Justin Monisit’s Reviews > Nine Stories > Status Update

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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