Customer Reviews:
A mixed bag.......2007-09-27
No one will read this but anyhoo...Raise High the Roof Beam is vintage Salinger and gives us some real insight into the Glass family. The second half I found frustrating to read and really feel like it is some convoluted monument to Salinger himself. Seymour an Intro seems intent on extolling the virtues of Seymour the poet. It is rather odd though that not one poem is shared. It is a lot like attending a concert and having them talk about what the music would be like the whole time. This book (Seymour an Intro) is more of an essay on what would make a great poet. Oh well, Franny and Zooey, The Nine Stories, and of course Catcher in the Rye were fantastic. I guess you can't be ON all the time.
Salinger's Best.......2007-04-10
I did not think anyone could beat Catcher in the Rye in its quirky yet real humor. But I was wrong. Salinger's Raise High is even better. The characters are so well sketched out that you feel like you are sitting with them and the madness of Catcher lingers in them. A MUST buy for Salinger lovers.
Crease By Crease.......2006-07-12
J.D. Salinger's last published work is more than 43 years old now, and still stirs many in the same absent way Seymour Glass animates his brother Buddy in this pair of stories first published in 1963. Are both cases of delusional devotion?
In the first story, "Raise High The Roof Beam, Carpenters," originally published in The New Yorker in 1955, we get what amounts to Salinger's first deep-dish treatment of the Glass family saga ("Zooey" saw print later, and previous stories featuring the Glasses were far less insular) as Buddy shows up for Seymour's wedding, only to find Seymour stood up his bride. In the second piece, 1959's "Seymour: An Introduction," Buddy foregoes any semblance of plot to explain who Seymour was.
Like a lot of other people, I am put off by the convoluted nature of "Seymour," as well as the explanations of those who defend it. Actually, there could be something to the idea of writing a plotless story, using characters like the Glasses people know from other works, but this is assuredly not it. Salinger too obviously indulges himself, spouting contempt at his generation and his critics, throwing up lame jokes and referencing obscure Japanese poets as a smokescreen to conceal his literary, intellectual, and metaphysical nakedness.
"What a marvelous convenience it would be if writers could let themselves describe their characters' clothes, article by article, crease by crease," Salinger writes in the role of Buddy, pretty much summing up the approach of "Seymour" as well as its underlying failure. His interest in his subject is not only all-consuming, it is not all that deep.
"Raise High" is a better story, though that's not saying much. "Franny And Zooey," the previously published Salinger book, also combined a better story with a weaker one, but there at least you got one terrific story in "Franny," a bold, empathetic tale of power and focus. "Raise High" doesn't know where it's going, and is in no hurry to get there. You get nice asides, like when Buddy sees an old chair and remembers a beloved bulldog, long dead, who slept there and left his chewmarks. There's also some arresting ambiguity, as when Buddy reads Seymour's journal and we get maybe a suggestion of unease at some apparent insanity.
But "Roof Beam" doesn't end so much as fizzle away, with Buddy snoozing in an empty apartment after the mystery of Seymour's absence has been resolved via an unseen phone call. Emptyness is a recurrent theme in Salinger's Glass writings, here as in "Franny & Zooey," where various Glasses are often seen in isolation thinking or writing about absent kin. For such a happy family, there's an overwhelming sadness about the Glasses that suggests Salinger found himself in a bit of a dead end with them, one from which he never emerged. Further evidence of this can be found in the web-available "Hapsworth 16, 1924," Salinger's last public blast, published in The New Yorker in 1965.
Salinger was one of the most important American writers of our lifetime, not to mention a seminal figure of our culture, but his greatness lies elsewhere, not here. Read this only if you are a Salinger completist, or else interested in the price genius can extract from its recipients.
Carpenters a great Salinger story, Seymour not so much.......2006-07-03
Raise High the roof beams is a standard Glass tale involving Buddy attending Seymour's wedding in 1942. It is a different look into the Glass family, depicting Buddy's interactions with non-family members, as opposed to the other stories. Seymour: An Introduction I did not enjoy as much. It is longwinded scatological and excruciating to read at times, there are far to many run-ons and poor segues, and you can see that Salinger tries to hard to showcase the narrator as a "conflicted writer". It differs from Salinger's other works as more of a philosophical statement, instead of a straight-up story with philosophical undertones, and this is where Salinger's talents are lacking. Where Vonnegut and Kerouac found the balance of story jumping, and mass dialogue, Salinger comes off as more of an annoyance. The first portion being a jumble of "Hemmingwayesque" rants, I often found myself skipping the quotations (which greatly benefits the story), and footnotes. The best portions are the physical description of Seymour as well as his athletic prowess in the 2nd half of the story. A must read for Salinger fans none the less, not his best work, but there is still some brilliance within the pages. (More so Roof beams then the latter)
Half of it's a tough undertaking..........2005-12-31
...which doesn't make the experience any less rewarding. Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters is a complete joy...and like the other Glass stories, a fun part of the family puzzle. Seymour: An Introduction feels less fulfilling. While it provides much information that helps the Glass-family-follower, much of it seems unformed, rambling and rawly philosophical. Nothing wrong with that unless you'll feel more rewarded by an actual story in the second half of this collection.
Customer Reviews:
Salinger at His Best.......2007-07-24
(This review is based on the Penguin Edition, paperback.)
Much like "Franny & Zooey", the book that comes right before this one, "Raise" is divided in two stories, and that "Seymour: An Introduction" is not a subtitle to the former, it's the second story of the book. Before you even consider reading this volume, you must have read "Nine Stories" and "Franny & Zooey"; well, it's not that you couldn't enjoy them in the wrong order, but it would pain my little heart if you read them in an anachronological way. You may consider reading "The Catching in the Rye" before as well, but it's not required.
Talking of which, "Raise", like the preceding volumes, doesn't use the same tone as "Catcher"; not at all. The narrator of these two stories is Buddy Glass, and he's one wordy fellow. The first story "Raise", is one of the best I ever read by Salinger; it is fantastically written, with that ever-rich style Salinger so well masters, and it honestly is hilarious. But not the obvious hilarious, it's subtle, but so funny, and so profound at the same time. It's a pure joy to read and that definitely makes Salinger one of my favourite writers of all times, and God knows if he has some fierce competition to deal with.
The overall story is about the Glass family, as in many of the stories of "Nine Stories" and as in "Franny & Zooey", which is why you should definitely have read those two books before you get to this one.
As in the precedent book - "F & Z" - the plots are minimal, but that's not what matters the most. Even though little happens, a lot happens, really. And it's just so good, I can't tell you enough. I'm sure that it won't please every reader out there, but if you have read other books by Salinger and loved his style, wittiness, and heart, this book will be a must-read to you.
The second story, "Seymour", challenges the conventions of story-telling and at times is very confusing. It's definitely not the same style as the first story, but it's worth reading. It, too, is a pleasure. And you get to know more about the Glass family, and that alone is worth the effort that the text may sometimes put you through. It's part of the fun, though, and it makes for an original read.
So if you feel ready for clumsy wedding partes, Japanese poetry, reclusive teachers living in the woods, women with metal in their voices, soldiers with never-ending coughs, and cryptic quotes written with soap on the mirror of the bathroom, this is the book for you!
Customer Reviews:
If you hang in there, it's worth the effort........2007-06-19
I'm a longtime lover of Salinger's writing, but I've never been able to get through Seymour. I liked Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters, but I would always get bogged down in the first 20-30 pages of Seymour and stop reading it. In the beginning of the story he jumps around a lot, and his paragraphs can go 2 or 3 pages long. I always felt like I was listening to a clever and witty narrator who didn't care at all about connecting with his audience. But after getting through these first pages, I started to really like the writing. There is a great letter from Seymour to Buddy that you're bound to like if you like the emotional, family exchanges in Zooey. There are also some great sections where Buddy speaks directly about what writing means to him. They're fascinating, and you won't find a more moving discussion of writing anywhere.
Are all your stars out? .......2006-03-06
In some obscure interview from the 1970s an amateur, elderly "reporter" finagled her way into a meeting with Salinger and about the only thing she got out of him other than a raised eyebrow and cold shoulder for having snaked her way into his solitude, was the following quote: "I don't care about politicians - they limit our horizons. I try to expand horizons." I don't recall the context but I think this encapsulates the meaning behind the title "Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters". This carpe diem is younger sister Boo Boo's wedding day mantra for Seymour, written with soap on a mirror. It is June 4th, 1942 and a hot New York summer day. Seymour Glass, the Glass family Zen guru and idol, is about to be married to his fiancé Muriel, but does not show, ostensibly because "the flight ceiling" for his plane ride from Ft. Benning, GA did not "raise" in time. Significantly, Buddy is the only Glass family member able to attend his older brother's non-wedding. "Raise High the Roof Beams, Carpenters" is Buddy's detailed recounting of that vacant afternoon six years before Seymour's suicide. It essentially reads like a mystery in that the "action" centers around the question: what's going on with Seymour? Having only read "Nine Stories" and "Franny and Zooey" we have only had snapshots and vague reminiscences of Seymour, mostly from Buddy. Even "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" is supposedly from Buddy's hand. Here, we are tantalized with a little more information, but it's never enough (even the long-winded, obsessive "Seymour, an Introduction" will only wet the appetite of the most devoted Salinger and Glass sage fans). "Raise High" has an easy-going post-war dialogue and banter akin to "Catcher" and "Franny & Zooey", making it an enjoyable read at face-value; but as with most of Salinger's stories there's more than meets the eye. In addition to the mysterious "Fat Lady" we now have the mute, delightfully grinning old man with top-hat and cigar; more ghostly presence than reality. The turgid comments of the bride-to-be's guests are classic Salinger, and we sympathize with irritated brother Buddy's tossing back some scotch as he serves Tom Collins' to them at his apartment. He sneaks away for a moment and reads Seymour's 1941-42 diary, discovering Seymour's self-description as a "paranoiac in reverse who suspects people of trying to make him happy". Even though he claims to be happy with his fiancé, he doesn't really believe that he'll make her happy, and thus an understated hesitancy to marry. Nevertheless, they do elope later that same afternoon despite the non-wedding. As for why Seymour never appears (and he never does physically appear in any story except to die in "Bananafish") the irascible and pushy Matron of Honor disdainfully relates Seymour's phone-call to Muriel the previous night explaining how he was "too happy" to be married and that the wedding needed to be postponed until he felt "steadier". In his diary Seymour writes that he felt "too keyed up to be with people", mystically adding that he was feeling as though "he was about to be born".
This brings up the prophetic story of "Teddy" (1953) which symbolically closes "Nine Stories". Here is the tale of Seymour's reincarnation, as I see it. 1942 is not only the year of Seymour's awkward marriage, it is also the year of young savant Teddy McArdle's birth. As Seymour's dies his "spiritual death", Teddy (whose facial descriptions exactly match those of Seymour as described in "an Introduction", among other uncanny resemblances) is born. At ten, in late 1952 his sage-like qualities renown, in much the same way that adolescent Seymour was a popular TV game-show whiz, Teddy predicts his own death. Through a diary (another common Salinger device for revelation) he provides two possible dates: that same day, 10/28/52 or his 16th birthday on 2/14/58. The connections with these dates are as of yet beyond me, but there are far too many coincidences to not believe that Salinger attaches significance to them. For example, the publishing dates of "Bananafish" (Seymour's death) and "Teddy" (a re-incarnated death) are exactly 5 years apart.
"Seymour, an Introduction" is somewhat of an encomium with profound insights into art, writing, and life (i.e. writing not to please but because "all your stars are out" & giving it your all - and be warned, Salinger is certainly not writing to please here!). This self-described, self-absorbed panegyric is an essential key to understanding the Glass cycle, but leaves more questions than answers. Buddy is revealed to be the author of "Bananfish", "Raise High", in addition to "Zooey" and potentially "Teddy" (there are references to "Catcher in the Rye" it would seem too). Anyhow, this would change our perception of the stories, for the implication would be that Buddy - ostensibly not the disinterested 3rd person of Salinger - has been telling us about Seymour. And even the notoriously unpublished "Hapworth 16, 1924" (available on-line, among several other uncollected, unpublished stories), which the verbose NY Times critic K. Michiko in her 1997 review judges a "sour, implausible and completely charmless story", suggests some sort of "purposeful disfigurement" of a precocious Seymour by an embittered Buddy. Michiko and other critics agree that the implication is that Buddy is jaded and re-writing his family history. Therefore, we would be reading Buddy's "scripts" for his actor siblings. There is some support for this in Salinger's use of the Kafka and Kierkegaard quotes related to this theme in Seymour's "Introduction", but there has to be more to it than that. Seymour speaks through Buddy as though he were an amanuensis for his spirit. From what I've read in "Hapworth" (the real "charmless" thing is having to read on-line!), and likewise with "Raise High" and "Seymour", there is definitely much to be reckoned with here. Only serious readers of Salinger will get it, or want to, but will be gratified I think with the level of depth here.
There is a metaphorical reference to an "outrunning of one another", when Seymour chases down a racing Buddy at the end of "Seymour". At the half way point of that story where Buddy/Salinger takes a two and a half month break from writing due to "acute hepatitis", Seymour overtakes and consumes Salinger (or is it Buddy?). This is an epiphanal moment for those who enjoy Salinger's increasingly elliptical writing and are curious about what he's aiming for with the Glass family. These two stories create more questions than answers, adding a whole new dimension to his earlier stories. The real question is whether or not there will be more revelations to come. Will Salinger, I wonder, have the audacity to produce and print Seymour's hundred some-odd haikus which Buddy so tantalizingly describes to us? Or is this all wishful thinking to hope for more from a man who hasn't published a morsel since 1965? The mystery continues, and sadly, maybe no one (including Salinger himself) cares anymore. Well J.D., shall we indeed see, more?
no title.......2005-11-18
Please note that I am reviewing only "Seymour, an Introduction".
I don't think I'd ever read Salinger before, and this piece was a pleasant surprise. Hard to describe, is it a short novella? Fiction, a homage to Buddy Glass's brother, Seymour, who committed suicide eleven years before, written in the voice of Buddy Glass. This was first published in The New Yorker in 1959. As it is all written as an essay, with no dialogue and precious few paragraphs, I doubt it could get published today. Talkative, conversational style, as if the reader were simply sitting beside him. Of course I liked it. Difficult to believe it is fiction. Or is it? Wonderful line about writing on page 187. If you had your heart's choice, what piece of writing in all the world would you most want to read? Then sit down shamelessly and write the thing yourself.
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Raise high the roof beam, carpenters ; and, Seymour: An introduction
J. D Salinger
Manufacturer: Bantam Books
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Binding: Mass Market Paperback
 Salinger, J.D.
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ASIN: 055320596X |
Product Description
Two Books in one.
Download Description
"
An acclaimed legend in the field of fantasy and science fiction,
Lois McMaster Bujold returns to the vivid and perilous world of her previous masterworks, the Hugo Award-winning
Paladin of Souls and Hugo and World Fantasy Award-nominated
The Curse of Chalion, with an epic tale of devotion and strange destiny.
Prince Boleso is dead -- slain by a noblewoman he had intended to defile.
Lord Ingrey kin Wolfcliff has been dispatched to the remote castle of the late, exiled, half-mad royal to transport the body to its burial place and the accused killer, the Lady Ijada, to judgment. Ingrey's mission is an ugly and delicate one, for the imminent death of the old Hallow King has placed the crown in play, and the murder of his youngest son threatens to further roil already treacherous political waters. But there is more here than a prince's degenerate lusts and the fatal retribution it engendered. Boleso's dark act, though unfinished, inadvertently bestowed an unwanted mystical ""gift"" upon proud, brave Ijada that must ultimately mean her doom -- a curse similar to one with which Ingrey himself has been burdened since boyhood.
A forbidden spirit now inhabits the soul of Ijada, giving her senses she never wished for and an obligation no one sane would desire. At once psychically linked to the remarkable lady and repelled by what she carries within, Ingrey fears the havoc his own inner beast could wreak while on their journey, as he fights a powerful growing attraction ... and an equally powerful compulsion to kill.
The road they travel together is beset with dangers -- and though duty-bound to deliver Ijada to an almost certain execution, Ingrey soon realizes that she is the only one he dares trust. For a malevolent enemy with designs on a troubled kingdom holds Ingrey in his sway -- and without Ijada's aid and love, the haunted lord will never be able to break free and realize the great and terrible destiny bestowed upon him by the gods, the damned, and the dead.
"
Customer Reviews:
A first class story.......2007-09-19
This is a first class story, with interesting characters and a good plot, which is what I expect from this author. Well worth the price.
Bujold is not at her best in this book........2007-07-25
Don't get me wrong, Bujold is a fantastic writer--far better than most. However, her 3 most recent offerings, The Hallowed Hunt and The Sharing Knife parts 1 and 2, are not, to me, even comparable to her previous books. I cannot give her less than 4 stars for these, but I am disappointed--her work normally rates 10.
Good........2007-06-06
The Hallowed Hunt is the third book in LMB's series about Chalion, and when I opened it I really didn't know what to expect. LMB is a fantastic author with a rare gift for characterisation, and has a knack for phrases that you'll want to flick back and read again later. They stick in your mind. That said, The Hallowed Hunt isn't really her best offering.
The story is about a faintly disgraceful and down-at-the-heels gentleman, sent to a castle to figure out who murdered a prince there recently. It turns out to be a girl, and surprise, surprise, they then manage to fall in love and have marvellous adventures. The whole thing is made far, far more interesting by the weird five-fold god system in place, and the very unique animal spirit system. Basically LMB doesn't do anything that anybody else has done, so if you think it's going to be the same as the last fantasy book you read, then you're very wrong.
I personally thought that `the Curse of Chalion' was amazing, and the two sequels haven't been to the high standards of the original. This doesn't make a hang of a lot of difference, because LMB is a great author and her worst is still leagues ahead of anyone else's best.
But the characters just don't appeal to me the way LMB's people normally do. They're just hard to identify with. You're left thinking that these people aren't the type of people you'd be friends with if you were given the choice.
But they things are very, VERY minor. Read the Curse of Chalion first. After you've read that, you want more Chalion. It's as simple as that, and then you'll want to read this one. Trust me, it's inevitable.
Audio Version Is Well Done.......2007-04-28
Often when I am looking at information about books I also want to know about the audio version. A bad narration for instance can ruin an audio book experience. Luckily, this one is read by a narrator who has no trouble with Bujold's made up names-- she is consistent in pronunciation and doesn't stumble. If I had my druthers, I would rather have had this book read by Lloyd James-- his narration of Curse of Chalion was very, very good. But this is still a good solid effort. If occasionally I had to ponder a section to realize that a line was thought rather than spoken by the character I still found the book to be an enjoyable listen.
Slow going at first, but gallops at the end.......2007-03-20
This past weekend I reread this book and saw a high school performance of Pippin. As a consequence, I'm in Charlemagne overload. The backstory to The Hallowed Hunt has many obvious parallels to the Bloody Verdict of Verden and yet those events are merely a jumping off point for one of Ms. Bujold's intricate morality plays. The plot is a little slow (with several wonderful wordscapes as compensation, say "pirate poet" three times fast) until the last 1/3rd, whereupon it takes off like a runaway horse. The characters are satisfyingly complicated and self-consistent.
I am a little frustrated that the whole story is told from the POV of the protagonist, Lord Ingrey kin Wolfcliff. I think the character insights from the he-thought-she-thought narrative of The Spirit Ring (another Bujold novel) was one of its best features and I really wanted to know more about the heroine's, Ijada's, motivations. Hmmpf.
So: excellent prose (as usual), interesting character motivations, complicated historical allusions, slow & talky start, slam-bang finish. Not one of Ms. Bujold's best, but definitely worth reading and rereading (a 10%er in Sturgeon's Law-speak).
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Hallowed Ground
Harrison Hunt
Manufacturer: Gramercy
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General | Military | History | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0517184575
Release Date: 1996-08-14 |
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Hallowed Hunt
Lois M Bujold
Manufacturer: EOS PUBLISHING
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UZBV7G |
Product Description
Signed limited edition of 750. Full silk boards in full silk clamshell box.
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La Busqueda Sagrada / The Hallowed Hunt
Lois McMaster Bujold
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
Spanish | Foreign Language Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Literatura y ficción | Libros en español | Formats | Books | Autores, A-Z | Cartas y Correspondencia | Clásicos | Cuentos Cortos | Drama | Ensayos | Ficción de La Mujer | General | Género Ficción | Historia y Crítica | Libros y Lectura | Literatura Mundial | Poesía
General | Fantasía | Ciencia ficción y fantasía | Libros en español | Formats | Books
ASIN: 8498002826 |
Books:
- Robot Trilogy: The Caves of Steel, The Naked Sun, The Robots of Dawn
- Serpent of the Nile: Women and Dance in the Arab World
- Shadow Boxers: Sweat, Sacrifice & the Will to Survive in American Boxing Gyms
- Shadows in Paradise
- Sunday You Learn How to Box: A Novel
- Symptomatic
- Tales of Galicia
- Tempest Rising: A Novel
- Terra Nostra (Latin American Literature Series)
- The Absent City
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Orson Welles: Volume 1: The Road to Xanadu
- Double or Nothing
- A Catch of Consequence
- Art.Rage.Us.: Art and Writing by Women with Breast Cancer
- Bangalore Tiger
- Environmental Chemistry
- Escaping the Delta: Robert Johnson and the Invention of the Blues
- Discovering Oceanic Art
- A Life Stripped Bare: My Year Trying to Live Ethically
- A Soldier of Manhattan:: And His Adventures at Ticonderoga and Quebec
Nine Stories
Franny and Zooey
The Catcher in the Rye
For Esme - With Love and Squalor
![Dream Catcher: A Memoir [Bargain Price] [Hardcover] by Salinger, Margaret A.](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000F6Z5ZO.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
Dream Catcher: A Memoir [Bargain Price] [Hardcover] by Salinger, Margaret A.
