I think it is my turn to pick a story and I thought we could go back to 20th Century Ghosts and read The Black Phone next.
Discussion Group for January 30...........A Perfect Day For Bananafish by JD Salinger
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Oh J.D. - I didn't know any of his bio fljoe0 - I should read up on him. I have a very old (1981) copy of Nine Stories and read them all a long time ago. So I had to re-read. Most of the story is told through conversation - very little description or history. To me it feels very Neil Simon but in a dark, rather than comical, way. I felt like Murial was a bit a of princess and missing something important about her husband. It could be that she was just ready to be away from her mother. I was creeped out by his thing with the little girls at the resort. I do think he creeped himself out in a moment of lucidity and fixed it the only way he knew how. I need to know a little more about Salinger now and read my Salinger collections again - I have a very old copy of Zooey and Franny too. I think most of his writing speaks to the time he lived through. J.D. would have fared much better in 2019 I think.
Doc Creed LOL on the not liking the Saunders story. It wasn't my favorite of his for sure. But it was something I hadn't read and I wanted to experience and comment on something I didn't already have an opinion about. TC Boyle, George Saunders and Karen Russell have cornered the market on weird. If they could collaborate with Tim Burton on a movie, my life would be complete.
Doc Creed LOL on the not liking the Saunders story. It wasn't my favorite of his for sure. But it was something I hadn't read and I wanted to experience and comment on something I didn't already have an opinion about. TC Boyle, George Saunders and Karen Russell have cornered the market on weird. If they could collaborate with Tim Burton on a movie, my life would be complete.
That sounds like a great idea cat!
I'm glad you introduced us to the story, and my not liking is certainly not a slam to you, but I hve a hard time warming up to science fiction stories. That said, I enjoyed the discussion and understand why you chose it.
The Black Phone -- by Joe Hill, found in 20th Century Ghosts. Discussion group read for February 6, 2019, led by cat in a bag .
I know better than that Doc!
Here are my belated thoughts.
I don't consider myself naive, but I did not see anything creepy about the beach scene. In fact, I found it sad and sweet. Almost like Seymour was trying to have a relationship with the child that he would never have with his wife. I do feel that when this was written plays a important part. I understand what Doc Creed said about his behavior in his work at the library. My husband had similar concerns when he volunteered at my daughter's elementary school during lunch. He would not take a child (girl OR boy) to the bathroom, for example, but would have another child go while he waited outside. If an author wrote that scene today, I think that the creepiness would come into play, because the author was feeling that same creep factor. I didn't see it, and I don't feel that JD was implying it. Po-tay-to, po-tah-to!
Agree that the wife was disconnected and may have been escaping from her parents. And at the heart of it all, as Dana Jean mentioned, war changes people and many can't come back to their former selves once they have returned.
The conversational structure and underlying sadness reminded me strongly of "Hills Like White Elephants" by Ernest Hemingway.
I don't consider myself naive, but I did not see anything creepy about the beach scene. In fact, I found it sad and sweet. Almost like Seymour was trying to have a relationship with the child that he would never have with his wife. I do feel that when this was written plays a important part. I understand what Doc Creed said about his behavior in his work at the library. My husband had similar concerns when he volunteered at my daughter's elementary school during lunch. He would not take a child (girl OR boy) to the bathroom, for example, but would have another child go while he waited outside. If an author wrote that scene today, I think that the creepiness would come into play, because the author was feeling that same creep factor. I didn't see it, and I don't feel that JD was implying it. Po-tay-to, po-tah-to!
Agree that the wife was disconnected and may have been escaping from her parents. And at the heart of it all, as Dana Jean mentioned, war changes people and many can't come back to their former selves once they have returned.
The conversational structure and underlying sadness reminded me strongly of "Hills Like White Elephants" by Ernest Hemingway.
I think our group leader cat in a bag , might be absent as grandbaby is coming tomorrow.
Thanks for the reminder fljoe0 .
She's not going to play the new grandbaby card is she?
She has two other grandbabies to watch tonight, but out cat in a bag us a multi- tasker!!I'll start the thread for her---
I'll start the thread for her---
and a pack of wild dogs to wrangle.
