-de causadde
franny and zooey, much like most of salingers work, was plot-less, unconventional , controversial , and downright brilliant .
its one of the many artistic things that cant be ignored at all, you either deeply love it or just loath it.
it is composed of two short storis, franny, and zooey.
I did enjoy zooey more than franny but franny was a lovely introduction to zooey.
it more than anything, in the form of grasping dialoge, present to you a series of difficult question and undeniable points, represented by the glass family, a famly of geniuses.
literally, sky high intelligent quotation, child prodigy, geniuses. who represent to you the world from the perspective of someone intellectually superior.
I think, personally, that yes, it is much more difficult to bare the little flaws of society when you are very intelegnt, but, most of all, we all feel that, we all see what franny sees in peoples inflated ego, wanna be attitudes, and endless desire to obtain certin 'tressures'.
"I mean treasure is treasure, for haven's sake. what's the differance wither the treasure is money,or property, or even culture, or even plain knowledg? it all seemed exactly the same thing to me, if you take off the wrapping and-and it still does! sometimes I think that knowledge- and it knwoledge for knowledg's sake,anyway- is the worst of all, the least excusable, certainly."
and its most frustrating, to want endless things, and to stop and ask our selves, why we even want them.
franny, after being over exposed to the self-superior sense of higher education and the liberal artistic beliefs of the english department, repels from the idea of people basing their whole lives on being constantly admired.
she loathed their ways of dressing and speaking and assuming self worth for the lates book they have read.
she turns to a less known book about a pilgram who travels his country looking for a scholar who would explain to him what does it mean in the bible when it says "pray without ceasing".
franny becomes so incanted and gripped by this book, this book that hold a massage interlay different from the usual literature she is exposed to, the endless babble about love and depression and such things.
the pilgram's books massage was nothing but finding inner peace through this "jesus prayer" for it to be said over and over again until it becomes part of the person.
"the starters tells the pilgrim that if you keep saying that prayer over and over and over again-then eventually what happens, the prayer becomes self-active. something happens after a while. I dont know what, but something happens, and then you're actually praying without ceasing. which has a really tremendous, mystical effect on you'r whole outlook. I mean that's the whole point it, for more or less. I mean you do it to purify your whole outlook and get a new conception of what everything is about."
says franny, insecurly, with manufactured disintrest to lane (her boyfriend), who is much like them all, very 'english department'.
the book later on goes to show you the dark and tragic, the mysterious life of the glass family, Seymour who at 31 killed himself, leaving a Haiku that says " the little girl on the plane/ who turned her dolls hed around/to look at me" and then their is buddy, the self-isolating writer, there is bo bo and the twins and zooey and franny.
over and over, it speaks of the struggles anyone remotely different faces with fitting in, with finding a purpose with understand life.
it channels the ideas of why is it that we want knowledge or society, or culture or even religion.
why?
after pages and pages of raw, unhindered dialoge so realistic and approachable, after living the struggles of zooey and franny in their attempted communication of separate points of views.
we collaboratly come to the realization that:
despite how ugly things and society and egos and pretense, despite their illusion and homeliness, despite the very despicable feeling they stir.
they exist, and we are all a part of it.
I can pretend to write this review cool-ly like most other reviews but I wont.
this book was very very moving to me personally, I also face those who make me wonder why I would ever pursue anything in the arts or attempt to obtain knowledge, they make me wonder why is it so wonderful when it is exclusively being exploited for self-indulging reasons and sheer ego inflation.
"I am not afraid to compete.its just the opposi. dont you see that? I am afraid I will compete- thats what scares me. thats why I quit the theater department. just because I am so horribly conditioned to accept everybody els's values, and just because I like applaus and people to rave about me, doesn't make it right. I'm ashamed of it. I am sick of not having the courage to be an absolute nobody. I am sick of myself and everybody els that wants to make a splash"
zooey, who is just as intelligent as franny, just as good-looking as franny, and has had the same uprbining as franny, who also is an actor, serves as a great adviser to her predicament, having gone through the exact same situation of repellent, and confusion tells her, who has against her advise secretly atended a play if hers, tells her, that she is very talented, and that if she is so intent, to be 'god's actress' that 'what could be prettier'
(I will keep my personal beliefs out of this, but) we have all at one point or another thought of god, but I dont think this was the actual morral of this book, franny glass wasn't looking for god she was looking for peace and content, and not having to live her life on the audience's applause and admiration, especially an audience she dosent like.
the idea is, to be peaceful and content, is to do what one loves regardless, always regardless. to believe that despite objects and peples obvious flaws, its all beautiful, regardless.
"but I'l tell you a terrible secret-Are you listening to me? there isnt anyone out there who isnt Seymour's fat lady. that includes your professer Tupper,buddy. and all his goddam cousins by the dozens. There isn't anyone anywhere that isn't Seymour's fat lady. dont you see that? dont you know that goddamn secret yet? and dont you know-listen to me now-dont you know who that fat lady really is?...ah, buddy. ah, buddy. it;s christ himself, christ himself buddy."
