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Franny
Franny is the story of Franny Glass's weekend date with her collegiate boyfriend, Lane Coutell. The story opens with Lane, awaiting Franny's train arrival, re-reading her latest glowing letter. It is the weekend of the famous Harvard-Yale football game, and Franny has come into Boston to spend the weekend with Lane. She is carrying with her a book, which turns out to be The Way of a Pilgrim, a Russian religious text that explores the idea of continuous prayer and spiritual illumination.
The two go out for lunch. Lane is ambitious and pretentious. He takes Franny to a fashionable lunch spot, and tries to impress her with his news of receiving a suggestion to publish his latest paper on Flaubert. Franny is clearly upset, questioning the importance of college education and the worth of Lane's friends. She is smoking, sweating, and feeling faint and must excuse herself to visit the restroom, where, after a crying spell, she regains her composure. She returns to the table, where Lane questions her on the small book she has been carrying. She responds nonchalantly that the book is titled The Way of a Pilgrim and tells the story of how a Russian wanderer learns the power of "praying without ceasing." The "Jesus Prayer," as it is known, involves internalizing the prayer to a point where, in a manner similar to a Zen koan, it becomes unconscious, almost like a heartbeat, ultimately leading to spiritual enlightenment. Lane is less interested in the story than in keeping their timetable for the party and football game, though when Franny faints, he tends to her and postpones the weekend's activities. After she wakes, he goes to get a taxi, and leaves Franny alone--practicing the act of praying without ceasing.
Zooey
Zooey is a subtly moving story that paints an intimate portrait of the Glass Family. The unusual upbringing of the children, with radio appearances as child geniuses and philosophy around the dinner table, has created a unique bond among them. Though they are not affectionate and close in a typical sense, they understand each other more than anyone else could. The isolation of the Glass children from others is clearly set up in Franny and significantly expanded upon in Zooey.
Zooey is set on Monday, two days after Franny. The story begins with Zooey, smoking and soaking in a tub, reading a four-year-old letter from his brother Buddy. His mother Bessie enters the bathroom, and the two have a long discussion, centering upon Bessie's worries about his sister Franny, whose existential depression seen in Franny has progressed to a state of emotional collapse. After Bessie leaves, Zooey gets dressed and moves into the living room, where he finds Franny on the sofa with her cat Bloomberg and begins speaking with her. After upsetting Franny by questioning her motives for reciting the "Jesus Prayer," Zooey retreats into the former bedroom of Seymour and Buddy, Franny and Zooey's older brothers. After contemplation, Zooey telephones Franny, pretending to be their brother Buddy. Franny discovers the ruse, but she and Zooey continue to talk. Knowing that Franny reveres their eldest brother Seymour--the psychologist, spiritual leader, and confidante of the family, who committed suicide years earlier while on vacation with his wife--Zooey shares with her some words of wisdom that Seymour once gave him. By the end of the call, as the fundamental "secret" of Seymour's advice is revealed, Franny seems, in a moment reminiscent of a mystical satori, to find profound existential illumination in what Zooey has told her.
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as for myself, I just enjoyed the mild scent of recollection of high school years by the thrill of reading this. perhaps less opinionated than usual, yet more sensible, my understanding of this book was provided by an intuitive nexus. what does that mean? well, that it's for each to figure on his/her own! (:
posted by Teo @ 11:06:00 AM
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