Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction

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Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction

by J.D. Salinger

4.10 · rating details · 14,372 ratings · 696 reviews

The author writes: The two long pieces in this book originally came out in The New Yorker ? RAISE HIGH THE ROOF BEAM, CARPENTERS in 1955, SEYMOUR ? An Introduction in 1959. Whatever their differences in mood or effect, they are both very much concerned with Seymour Glass, who is the main character in my still-uncompleted series about the Glass family. It struck me that the...more

Hardcover, 248 pages

Published January 30th 1963 by Little Brown and Company (first published 1963)

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Oct 06, 2008

Paul rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: short-stories-are-your-friends, to_reread

In retrospect it's a great shame The Carpenters missed their golden opportunity to release a single called "Raise High the Roof Beam".

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Mar 07, 2007

Rolls rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: Salinger completists

Anyone who read my review of Salinger's "Nine Stories" knows I love this man's work to death. I've read and enjoyed "Catcher in the Rye" and "Franny and Zooey" a whole hell of a lot too. I picked this up with a heart filled with admiration and optimism. Well that optimism was dashed upon the rocks of Salinger's self-indulgence and apparent disregard for his readers.

This book compiles two short stories first published in the New Yorker and are the final t...moreAnyone who read my review of Salinger's "Nine Stories" knows I love this man's work to death. I've read and enjoyed "Catcher in the Rye" and "Franny and Zooey" a whole hell of a lot too. I picked this up with a heart filled with admiration and optimism. Well that optimism was dashed upon the rocks of Salinger's self-indulgence and apparent disregard for his readers.

This book compiles two short stories first published in the New Yorker and are the final two entries in Salinger's Glass family saga. "Raise High the Roofbeams, Carpenters" focuses on Buddy Glass and his trip to his brother Seymour's wedding. "Seymour: an Introduction" again finds Buddy downstage center and is his way of coming to terms with his brother's memory through literature.

Like "Franny and Zooey" we are served up first a good story followed by a not so good story. However where "Zooey" was rambling and a tad unfocused it was at least a short story. "Seymour" on the other hand is a goddamned mess. It reads like the notes an author would take down before actually starting the job of composition. For every sentence of quality and clarity there seem to be pages upon pages of self-indulgent masturbation. This makes for an interminable and ultimately frustrating read.

It's starts off promisingly though. "Raise High the Roofbeams..." is a delight. It is a comically poignant trip into the past. Buddy Glass getting over a bout of pleurisy in the camp hospital must get to New York and be the only family member at his brother Seymour's wedding. What follows is typical Seymour not to mention Salinger. As usual the characters are so well observed and vividly presented we can practically smell them. There is the usual masterful blending of the serious and the comic. Salinger doesn't so much write a story as create a world that he allows us to visit for a spell.

The greatest reward of course is getting to spend a few more moments with a member of the Glass family. In reading over all of Salinger's writing in the last few months I've become almost as obsessed with reading about them as Salinger is writing about them. That's why I thought despite warnings that I could indeed read and enjoy "Seymour." However it's total disregard for it's readers enjoyment almost dispelled the warm glow I felt after reading "Raise High the Roofbeams..."

So unless you have absolutely nothing better to read or do and you are a completist avoid "Seymour" like grim death.

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Nov 06, 2011

Jacob rated it

Shelves: 2009

10/8/2009: So basically, I’m waiting for Salinger to die.

I don’t mean that maliciously. Really. I bear no ill will towards the man, and I’d wish him a long and pleasant life as a hermit, full of good health and completely lacking in the company of stupid humans--except, well, he’s already had his. The old man is ninety, slowly doddering his way to ninety-one. Hasn’t published in decades. No one’s seen him in years; he doesn’t even yell at those durn kids to get off his lawn beca...more

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Jun 17, 2008

Joshb rated it

· review of another edition

Salinger is very, very high on the sentimental favorites list, which makes this difficult to assess objectively - so let's start with the easy half of this two-novella collection.

Raise High The Roof Beam, Carpenters is wonderful, and while it occasionally dips a little too deeply into the preciousness well (the same well that Salinger comes oh-so-close to drowning in in Franny and Zooey), it works, and, if you've read A Perfect Day for Bananafish, serves as a pretty chilling prequel ...moreSalinger is very, very high on the sentimental favorites list, which makes this difficult to assess objectively - so let's start with the easy half of this two-novella collection.

Raise High The Roof Beam, Carpenters is wonderful, and while it occasionally dips a little too deeply into the preciousness well (the same well that Salinger comes oh-so-close to drowning in in Franny and Zooey), it works, and, if you've read A Perfect Day for Bananafish, serves as a pretty chilling prequel to the entire Glass family saga. (And if you haven't read APDFB, what are you waiting for? It's only one of the best short stories ever, and Nine Stories as a whole is indispensable.)

As for Seymour: An Introduction, well... I'm not quite sure what to say. (A well-placed "hoo, boy..." might be appropriate here.) I feel like Salinger had this point gotten himself into a holding pattern where he only knows how to end stories with sudden epiphanies, and he gives us three, all somewhat bargain-basement: 1. Seymour is, for Buddy, something to be given away to the world, to those who never had him. Well, alright. 2. That a Zen approach to writing, where one merely writes without aiming, is the only true way of hitting a target. (In some ways this story, with its tiring constant appeals for our astonished approval at Salinger's erudition, could be seen as a direct example of this theory, but I won't bite.) 3. A re-warmed-over repackaging of the essential lesson of Zooey, that the students that Buddy despises are no less his siblings than Seymour, Boo Boo, Walt, et al. Reading this story, one entirely understands the arguments that Hapworth 16, 1924 was proof of a teetering mind finally gone mad.

But if Salinger's work is as embedded into your DNA as it's become for me, you forgive these flaws for much the same reason it'd be sour and nitpickish to criticize the letter of a friend during hard times - one knows how deeply Buddy must be hurting. It's just a shame that Salinger didn't take over in the third-person, and let poor Buddy take a day off from the task of constantly recounting Seymour.

Read this one after you read the other Glass family stories - these serve as an effective (albeit uneven) coda for the entire affair.(less)

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Jul 08, 2009

Ashley rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: own

There were times when I was reading this book that I wondered whether or not I should reconsider Salinger as my favorite author... but then I realized why. Salinger does not write "skim-worthy" sentences. I really feel like the depth of his writing cannot be grasped if a person is not reading them with the utmost concentration. His short stories (Riase HIgh the Roof Beam, Carpenters and others I have read) seem, more or less, useless. In terms of a specific story, they are. But it...more

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May 24, 2008

Dan rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: fans of Salinger

For as long as I can remember, people have told me that this was the worst of the Salinger collection. His Godfather III if you will. Having read it, I'm not sure what the hell they were thinking. For me, I enjoyed these two stories immensely. Raise High is written in the style of Franny and Zooey, though from the perspective of a different brother (Buddy). Seymour is different. I don't want to characterize it in one form or another. As a piece of background, both stories revolve around t...more

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Oct 01, 2007

Eric rated it

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Recommends it for: people who really like J. D. Salinger.

Shelves: modern

Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters is an excellent short story that follows Buddy Glass on the day of his brother Seymour's wedding. The characters are compelling, you get to know them intimately in the brief time that you have with them, and the story reveals a little more about the inner workings of the Glass family along the way.

Seymour, An Introduction is for those who take an almost voyeuristic pleasure in knowing everything there is to know about the glass family. The story ...more

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Jun 20, 2007

Avital Gad-Cykman rated it

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Shelves: usa

Incredble! The way he describes the messed up wedding, the way in the taxi and then that incredible dive into his brother's soul through a page of his diary. The little old uncle! The second story seems like a powerful non-fiction.
His writing is so close to the surface-he writes about the world's reaction to his only published novel, about teaching, about fans and rude people that send him belligerent or all-knowing letters. He writes about pompous academia figures. And about isolating him...more

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Nov 26, 2011

Leonie rated it

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Two short stories/novellas about the Glass family. Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters is lovely. Salinger's prose has a bounce to it; it follows the idiosyncracies of personal experience and its way of doing so means it cleaves close to the humorous and touching without quite coming out and showing that it's trying to be those things. Seymour: an Introduction is not the same kind of thing at all; it's much more a meandering, self-indulgent post-modern account of a writing process than an act...more

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Nov 06, 2011

Barry rated it

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Recommended to Barry by: Will (Todd)

Shelves: salinger

11/6 - Roofbeam - whoa, this was word-for-word/syllable-for-syllable, ridiculously amazing. And so FUNNY! My favoritest piece since falling in love at Bananafish. I'm scared of the Glass saga ending, but it seems like it could almost be endlessly cyclical (oh how Hindu! i love it... :) )

11/6 - Seymour - it doesn't have that lyrical, lubricated readability of Roofbeam or his best stories, but it's never tedious like Zooey is and in fact has a ton of proto-postmod radness going on, albei...more

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Jul 06, 2011

Ropila rated it

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There are two Salinger (Catcher in the Rye) books here. One was fantastic (Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters) and one sucked (Seymour: an Introduction). Raise High is a classic Salinger. One of the Franny and Zooie family comes into town for the oldest brother's (Seymour) wedding in NYC. Seymour stands up the bride, and our author (whose name I forgot) traipses around NYC with some of the wedding party. Slowly they realize that this dweeb on leave is Seymour's brother. Just fantastic.
...more

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Apr 07, 2011

Allison rated it

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Officially my new favorite author. J.D. Salinger's writing is witty, funny, smart, and well rounded. The only thing preventing this book from getting a fifth star is that he is a bit...odd sometimes. The stories end with strange flops, and contain bizarre and sometimes gratuitous references. But I suppose it's part of what makes him unique. The characters are real, well-rounded people, with believable (if not slightly more eloquent) thought processes. Truth be told, I have not quite finished Sey...more

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Apr 02, 2011

Adam rated it

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Shelves: fiction

Part of the fun of reading Saligner’s short stories is piecing together the story of the Glass family. Rather than writing a single novel about the Glass family with a linear plot, told by a single narrator, he has split the story up into multiple ones, told at different times from different characters. This makes for more active and exciting reading.

"Raise High…" is hilarious. It’s the story of Buddy en route to his brother Seymour’s wedding. The plot moves faster than...morePart of the fun of reading Saligner’s short stories is piecing together the story of the Glass family. Rather than writing a single novel about the Glass family with a linear plot, told by a single narrator, he has split the story up into multiple ones, told at different times from different characters. This makes for more active and exciting reading.

"Raise High…" is hilarious. It’s the story of Buddy en route to his brother Seymour’s wedding. The plot moves faster than the plots of either Franny or Zooey, and there are great moments of comic awkwardness and tension. The characters are hyperbolic and their unlikely company makes the story. The best part is when they are caged together in taxi whose progress is halted by a parade.

Seymour is a colossal piece; Buddy’s attempt of a portrait of his brother. Seymour, of course, is the most often referred-to and enigmatic Glass sibling in the Salinger stories. “Seymour,” then, is sort of the climax of the stories. There is a lot of build-up to this story, and Buddy knows the difficult task that he’s taken up:

“And since I’m obviously going whole hog right here at the outset, I’ll further enunciate—if one can enunciate and shout at the same time—that, with or without a suicide plot in his head, he was the only person I’ve ever habitually consorted with, banged around with, who more frequently than not tallied with the classical conception, as I saw it of a mukta, a ringding enlightened man, a God-knower. At any rate, his character lends itself to no legitimate sort of narrative compactness that I know of, and I can’t conceive of anyone, least of all myself, trying to write him off in one shot or in one fairly simple series of sittings…" (106-107).

The resulting prose is dense, playful, alternately tentative and forceful, fragmented, clever, mischievous, self-conscious, and taxing to read. And hilarious:

“Many, many men my age and in my income bracket who write about their dead brothers in enchanting semi-diary form never even bother to give us dates or tell us where they are. No sense of collaboration. I’ve vowed not to let that happen to me. This is Thursday, and I’m back in my horrible chair” (192).

Truthfully, I didn’t like it at first. I thought it was pretentious and not fun. I’m not sure why, but I stuck with it, and Buddy slowly won me over until I reached the end, at which point I lamented that there wasn’t more. In fact, now that I’ve read all of Salinger stories, I miss the Glasses. So much so, that I recently re-watched "The Royal Tenenbaums."
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Jan 27, 2011

Jeff rated it

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Today marks the one year anniversary of Salinger's death, and fittingly, though not purposefully, today I finished the final story of his that I had yet to read. That is to say, that he published. After reading "Seymour" I can't help but want to write long-winded parenthetical-laced (double worded singular nouns with impregnated hyphens) sentences that go on and on and force a reader to go back to the baptismal font to capture a glistening sliver of what the Hell I'm talking about.
...more

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Jan 07, 2011

Belen rated it

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Shelves: literature

algo que escribi cuando lo leía, en esas epocas. (2006) Hoy quiero hablar de Salinger... si, ...el escritor yankee ese TAN GROSO a mi gusto... algunos lo conoceran por haber leido "the catcher in the rye" en el colegio privado y biligue y re-cheto de zona norte, otros por la peli "descubriendo a forrester" que no vi... en fin. ya he hablado de Salinger en este blog, pero no voy a contener mis ansias de seguir explayandome... estoy leyendo "Seymour...una introduccion"...morealgo que escribi cuando lo leía, en esas epocas. (2006) Hoy quiero hablar de Salinger... si, ...el escritor yankee ese TAN GROSO a mi gusto... algunos lo conoceran por haber leido "the catcher in the rye" en el colegio privado y biligue y re-cheto de zona norte, otros por la peli "descubriendo a forrester" que no vi... en fin. ya he hablado de Salinger en este blog, pero no voy a contener mis ansias de seguir explayandome... estoy leyendo "Seymour...una introduccion" y me parece bastante interesante el modo que tiene de escribir... es impresionante como te llegan las cosas en el momento adecuado... el logra Eso que yo intento explicar, o plasmar en la escritura (nunca dije ser original en esto) logra esa mezcla de planos (o metalenguajes) de un modo prolijo y delicado. Intentare explicar esto. Consideremos un plano de realidad, al que se manifiesta como "lo que el escritor esta contando" consideremos como otro plano de realidad, al hecho de que lo cuenta en primera persona, pero como justamente "contando" al lector un "algo"... y consideremos que se agrega otro plano de realidad, que se cuela perfectamente: al mismo escritor, hablando de lo que esta escribiendo en ese mismisimo instante, y acotando pensamientos respecto de lo que esta contando. (de hecho eso podria ser dividido en dos diferentes planos). en fin... logra una unidad con multiples voces, multiples lenguajes que se vifurcan, se intersectan, juegan entre si, formando un dialogo con el mismisimo lector (esto es importante) en donde lo hace sentir participe de una charla de café, en donde el pensamiento del que cuenta, sale sin barreras, sin cortes, sin censura alguna... es puramente Él... en toda su expresión, haciendo que hablar sea lo mismo que pensar y pensar lo mismo que hablar. (o sea, no hay diferencia...el lector se "mete" en la mismisima mente del que habla (ya no podemos decir "escribe") para ser con él, en él.) Es muy interesante este modo de escribir, a mi gusto. Y me parece que no se le ha dado a Salinger mucha bola... por lo menos no toda la que se merece... en fin. una lastima que se haya desaparecido del mundo... espero que cuando fallezca algun malvado pariente o allegado publique todas sus obras (si si este es mi mas cruel deseo del universo... cuanta maldad...)(less)

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May 12, 2010

Heather rated it

· review of another edition

While Seymour did start to get a little old with the narrator, Buddy’s, description of his older suicided brother, Seymour, I love the tone, the voice, the undercurrent throughout. And what Salinger was trying to do: keep Buddy’s older role model brother young alive and still a model, someone who Buddy can continue learning from. In that way Buddy is able to deal (or not deal) with his grief. Or more accurately, he starts to reminisce and to grieve. We bear witness to this as writing about Seymo...moreWhile Seymour did start to get a little old with the narrator, Buddy’s, description of his older suicided brother, Seymour, I love the tone, the voice, the undercurrent throughout. And what Salinger was trying to do: keep Buddy’s older role model brother young alive and still a model, someone who Buddy can continue learning from. In that way Buddy is able to deal (or not deal) with his grief. Or more accurately, he starts to reminisce and to grieve. We bear witness to this as writing about Seymour’s eyes and nose becomes excruciating reason for naps.

While the entire novella reads self-consciously as a writer writing a book, the “transcription” of Seymour’s letter to Buddy after Seymour stayed up all night reading one of Buddy’s short stories (in the story) is a beautiful collection of tips for writers. “Don’t make me proud of you,” Seymour writes. “If only you’d never keep me up again out of pride. Give me a story that makes me unreasonably vigilant. Keep me up again till five only because all your stars are out, and for no other reason.”

Seymour isn’t not praising the Buddy’s story. It kept him up till 5 a.m., but he’s warning him against perfection. As “trite” as it sounds, Seymour mainly wants to tell Buddy: “Please follow your heart, win or lose.” Don’t get carried away by what others want or by what you think others want. (Oh, this is so often when we miss the shot.) Essentially Seymour advises Buddy: don’t aim. Let accident happen.

This ties in with Buddy feeling it necessary to drop poetry entirely if one is to settle and stop seeking… well, perfection. I puzzled over this passage for some time. If one is able to loosen up, as it were, and accept things as they are, why is that a call to “drop poetry altogether?” I reread this passage several times, thinking what does it mean… exactly? At the end of the novella, Seymour re-utters his no-aim refrain, suggesting that Buddy stop trying so hard while playing marbles. Sure, Buddy always hits the target, but there’s no fun in it, no adventure. No serendipity. Nothing learned.

Which brings me back to what does it mean exactly…

As I write this I realize that as a reader, too, I’m shouldering my perfectionist tendencies. Part of me, what I will call my intuitive and more intelligent side, wants to accept this line of thought as somehow profound; it’s certainly interesting. Another (rational, bogarting analytical) part is saying, what the heck do you mean by that? I want an answer. I want my target to be hit. But the fact that such a passage stops me in my tracks means my target was bullseyed. Go figure. I didn’t even know I had a target. So, perfectionism aside, my target, which might not have even existed before someone struck it, was indeed struck by accident, without aiming. Aiming for what? Exactly…

It’s funny that I’ve written all about Seymour, when during the read it was Raise High that I enjoyed most....(less)

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Feb 02, 2010

Marcia rated it

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a long time ago, my friend sent me this passage from raise high and it reminded me 1) why i love salinger and 2) why we are best friends.
"...Muriel loved the kitten and wanted me to love it. Even in the dark, I could sense that she felt the usual estrangement from me when I don't automatically love what she loves. Later, when we were having a drink at the station, she asked me if I didn't think that kitten was 'rather nice.' She doesn't use the word 'cute' any more. When did I e...more

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Jul 22, 2009

Amar rated it

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Raise High: 3 stars
Seymour: 2 stars

There's something to Salinger, there really is. I've mentioned this before in other reviews, but it's an originality--of circumstance, of characters, of humor--that makes any material of his, no matter how bad, worth reading. Which is why, despite Buddy's incessant droning (Buddy: brother of Seymour and narrator) in Seymour: An Introduction, I kept reading, knowing that little nuggets of original creation lied ahead, nuggets which, in entire b...more

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Jul 05, 2009

Brittany rated it

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It's an original collection of 2 short stories by JD Salinger. The first story tells of a twenty-something, Buddy, on the day his older brother, Seymour, is about to get married. Here you learn about the person of Buddy and hints of who Seymour really is as a person. The cast of characters are raw and remind you of people you've met before or feelings you've had before.
The second short story is less of a story with a plot or cast of characters, but more of a story about how a now forty...more

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Jan 08, 2011

Lorelei rated it

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Salinger seems to have a knack for keeping me hooked; I finished this one in one night and Franny & Zooey the other night. I don't quite understand some readers' absolute distaste for Seymour: An Introduction; reality and realizations are often messy, disordered, and delayed. Not all art is wrapped in a bow or orderly to look at, and if one has seen any modern/post-modern art and has admired that, I don't understand not being able to at least partially admire the second part of this book.

...moreSalinger seems to have a knack for keeping me hooked; I finished this one in one night and Franny & Zooey the other night. I don't quite understand some readers' absolute distaste for Seymour: An Introduction; reality and realizations are often messy, disordered, and delayed. Not all art is wrapped in a bow or orderly to look at, and if one has seen any modern/post-modern art and has admired that, I don't understand not being able to at least partially admire the second part of this book.

I will admit I was a tad underwhelmed at the voice at times: the second guessing; the self-indulgence (which occasionally I quite enjoy - especially when it's done in a witty and intelligent manner, by an author who I find fascinating; David Foster Wallace comes to mind. Salinger didn't self-indulge quite as amusingly here, though he had his moments). But there were moments when I was all but physically transported, such as when I entered into the ten year old mind of a boy playing marbles at dusk having a surreal, yet innocent and perfectly beautiful moment, and that's art. Maybe not his finest or prettiest or most packaged work, but certainly not deserving of a flat-out condemnation or dismissal, especially since his works were groundbreaking for their time. But I can understand those who may not really like Salinger for one reason or another jumping on this one, just as I can understand myself having some positive bias when reading the second part of this book.

As for the first story, it hasn't been bashed, so I don't feel the need to defend it as much. The whole book explores topics that are relevant to the artistically bent and people in general, such as negative personality type or sexual orientation labeling, myths or perhaps near-truths about artists/poets/not-quite-typical people and their ability (or somewhat lack thereof) to fully integrate into society, related to how intensely they feel or are effected by the world around them, effective description, great dialogue, and perspectives that tend to go against the grain of society. (less)

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Feb 10, 2010

Anne rated it

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As I may have mentioned before, for a long time I didn't care for Salinger. I feel a little like a tool for re-visiting him because he died, but oh well.

"Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters" and "Seymour: An Introduction" both took me a while. They're the kind of stories that I feel like I read without really absorbing much, so I think I've missed a lot of important stuff in there. In the end, I think I preferred the latter. It's almost like Tristram Shandy...more

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Mar 20, 2011

Dustin rated it

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I think it was pretty fitting that Seymour: An Introduction was the last work to be published in Salinger's last book. It is clearly largely auto-biographical, and seems to hint at why he chose the life he did. Honestly, the first two thirds of it are insufferably long-winded and boring. Really not all that interesting. Ostensibly, he is answering fan mail about Seymour's appearance. But it just goes on and on. In the end it turns into a nice description of Seymour's kindness and character...more

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Oct 10, 2010

Patricia rated it

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Shelves: read-in-2010, book-group-selection

This is the October Library Book Group selection and a J.D. Salinger creation I have not read. Reading the first story I was delighted to remember how much I love J. D. Salinger. Something about his prose leaves me just on the edge of a delighted hoot. Seymour, an Introduction, I did not love. I felt it was in need of a firm editor, and I ended up skimming most of it. Before Salinger's death, I would imagine, now and then, that when he died we would get to read all the things I assumed he h...more

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Nov 15, 2010

Tatiana rated it

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Shelves: top-shelf

Okay.

So i was on the subway coming home from work, reading 'nine stories', specifically 'esme', and i started thinking about what to say here. because i couldn't quite articulate what makes this stuff so good right after finish 'roofbeams', but then i went to a party friday and drunkenly tried (poorly) to explain it to one or two (probably 12) people.

and i'll try now, but i'm sure it's not going to be much better than friday.

part of it is obviously the glass family ...more

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Jul 07, 2011

Sean rated it

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I plan to re-read some Salinger stories in the wake of finishing his biography. I wasn't sure if I had previously read Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters, although I've long owned an old paperback copy that belonged to one of my parents. This story is really fantastic, one of the best stories I've read in a long time. It shows off many of Salinger's strengths: realistic dialogue, sly humor, and masterful characterization. I think he is at the height of his storytelling game in this piece. I op...more

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Oct 06, 2009

dara rated it

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Recommends it for: The first story to anyone; the second story to no one.

Shelves: read-in-2009, short-stories, classics

I wish I could give this book two different ratings--obviously for the two drastically different stories. As it is I have to settle for subtracting a star from the 5-star rating I would have given this if it had been "Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters" alone.

From a sense of charity alone, I'd give "Seymour: An Introduction" one star. When other reviewers advise skipping it, they aren't kidding. Not only is "Seymour: An Introduction" a tedious, unpleas...moreI wish I could give this book two different ratings--obviously for the two drastically different stories. As it is I have to settle for subtracting a star from the 5-star rating I would have given this if it had been "Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters" alone.

From a sense of charity alone, I'd give "Seymour: An Introduction" one star. When other reviewers advise skipping it, they aren't kidding. Not only is "Seymour: An Introduction" a tedious, unpleasant read, but it's the pretentious sort that does more than imply that there's something wrong with you as a reader if you have any qualms with it; you just don't "get" it.

The narrator, Buddy Glass, talks more about his love of Seymour than he talks of Seymour. Pages are devoted to doting on the greatness of Seymour's poetry, which is never included. Buddy is just so in love with his own opinions, and with his brother's greatness. He includes notes Seymour had written in response to Buddy's short stories. "My brother was such a genius. Need proof? Here's what he said about my writing." Maybe I'm interpreting it as being more egotistical than it is, but regardless, it seems one step away from posting his grocery list. (Perhaps it's amusing only to me that these notes remind me of the ones Salinger's daughter decided to include in her memoir. Both were bad decisions.) However, there is one letter from Seymour among these notes which gives a much appreciated break from Buddy Glass and all of his old man rambling.

It didn't take long to realize I wasn't going to enjoy reading it, but I soldiered on simply for a sense of closure. It had some value, but only as a resource for those researching Seymour and/or the Glass family. I happen to be engaging in such research, but I still found reading it to be an overall miserable experience.

Don't get me wrong. Do buy the book. Just read "Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters" and call it a night. It was actually one of the most enjoyable Salinger stories I've read, which perhaps sets "Seymour: An Introduction" up to be even more of a disappointment. You'll learn far more about Seymour in it than in the story titled after him, and you won't have the same urge to give up on literature altogether. The inclusion of Seymour's diary entries gives a glimpse into a side of Seymour and Muriel not apparent in "A Perfect Day for Bananafish."(less)

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Dec 30, 2011

Bonnie Gayle rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: classics, reviewed, library-books

I'm cheating a wee bit because I've read the first one, but not the second, but I'm trying to finish off the challenge so I get a badge, so...I *did* read one entire story.

Anyways. Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters was lovely. Absolutely lovely. It had the same tender heart that Catcher in the Rye did, but lots more humor. Like laugh out loud humor. And so well written, too. I will ever love how Salinger does italics. Perfect. I read large sections of this out loud to myself just...more

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Mar 23, 2009

April Hamilton rated it

· review of another edition

I'd suggest you read Nine Stories before you read this one. This book focuses mostly on the Glass family, and Salinger treats them with much more affection than the assortment of characters in Nine Stories. This book is less humorous and more thought-provoking, particularly on matters pertaining to what it means (and doesn't) to be part of a family. The stories also touch on how our best-laid plans to do right by one another can easily (and sometimes imperceptibly) go awry, as well as the seemin...more

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Sep 30, 2010

Leigh Hancock rated it

· review of another edition

I reread this book for the first time in years in a tent in the Badger Creek wilderness. I had pulled a muscle in my shoulder, the wind was howling, I was pretty sure I'd drunk some bad water and the two dogs sharing my tent were doing what dogs LOVE to do when they're with you in a small, poorly ventilated space. Slurp slurp slurp.

Anyway, the fact that I was absolutely engrossed from beginning to end pretty much says it all. I love this book--at least the first half (Raise High...)...more

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Dec 30, 2008

Laura rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: read-more-than-once

For the first time in several minutes, I glanced around at the tiny elderly man with the unlighted cigar. The delay didn't seem to affect him. His standard of comportment for sitting in the rear seat of cars - cars in motion, cars stationary, and even, one couldn't help imagining, cars that were driven off bridges into rivers - seemed to be fixed. It was wonderfully simple. You just sat very erect, maintaining a clearance of four or five inches between your top hat and the roof, and you stared f...more

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About J.D. Salinger

Jerome David Salinger was an American author, best known for his 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye, as well as his reclusive nature. His last original published work was in 1965; he gave his last interview in 1980. Raised in Manhattan, Salinger began writing short stories while in secondary school, and published several stories in the early 1940s before serving in World War II. In 1948 he publishe...moreJerome David Salinger was an American author, best known for his 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye, as well as his reclusive nature. His last original published work was in 1965; he gave his last interview in 1980. Raised in Manhattan, Salinger began writing short stories while in secondary school, and published several stories in the early 1940s before serving in World War II. In 1948 he published the critically acclaimed story "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" in The New Yorker magazine, which became home to much of his subsequent work. In 1951 Salinger released his novel The Catcher in the Rye, an immediate popular success. His depiction of adolescent alienation and loss of innocence in the protagonist Holden Caulfield was influential, especially among adolescent readers. The novel remains widely read and controversial, selling around 250,000 copies a year.

The success of The Catcher in the Rye led to public attention and scrutiny: Salinger became reclusive, publishing new work less frequently. He followed Catcher with a short story collection, Nine Stories (1953), a collection of a novella and a short story, Franny and Zooey (1961), and a collection of two novellas, Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction (1963). His last published work, a novella entitled "Hapworth 16, 1924", appeared in The New Yorker on June 19, 1965.

Afterward, Salinger struggled with unwanted attention, including a legal battle in the 1980s with biographer Ian Hamilton and the release in the late 1990s of memoirs written by two people close to him: Joyce Maynard, an ex-lover; and Margaret Salinger, his daughter. In 1996, a small publisher announced a deal with Salinger to publish "Hapworth 16, 1924" in book form, but amid the ensuing publicity, the release was indefinitely delayed. He made headlines around the globe in June 2009, after filing a lawsuit against another writer for copyright infringement resulting from that writer's use of one of Salinger's characters from The Catcher in the Rye. Salinger died of natural causes on January 27, 2010, at his home in Cornish, New Hampshire.
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“I'm a kind of paranoiac in reverse. I suspect people of plotting to make me happy.” — 367 people liked it

“I don't really deeply feel that anyone needs an airtight reason for quoting from the works of the writers he loves, but it's always nice, I'll grant you, if he has one.” — 65 people liked it

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