Rating: 
Summary: I want to be a Glass!
Review: This is the last of Salinger's books that I've read. I certainly liked it better than "9 Stories," which I just really, really couldn't get into, but it doesn't measure up to "Catcher in the Rye" and especially "Franny and Zooey."Any shortcomings the book has rests with the "Seymour: An Introduction" half. This chapter takes forever to start, thanks to Buddy Glass' metafictional ponderings. These are somewhat interesting, but ultimately only weigh down what is already a story that's all characterization with no action. Don't get me wrong: I like "Seymour," particularly once the narrator moves past his delight with his own intelligence. There just seems to be an awful lot of wasted words in that section. "Raise High the Roof-Beam, Carpenters" is a much more straightforward story, instantly enjoyable and along the lines of "Franny." Both stories contribute to the reader's understanding of the magnificent Glass family, and, in particular, the life and eventual death of Seymour. I still don't fully understand why he did what he did, though. That may be my problem, not Salinger's.
Rating: 
Summary: Rediscovering literary magic
Review: I have, as most Salinger fans, been fascinated by his literature since my formative teenage years. Catcher In The Rye is the only book in high school I ever bothered to read twice. And it was not so much because of some sort of personal identification with the Holden Caulfield character. It was deeper. It was all about style with me. I could not then, and still cannot, get over the piercing conversational and introspective tones that dominate Salinger's work. How did he get us so interested in a fictional family anyway? Raise High The Roofbeams Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction is one of the few texts I can read over and over and still get something new out of. I can't explain it. I don't know how many times I have started thumbing through Seymour: An Introduction and started reading a passage that I could swear I've never seen before. My memory can't be that bad. I think what it is really, is Salinger's ability to create a text that can be rediscovered many times by the same reader. I don't believe he planned it that way, but his work does indeed stand up with the great literature of the 20th Century. From adolescents to geriatrics, I believe all of us can identify with some part of his work and enjoy it for what it is: Classic, timeless, and something different for everyone.
Rating:
Summary: Great for those who care
Review: Before reading "Raise High The Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour an Introduction" I recommend that one first read two of Salinger's earlier publications. His short story, "A Perfect Day For Banana Fish" (located in "Nine Stories") because the actions of the elder Glass sibling, Seymour, is important to the other publications involving the Glass family. I then advise one to read "Franny and Zooey" which will give you a better feel for (and hopefully) get the reader interested in the Glass family. Then if the reader really cares about the Glass family (Seymour in particular) it is then worthwhile to read "Raise High the Roof Beam,..." because if one does not care they will find this book boring at best. The first part "Raise High The Room Beam, Carpenters" is not the part a casual reader would find tiresome, because of its similarity to "Franny and Zooey" in the its feel. But, the second part "Seymour and Introduction" may be harder to swallow. It lacks the plot and focus the first part contains and has virtually no dialogue between two characters. It is basically Buddy introducing Seymour (how self explanatory) and that is it, although if one is intrigued by Seymour they will find this part quite enlightening. Even though I am a Salinger fan I can't help but feel disappointed at the end of this book. Not because I didn't enjoy this book, but because there is nothing more for me to read about this family. These characters and this family feel real to me and I want to know what else they have accomplished. But I respect Salinger's choice to quit while he was ahead.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely my favorite book
Review: No one that I've recommended Raise High the Roofbeam, Carpenters to has been disappointed. Really funny, interesting, and sad all at the same time. If you like J.D. Salinger I can't imagine how you won't like this. A lot of people I've talked to have said that they started "Seymour: An Introduction" but didn't finish it because they thought it was too dense or they didn't like it for some other reason, but I highly recommend reading it because I think it is his best work. The fact that they both come together is great. With the low price and the fact that the book can fit in a larger pocket easily, there's no reason not to buy this.
Rating:
Summary: only because all of your stars are out & for no other reason
Review: Both of these stories were beautiful, beautiful beautiful. It baffles me to read all of these reviews written by people who were wild about "Raise high..." and almost indifferent toward "Seymour:" I feel that Seymour was the single most important book out of the Glass series. Yes, it's difficult to get through the first time, because, as Buddy says, the General Reader's most immediate want is to "see the author get the hell on with his story," which Buddy doesn't do because, really, there is no "story." However, if you are the type of person who can sit still long enough to follow through with Buddy's run on sentences and footnotes, et cetera, you will find, tucked in several places throughout the story, "the good, the real," the holy. I've read this book about 5 times, and I can't help walking around dazed for days after I'm through with it, marvelling at the tiny things that have suddenly taken on a sort of surreal beauty. My personal Salinger favorite. -Bridgdawg@aol.com
Rating:
Summary: The next step
Review: After having read all of Salinger's currently available works (obviously many will be published upon his death) except for this one, I found it incumbent upon myself to finish the J.D. Salinger tour with this two story compilation that seemingly concludes (at least for now) the enthrallingly enigmatic, not to mention neurotic, Glass family. While both are told via Buddy's first person narrator perspective, Raise High the Roof Beam is a far superior effort, although I must admit that I thoroughly enjoyed Seymour: An Introduction as well -- just not as immensely as its predecessor. After reading both, one seems to learn a great deal more about Buddy, Boo Boo, Les and Bessie, Walt, and Franny & Zooey than Seymour himself. Buddy admittedly refuses to delve into the years immediately prior to Seymour's suicide(deftly written in A Perfect Day for Bananafish), but rather touches solely on his youthful years while starring on "It's A Wise Child." This book is worth the price alone due to the profound Taoist tale Seymour told Franny when she was a baby -- as well as Buddy's hilarious blowup at the insufferably annoying Matron of Honor. "My atoms, moreover, are arranged to make me constitutionally inclined to believe that where there's smoke there's usually strawberry Jello, seldom fire." - Buddy
Rating:
Summary: Great for those who care
Review: Before reading "Raise High The Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour an Introduction" I recommend that one first read two of Salinger's earlier publications. His short story, "A Perfect Day For Banana Fish" (located in "Nine Stories") because the actions of the elder Glass sibling, Seymour, is important to the other publications involving the Glass family. I then advise one to read "Franny and Zooey" which will give you a better feel for (and hopefully) get the reader interested in the Glass family. Then if the reader really cares about the Glass family (Seymour in particular) it is then worthwhile to read "Raise High the Roof Beam,..." because if one does not care they will find this book boring at best. The first part "Raise High The Room Beam, Carpenters" is not the part a casual reader would find tiresome, because of its similarity to "Franny and Zooey" in the its feel. But, the second part "Seymour and Introduction" may be harder to swallow. It lacks the plot and focus the first part contains and has virtually no dialogue between two characters. It is basically Buddy introducing Seymour (how self explanatory) and that is it, although if one is intrigued by Seymour they will find this part quite enlightening. Even though I am a Salinger fan I can't help but feel disappointed at the end of this book. Not because I didn't enjoy this book, but because there is nothing more for me to read about this family. These characters and this family feel real to me and I want to know what else they have accomplished. But I respect Salinger's choice to quit while he was ahead.
Rating:
Summary: I want to be a Glass!
Review: This is the last of Salinger's books that I've read. I certainly liked it better than "9 Stories," which I just really, really couldn't get into, but it doesn't measure up to "Catcher in the Rye" and especially "Franny and Zooey." Any shortcomings the book has rests with the "Seymour: An Introduction" half. This chapter takes forever to start, thanks to Buddy Glass' metafictional ponderings. These are somewhat interesting, but ultimately only weigh down what is already a story that's all characterization with no action. Don't get me wrong: I like "Seymour," particularly once the narrator moves past his delight with his own intelligence. There just seems to be an awful lot of wasted words in that section. "Raise High the Roof-Beam, Carpenters" is a much more straightforward story, instantly enjoyable and along the lines of "Franny." Both stories contribute to the reader's understanding of the magnificent Glass family, and, in particular, the life and eventual death of Seymour. I still don't fully understand why he did what he did, though. That may be my problem, not Salinger's.
Rating:
Summary: Quickly. Quickly and Slowly
Review: Truly, what a wonderful final publication for Salinger. While many might argue the point of Salinger's work being over-hyped, it is just that which makes ALL of Salinger's work really, under-estimated. Criticisms ran aloft when Carpenters/Seymour first came out (read the absolutely cruel New Yorker review) but this collection of short stories truly is wonderful art. Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters is a wonderfully constructed story, with each part leading beautifully into the next. However, it reads almost like any other Salinger story (which is not by all means a bad thing). It is with Seymour: An Introduction that J.D. really mesmerizes, totally disregarding most any kind of story-telling guidelines. He rambles on and on, and never really stops, but it is within this incessant rambling that its true wonder lies. Deep with compassion, often funny and full of wisdom, I think I can safely say that it is like nothing you will ever read. Like all Salinger work, its first impact might be that of a disastrous nonlinear tale (the New Yorker review suggested the title be Seymour: A Disaster) and in a way its as if Salinger was a "seer" in that he predicted there'd be those readers who'd wish he would just "get the hell on with the story". However, those readers patient and allowing enough to let the many layers unravel themselves will be justly rewarded.
Rating:
Summary: Better than, by all rights, it ought to be
Review: This was my first exposure to Salinger, and I was suitably impressed. "Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters" is a charming and sometimes poignant little anecdote which struck me as being a little Wodehousian in its style. The little old man alone is enough to make it a candidate for masterpiecehood. "Seymour" is, as advertised, a "bouquet of very early-blooming parentheses," full of one after another of what could be called digressions were it not for the absence of a main point from which to digress. But, for all its rambliness and self-indulgence (something along the lines of Nabokov's "Pale Fire," I think), it's hard to put down. If there's a weakness, it's that both stories seem to end a little prematurely. You're reading along and then suddenly the story's over, leaving you with the impression that, had you not been paying attention, you could easily have read right past the ending without noticing it. Overall, though, this is an excellent book. I managed to escape the near-inevitable high school reading of "Catcher in the Rye," but after reading this book I've decided to go back and correct that omission.
| 
