Franny and Zooey
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| 1961 hardcover | |
| Author | J. D. Salinger |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Little, Brown |
| Released | Fall 1961 |
| Media Type | Print (Hardcover, Trade paperback, Mass market paperback) |
| Pages | 201 |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-316-76954-1 (hc) |
| Preceded by | Nine Stories |
| Followed by | Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction |
Franny and Zooey is a 1961 novel by J. D. Salinger, the author best known for The Catcher in the Rye. The novel consists of two distinct and related stories, Franny and Zooey, which take place in November 1955. The stories originally appeared in The New Yorker magazine and were published in book form in September of 1961. Franny and Zooey are two members of the Glass family, a frequent focus of Salinger's writings. Salinger writes about the Glass family in Raise High the Roof-Beam, Carpenters, Seymour -- An Introduction, Hapworth 16, 1924 and Nine Stories.
Contents |
[edit] Plot introduction
The novel is written in two parts. The first part, named for Franny Glass, one of the novel's two main characters, is significantly shorter than the second. It tells the story of a female undergraduate at a prestigious women's liberal arts college, possibly Wellesley, named Franny.
The second part, named for Zooey Glass, who is Franny's older brother, is much longer. Zooey is a somewhat emotionally toughened genius who at the age of twelve had "the same vocabulary as Mary Baker Eddy".
[edit] Plot summary
[edit] 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, which is a Russian text that considers the idea of continuous prayer and perfect religious being. They go 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 rest room, where after a crying spell she regains her composure. She returns to the table, where Lane questions her on a 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 internalising the prayer to a point where it becomes unconscious, almost like a heartbeat, ultimately opening up a 'third eye'. 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 practicing the act of praying without ceasing.
[edit] 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, who is suffering a sort of emotional breakdown. After Bessie leaves, Zooey gets dressed and moves into the living room, where he finds Franny on the sofa and enters into conversation with her. After upsetting Franny by questioning her motives for her "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 and gives her words of advice concerning her breakdown. Franny discovers the ruse, but she and Zooey continue to talk. By the end of the call, Franny seems to take comfort in what Zooey has told her.
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, making it the perfect story to precede Zooey.
In Zooey, Franny finds the understanding and love she needs in her brothers. Franny desperately seeks help from Seymour, the psychologist, spiritual leader, and confidante of the family, who committed suicide while on vacation with his wife. Zooey comes to her this time and, when eventually speaking as himself, brings together the love and support of her three brothers. He shares the words Seymour once shared with him--words that taught respect, love, understanding, and integrity. Once the fundamental "secret" of Seymour's advice is revealed, Zooey leaves Franny to rediscover joy, love, and hope.
[edit] Major themes
The novel makes an excellent companion to The Catcher in the Rye, as themes of angst and intellectual insecurity are present in both. Together, the two books served to define a generation in the 1960s, although Franny and Zooey has lost a great deal of its status over the years and receded into the shadow of Catcher. Franny Glass attempts to facilitate some kind of metaphysical escape from who she is through the prayer she recites; upon discovering that she is locked into her own state of being, she suffers a nervous breakdown. Her situation is deeply symbolic of the adolescent situation on the whole, and its message appealed to large audiences at the time.
[edit] External links
- Pari (at IMDB): An Iranian movie, unauthorized adaptation of Franny and Zooey and A Perfect Day for Bananafish.
| J.D. Salinger |
|---|
| Catcher in the Rye (1951) • Nine Stories (1953) • Franny and Zooey (1961) • Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction (1963) |
