Nine Stories discussion

“Nine Stories” by J.D. Salinger was truly the most thought-provoking and involved book I have ever read. The book follows a series of nine unrelated stories, all dealing with different kinds of human struggle and how people react to situations in various ways. J.D. Salinger shows off his talent in the books by clearly having each sentence flow smoothly into the next while still having very abstract concepts involved. For example, in the final story “Ted” it follows a brilliant young kid who claims he has been enlightened by meditating and practicing philosophy. Yet at the end of story, it’s believed that Ted kills himself. It’s never actually stated that he did that, but it is implied. A second read will reveal more information as to why it happened, and more things will become apparent and obvious. Little things that may have gone unnoticed, all of a sudden seem vital to the story. A third read will only reveal more, and so on and so forth. The story has incredible amounts of depth and so much is left up to the reader, and so much is open for interpretation. It’s also incredible how each story flows so beautifully still. Each word flows into the next so elegantly while still meaning so much more than what a reader could take at face value. “Ted” is only one of the nine stories that is a great example of Salinger’s talent, all nine are truly great stories. My personal favorite is “Just Before the War with the Eskimos”, because the characters show true signs of being good people without showing stereotypical ways of being nice. Something about how the characters carry themselves make you fall in love with them. All and all I say “Nine Stories” is one of the best books I have ever read and I highly recommend it.