously, illustrations?
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