The Heart of a Broken Story

by J.D. Salinger

Relato publicado en septiembre de 1941 en Esquire magazine y traducido por Javier
Marías para Poesía n.º 29, otoño-invierno de 1987.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1941

About the author

Librarian 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.

Reviews

[Alberto Martín de Hijas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cuento sobre posibilidades nunca realizadas e historias de amor que no son imposibles porque nunca llegaron a ser. Muy bueno.

[Marisol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Relato corto escrito por J.D. Salinger, con un título sumamente evocador, El corazón de una historia quebrada.

La imposibilidad de que algo ocurra, aún cuando sea el tema de una historia, está dictada por los personajes, seres creados con un fin, pero que si llegan a cobrar vida no siempre son capaces de hacer o reaccionar al gusto o necesidad del escritor.

Bajo esta premisa, está puede resumirse como una historia de amor que nunca ocurrió.

La genialidad del escritor plasmada en unas pocas páginas.

[Chien-Han Su · Rating 2 out of 5]

"There are some people who think love is sex and marriage and six o’clock-kisses and children, and perhaps it is, Miss Lester. But do you know what I think? I think love is a touch and yet not a touch."

我是看上列這一段摘文才找原始全文來看的，不過原始全文只是六頁的小故事而已，並不是書，而且上述的告白在情節鋪陳之中也並不如字面上那麼浪漫。如果以女生的視角來看的話，大概會覺得有點荒謬吧，比如這個「搶走心儀對象錢包為此而坐牢飯時，寫信向對方告白並認為對方有機會會因此原諒甚至與自己相愛」，這肯定就不是女作者而是男作者才寫得出來並且不會感覺到有異的內容。以內容來說，我認為還是有他的趣味所在，但前提是做好準備以男生的視角來看這部小品。

[Xialin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a book but a short story. I read a quote on the Internet and decided to take a quick look.
"There are some people who think love is sex and marriage and six o’clock-kisses and children, and perhaps it is, Miss Lester. But do you know what I think? I think love is a touch and yet not a touch."
The Chinese translation is even better:
"但你知道我怎么想吗?我觉得爱是想触碰又收回手."

[Tingfang · Rating 4 out of 5]

“爱是心之所向，然身犹未往。”

[тая]

и сколько таких историй ещё произойдёт с тобой / мной / нами?
я хочу перечитать эту историю спустя года. пока что, пожалуй, она просто оставляет меня с трепетом, смешанным со страхом, что однажды я вот так же что-то просто не сделаю, хотя могла бы. старый любимый fomo в лучшей ипостаси.
а ещё такая грусть и тоска от концовки

[Julieta Ernesto · Rating 4 out of 5]

muy bueno

[Paige Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A rare romantic (though focused heavily on physical attractiveness) short story from Salinger. A printer’s assistant falls for a moderately younger stenographer student. He tries to talk her up on a commute but she’s as cold to his benign small talk as winter. Bizarre fantasizing on how to achieve this: faint at her feet and rip her sock so she remembers him, steal her purse and get imprisoned so he can write love letters on why he needed her attention so badly. Absolute silliness when he seriously considers how this would play out: the girl ignoring him, him stuck in a riot, getting threatened to be beat to a pulp, almost being sniped by guards. He decides to be honest and write the girl he’s an ugly, lonely failure and she’s keen on it, saying she’s really not so shallow or attractive. A very “nice guys” meme scenario.

[Neoralisa Medrano · Rating 2 out of 5]

J.D. Salinger nos muestra la genialidad de su escritura con este relato, pero lamentablemente, no pude conectar con él. El inicio es bueno y el relato también lo es, pero no es nada más. Sencillamente es la historia de varios ¿y qué hubiera pasado sí...? Aquí, J.D. Salinger nos muestra varias vertientes de una historia chico-conoce-chica que no sale como esperas y nos explica el porqué. A decir verdad, no creo que vuelva a releer este relato. Fue un relato más y ya.

[Jessi]

hopeless romantic trendy 小红书 quotes
“我觉得爱是想触碰又收回的手。”
really didn't expect j d salinger to be the origin of this
taken out of context and overly used online makes it sound cringey so I will read the short story and judge
also love is so abstract my theory is that you can literally make a "love" analogy out of any object
“爱是冬天的初雪。你从天而降来代替了我原本黯淡无光的存在。” yeah no.

[Saul Souto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hermoso cuento, nos va llevando por muchas posibilidades, hasta llegar a... (interesante). Gran escritor Salinger, y éste está traducido por Javier Marías, doble maravilla. Recomendable. Se lee en unos minutos. Espero volver a leerlo.

[Dara Catú · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Hay alguna gente que cree que el amor es sexo y matrimonio y besos a las seis y niños, y tal vez sea así, Miss Lester. Pero ¿sabe lo que creo yo? Creo que el amor es un chispazo y sin embargo no es un chispazo".

Es una historia súper cortita pero a la vez con tanto sentimiento... 🤍

[Alehli Renteria · Rating 4 out of 5]

«Desde que llegué a Nueva York hace cuatro años no he sido infeliz, pero tampoco he sido feliz. Más bien, la mejor manera de describirme es decir que he sido uno de los millares de jóvenes de Nueva York que se limitan a existir.»

[Shudi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very bizarre short story. The quote from this book went viral on Chinese Twitter so I wanted to check what story this is and I don't know whether I actually like it or not after reading it...

[iethan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love is a touch but yet not a touch, I hope eventually two hands would hold firmly when love comes

[Sal · Rating 5 out of 5]

"In a boy-meets-girl story the boy should always meet the girl."

What a witty and wonderful fun quick read.

[娅娅 · Rating 5 out of 5]

“In a boy-meets-girl story the boy should always meet the girl”, 爱是一场神迹降临。

[Macarena · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I’d like you to take a second look at me. I’d like to be sure that you didn’t catch me at a phony best."

Simply beatiful.

[Lucy · Rating 3 out of 5]

lmao....so he just didn’t want to write a story? im 🤣🤣🤣

[Marux · Rating 5 out of 5]

🥺💔 cute

[Sílvia Désire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leed, pero sobretodo leed a Salinger

[Francisco Torres · Rating 4 out of 5]

Breve historia de lo que debió ser, una historia de un chico que conoce a una chica

[Ludovico von Karma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sublime. No hay más palabras. Amé la narración de Salinger en este libro. Casi que iguala a El Guardián Entre el Centeno (en mi opinión).

[豆儿 · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Love is a touch yet not a touch” alone deserves a five star. The Chinese translation is even more poetic: 愛是想觸摸又收回的手。

[Qin Li · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many people quote this story, especially the part "Dear Miss Lester...", and think they are talking about love. I won't say that I understand everything in this story. But I think it's a satire to mock the unrealistic bs love stories that people believe in. Also, it's originally published in the satire section, in esquire magazine. haha

[bluemoon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the story very long ago. And this is my third time rereading the book. It's a short story and I mean like I don't really know what to talk about it, but there's one thing I know for sure is the vibration when reading this line:

Loving you is the important thing, Miss Lester. There are some people who think love is sex and marriage and six o’clock-kisses and children, and perhaps it is, Miss Lester. But do you know what I think? I think love is a touch and yet not a touch.

It's just so touching, and there's no woman, at least me, can decline this kind of affection.

[Vanja · Rating 5 out of 5]

''I loved the way your lips were so slightly parted. You represented the answer to everything to me. I haven't been unhappy since I came to New York four years ago, but neither have I been happy. Rather, I can best describe myself as having been one of the thousands of young men in New York who simply exist.''

Now, that's the way for a boy to approach a girl.
Amazing.
And narrated by Mr. Salinger himself.

[Sheri-lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this on online in the Esquire Archives. It was laid out in the magazine format with the cartoon drawings, etc. Men of the 40's. Ha.

[吕不理 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love is a miracle.

[Insouciance · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of thoughts behind the absence of action.

Brought by this sentence:
"There are some people who think love is sex and marriage and six o’clock-kisses and children, and perhaps it is, Miss Lester. But do you know what I think? I think love is a touch and yet not a touch."