salinger, etc.
19.07.20 | 7:00 pm
i just finished my reread of nine stories for the first time in so many years, and actually, i fell in love again with "a perfect day for bananafish" (my original favorite, so that's to be expected), but then, i was punched in the gut by "uncle wiggily in connecticut," and felt so weirdly seen somehow by "de daumier-smith's blue period," but then, but THEN, i read the last story of the whole collection, "teddy," which i had completely and wholly forgotten, and when i got to the very last paragraph, when i finish the story, i made an AUDIBLE noise, something along the lines of "UGH," but not out of disgust, more so out of how brilliant that story is and how brilliantly written it is. honestly, i'm always amazed that he got famous from catcher in the rye, because his real talent, i think, lies in his short stories.
anyway, i can't wait to read "raise high the roofbeams, carpenters" and "seymour: an introduction" next, and then franny and zooey.
wow, the honest to god pleasure you can get from reading! i feel, legitimately, invigorated. ready to talk literature with anyone who will hear me. i told my whole family they should read this story even though they never will, and that's okay too. god, i miss literature classes.
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farid sent me a voice message today. when i sent him one back, he sent another with the full first thirty seconds talking about how much my french has improved and how much more fluently i speak now. i just really like those moments, that's all.