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Summary: Raise High the Roofbeam, Carpenters
Review: I have reviewed Seymour: An Introduction previously. This review is to celebrate the story Raise High the Roofbeam, Carpenters. This story was published in 1955 in the New Yorker. It is a highly inclusive account of Seymour's wedding day in 1942. The details of the wedding are served up with a fullness possibly just short of presenting the reader with a sherbet mold of each and every wedding guest's footprint to take home as a souvenir.
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Summary: Another look at the Glass family
Review: While it took JD Salinger only one work, his immortal classic, The Catcher in the Rye, to thoroughly explore the trials and tribulations of young underachievers, the popular author needed several novellas and short stories to examine the more multifaceted hardships of young overachievers. For the last few years of his publishing career, Mr. Salinger narrated important episodes in the lives of the Glass children, a group of seven gifted siblings, all of whom appeared on a "It's a Wise Child," a nationally syndicated radio program that started as a quiz show for kids but soon developed into a forum for precocious youngsters. Two fractions of the Glass story are collected in Raise High the Roof Beam Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction. In the further, Buddy Glass, the second-to-oldest Glass child, recounts an incident that occurred on the wedding day of his older brother, Seymour (who commits suicide in Mr. Salinger's masterpiece of short fiction, "A Perfect Day for Banana Fish," an event that resonates through the subsequent Glass chronicles) in which he finds himself in a taxi with the hypercritical bridesmaid and her husband, bringing him face-to-face with how ordinary people view his family and his eccentric older brother. In the latter, Buddy ramblingly muses about Seymour's dispositions. Raise High the Roof Beam Carpenters is an insightful look at how the exceptional are treated in a rigid, conformist society and an excellent of example of Mr. Salinger's dazzling ability to conjure singular situations that expose profound, hidden truths about his characters. Seymour: An Introduction, however, is an unfocused, long-winded, apologetic mess. The first section is excellent but the second is woefully unnecessary. Still, Mr. Salinger should be granted applause for exertion alone for each of his attempts to explain these convoluted characters who rarely lend themselves to simple explanations.
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Summary: Let's believe in this book
Review: Is this book good? Yes. Some people believe that Salinger is overrated, that he props his popularity by playing at the recluse, and that if he were to continue to write in the open, his reputation would have long since diminished. But that's forgetting about his text. Take this book, "Raise High/Seymour," as an example. Admittedly one of his lesser works, the novellas within still show unique story construction, and both create a realistic sense of emotion. First, the emotion. Salinger had no brothers, and no one in his family committed suicide. And Salinger in no way resembles his narrator, Harry Glass, in real life. Salinger's own family was not large, nor bustling, nor eccentric like the Glass family. But the way Salinger brings such "authentic" emotion to Harry Glass, I'm sure not a few readers have scrambled around looking for a book of haikus by an author named "Salinger." That speaks to Salinger's technique and his ability to make his characters genuine. The construction is subtler. "Raise..." is easier on the reader, has loads of dialog and a story arc. What makes "Raise..." especially cool is that it's a story about the narrator's brother, Seymour - and Seymour never appears in the story! And there's little direct exposition - that lengthy narrative discourse describing a character out of the narrative, or off-stage. The story is created in action, in plot, in character dialog. The reader is always grounded in the scene. It's classic writing, and rarely seen nowadays. "Seymour: An Introduction" is a bit tougher to swallow. An optimist would say it's similar to Faulkner's "Absolom! Absolom!" in its frantic need to get the story out, even at the expense of flow, grammatical principles, and the reader. But Faulkner had a spooky way to get under the skin, even with two-page sentences. With "Seymour...," Salinger forces us to wade through Harry Glass' obfuscation to get to the good stuff, the little nuggets of concrete description of Seymour. At best, this style reinforces the emotional impact of the narration. It's written as if Harry Glass can't bear to dwell on his brother without doing everything possible to avoid talking about him. At worst, it's nonsensical drivel. But let's give Salinger the benefit of the doubt and call this a great book. Not for the author's sake, of course: he's a selfish, hateful man full of demons. But let's do it for ourselves, and choose to believe in greatness.
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Summary: Gross indulgance
Review: This is a horrible book. This is a rant, an exercise on the way to finding character before actually writing a thoughtful novel. This is someone with a literary license to do anything he pleases. Catcher in the Rye and Nine Stories justifiably categorize Salinger as a great writer, but this is a long, dull sketch with no tangible emotion. If I wrote this, it would get published nowhere. Anyone that likes this knows nothing about writing.
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Summary: A Time Machine
Review: Scents act on me like a time machine; I'm not alone, as I discovered years ago when the National Geographic, of all entities, did a survey/study on the whole phenomenon. One whiff of something and I'm practically molecularly transported to the time I unconsciously associate with that scent. WHAT does this have to do with "Raise High the Roof Beam Carpenters"? This books does the same thing to me. I've never experienced such extraordinarily atmospheric writing. Of course "Catcher in the Rye" gets all the glory, and it is certainly a strange magic carpet ride in its own right. (Happy Fiftieth Birthday, by the way, Catcher in the Rye!) Still, I wish more people knew of the incredible "Raise High the Roof Beam Carpenters". Buy this book!
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Summary: I don't know where to begin
Review: All of Salinger is amazing, but there's something particularly good about this novel, perhaps it is slightly different from the rest. The first part, Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters may seem like a humourous short story full of "50s jargon" to some readers who cannot see beyond the surface. Yes, it is an amusing story, but there is so much behind it. The laughter and the jokes are there, how could they not be? However, the issues, and the deeper meaning hardly have to be searched for, because Salinger is the god of literature. It's clearly laid out, but the unsuspecting eye may miss it. Seymour is rather candid, but funny, and still with that deeper meaning. This novel is yet another of Salinger's amazing works. I would recommend it to those who simply want a good laugh, but especially those who are capable of seeing what is not always said in this author's works.
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Summary: My Favorite!
Review: This books turns me into an insomniac every time I read it -- I just can't stop thinking about writing, and wanting to meet the mysterious Seymour. Of all Salinger's works, this is my favorite (especially Seymour: an introduction). Salinger's gloriously rebellious style is captivating and makes me want to become an author myself. It's a little daunting at the start, but it is well worth reading, even for a second or third time.
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Summary: Half of a great book
Review: Do NOT miss "Carpenters". It is one of the greatest novellas from the 1950's and Salinger is in great form for this one. It is funny, touching, beautiful. "Seymour" is a failure, though. Supposedly an introduction to a novel which never saw the light of day, it is long, boring, plotless, rambling, self-conscious and self-absorbed to the point of being a waste of time.
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Summary: WRITING STYLE EXCELLENT--RETROSPECT TO THE 50'S
Review: This was a book written to enjoy. Seymour was an eccentric person, but loved by family and those who understood him. I enjoyed and found humor in Raise High the Roof Beam Carpenters. I liked the 50's jargon he used (vocabulary of the day), his writing style. For example, on p 43 'buffaloed' is used (I laughed & laughed). I don't/never used this jargon/language and it was charming reading it. Also, as most authors of this era (40--50's) wrote about characters (the detailed descriptions of their physical appearances/clothing worn/personalities). It seems a lot of women of the 50's are portrayed as plump/overbearing/some simpletons/some bright). Of course, there's always the pretty, petite heroines who are intelligent, sweet, charming, courageous, and perfect. I didn't like the bantering of An Introduction to Seymour until p. 191 when we finally visualize an image of Seynour's physical traits narrated by Buddy. I enjoyed the descrptions of his antics, his hands and nose (pp 212--214). Of course, I like the description of his clothing.
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Summary: Not Salinger's best
Review: This is a good book, but my least favorite by Salinger. The first section, "Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters" is a great story, but "Seymore: An Introduction" is easily my least favorite thing Salinger ever wrote. It's basically just 120 pages of rambling - there are a few interesting parts, but through most of it, I just felt like screaming at Salinger to stop rambling (and to stop apologizing for rambling) and to just tell the damn story.
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