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Summary: It left me wanting the big new novel "Seymour"
Review: I could not agree more with the reviewer of July 8,1998 from Cornish N.H.. One would hope that the author, having titled this wounderful piece of work "Seymour: An Introduction" had the intent of writing more and sharing it with all of us! Let's hope that "Seymour" is not long from the vault to the publisher. We all share in that dream.
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Summary: Mr. Salinger. Thanx for the beautiful parenthesis! ((()))
Review: Never have I read a more self-indulgent author and never have I been more entertained! Seymour told Buddy, "I mind getting a rattling good story from you. I want your loot." J.D. Salinger gives you his loot in both of these stories. I finished "Seymour: An Introduction" much the same way I exited my first Roller Coaster ride - scared, breathless and eager to go back again.
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Summary: The most marvelous text in human history
Review: Buddy is the narrator of both the stories in this volume, so we can expect Salinger to stand in for Buddy in most of the pages. I'll declare up front that to me Seymour: An Introduction is the best piece of written text that has been published. The experimental monologue, which borders on the stream of conscience, is marvelously accomplished. The business about the bird watching, and Gog, the attitude (in italics) of it all is so very special, at the same time repellent and endearing. Buddy (and Salinger) is a profound and complex (and profoundly complex) human being, who by definition annoys other people because of his unclassifiable persona, but holds the key to many, many wonderful perspectives about life and God, and how should one take the dissapointments about both.OK, now you can tear this review into pieces, but write to me while you're doing it, and remember to drop a line to Gog, the real flesh-and-bone Seymour, who also happens to be my dog.
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Summary: Is This Just the Precursor to the Big New Novel?
Review: Just a fantasy: What if the rather lengthy "Seymour: An Introduction" is merely the introductory passage to a gargantuan -- perhaps never to be published -- "new" Salinger novel entitled: "Seymour". I can dream. Cant' I?
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Summary: mr. salinger please keep publishing your beautiful stories
Review: Raise High the Roofbeam, Carpenters is a beautiful short story that nearly anybody with any semblance of taste will like. Not much comment needed there. Seymour, however, is different. In every respect. From everything. I suppose that if you aren't already siblings with Seymour and Buddy then you won't like it very much. But if you are! Nowhere else in literature has an author written a book that makes the reader feel like he or she is reading the personal ramblings of his closest friend and confidante. This work is totally unique.
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Summary: Salinger and Kerouac
Review: In the late sixties, just out of High School,I was handed a copy of Franny and Zooey.(should I add that it was beautiful young lady)The craft Salinger displayed in delivering a message so influential in my understanding of Religion,(Christ, Zen etc.) was without peer. Having just retired 21 or so Kerouac novels I felt enlightened. Jack Kerouac provided an appropriate vehicle for what proved to be a generally vicarious lifestyle. Until now. ( Back in a minute) Many associates chose Kerouac as inspiration for their own adventures, I have always admired that. ( The point ) Salinger was so powerful in F.& Z. That I avoided all of his other books for fear of being disapointed. Inspired by a discussion with another beautiful, very intelligent young lady I found myself re-reading F.&Z. and falling in love with it again. This time however, I decided to consume all of Salingers' works. I was amazed at the energy and passion displayed in the first few pages of Seymour. The master of elegant and supremely eloquent sentence structure had found himself delivering Kerouacian run ons and non stop paragraphs with balloon captions in the form of wonderful parenthetical comments and reckless displays of footnotes. What a good time this read was! The spirit of a generation (s) with the emphasis of the soul of a generation (Kerouac, This review doesn't allow footnotes so this will have to do, Kerouac, in "Satori in Paris" mentions a character with Seymour Glass like hands, a wonderful tribute to the humanization of Buddy's description ) (My minutes up) Now as a late forties guy with all the usual complaints recognize the need for the reckless abandon and seek the poetry in all things as outlined by Buddy at forty and pronounced as necessary by Kerouac at 43 (Satori ). In conclusion, The philosophic deliverance in F&Z is continued through the humanity of Seymour. The result is no less inspiring to an adult as it was to a teenager. Read it and enjoy its simplicity and elegance with just the right amount! of appropriate vocabulary to make you appreciate 50's literacy.
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Summary: Seymour a waste
Review: Raise high the roofbeam, carpenters is a very good short story and it is must reading for Salinger fans. Seymour, however, is a different story. This is a tedious, meandering, pointless exercise about nothing whatsoever. The end of the creative line for Salinger.
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Summary: A must read if you like anything Salinger
Review: This book is an excellent follow-up to Franny and Zooey. I'm not sure this can stand alone - so go read Franny and Zooey first then you'll love this book. After you've read this book, then you must read "Bananafish . . ." the first short story in "Nine stories." This will give you more insight into what happened to Semour Glass. All Salinger is excellent stuff. Why do I care so much about the Glass family? Ah, the magic of Salinger.
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Summary: Almost as good as "Catcher"
Review: Although readers who expect Salinger to rewrite Catcher in the Rye will be surprised by this work, it has a magic of its own. Its endearing, complex narrator asks provacative questions and really got me thinking. If you enjoyed Catcher in the Rye and aprpeciate Salinger's writing style, DEFINITELYread this book. For more info on the Glass family, read Franny and Zooey!
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Summary: A History of this NYean Fictional Family
Review: Salinger does a superb job, through his various novels and short stories, of elaborating upon his Glass Family. I really often feel that this is a real family, whatwith all the knowledge of its history and its key players and key dilemmas. Carpenters & Seymour further enunciated in regards to this family. This book should be read once the reader has finished Salinger's other works. It does get dull in parts; there's not much story or plot value, just more and more about Glass Family. This book does redeem itself in that it most certainly was written by Salinger in his purest form.
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