Nine Stories

Re-read in honour of the man's passing in late January.

When I first started thinking that I wanted to be a writer (starting at around 15 or 16), I was at the same time going through a JD Salinger phase, although in retrospect I don't think I really fully understood what I was reading at the time. Regardless, Salinger became my mental model of what “a writer” was, and the contents Nine Stories became (and in some ways, remains) the model of what I thought a short story was supposed to be - a vignette into a person's life that shows a moment of crisis or change, the type of event they'll remember for the rest of their lives.

Usually when I read short story collections, I'm happy if there's just a few stories that I absolutely love. This one's far better than that - they all range from really good to wonderful, all for different reasons.

If Catcher in the Rye was able to capture the internal monologue of a moody teenager going about his day, Nine Stories was able to capture the small every day lives of very different people through natural sounding dialogue and subtext - so much subtext.

It is hard to define a common theme throughout each of these stories, but if there is one thing that kept on appearing - it was subtext. Stories will feel as if they just sort of happen, but it is up to the reader to mine out the meaning from the story which contains so much with so few words. It is rewarding, but it warrants a second read for someone to truly appreciate it. If Catcher in the Rye told a lot about the themes and feelings of the character, Nine Stories showed a lot but does not explain. While these stories were not written at the same time, Salinger's talent as a writer shines through with the economical use of words. Nothing is wasted. With the exception of one, they all almost read like small plays that probably could not be performed due to the sparse amount of description.

Anyways, here are my raw initial thoughts that I took in my year-long journey to read all these stories. Notice how I slowly began to appreciate the style as it went along. Maybe I can revisit these.

Reviews:
1) “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” - interesting story, but way too enigmatic and dialogue based for my taste. The story is gross without bringing attention to it - but not sure what it all meant and didn't walk away wanting to. But good story even if it is so purposely vague 7/10

2) Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut - an interesting short story that is a microcosm of the emptiness of suburbia, but with such an unlikable main character that's a sexist, racist, and an abusive mom. It is an unpleasant read, but it is an interesting one once viewed through a different context. 7/10

3) “Just Before the War... - Gonna be honest, this is way too much subtext that I can't enjoy the text as much as the rest. It was good, but really simple and even the character arc was really simple. It's quaint, but this one isn't mind-blowing even though it was probably the most minimalist story thus far that got its point across. low 7/10”

4) The Laughing Man - this is definitely the worst story so far (imo). Tells a story within a story, but only one of them is interesting and the other is fine - but is told so sparsely (continuing with the plain prose) that it's not engaging. Don't know why these two interconnect with each other either. It's fine I guess, but nothing extraordinary. 6/10”

5) Down at the Dinghy - a sweet story about motherhood and complying with a child's imagination, as naïve as the are, in spite of a society that can be cruel and harsh. The ending was sort of touching in a way - and it didn't go the easy route of conedming prejudice explicitly, but rather subtly. 8/10

6) For Esmé - I feel like I should like this more, but as for every story here thus far, I just don't get the emotional impact. The story is cute, but it's way too simple for me to appreciate it. It's predictable, but executed well - but I've yet to feel an emotion other than “that was a good short story”. 7/10 (but a good one)

7) Pretty Mouth and Green My Eyes - it's a really good story and shows Salinger's talent for writing dialogue that feels authentic. But I can't say much more than that aside from wondering what the message is. On the surface level though, it is a very interesting story that is executed well - but feels like there could have been more to it. 7/10

8) De Damuier-Smith's...

Surprisingly a funny short story about a guy that is pretentious as hell and his ego destroying him. Unlike any of the other stories here, it is not so steeped in subtext and is pretty blunt with how narcissistic the main character is. It's probably my favorite short story out of all these. 8/10


9) Teddy - 10/10

Honestly, this is worth reading all the stories for itself. I would never have expected a philosophical conversation between an 11 year old and a college Professor to be this endearing, engaging, and surprisingly profound without it even being pretentious. Somehow Salinger writes an intelligent young man without it being caricature

And that ending good lord. Awesome story