reads #19: november 2013

Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters/Seymour: An Introduction (J.D. Salinger, 1955)

I was a bit hesitant to pick this one up from my to-read stash. I had kept it for bleak days like a long-saved, fancy chocolate in a tin box. Bleak month, November was; so I treated myself to my last J.D. Salinger. Well, it isn't exactly the truth, there is the short story Hapworth 16 1924 floating somewhere on the interweb and revelations were made following the recent biography/biopic on Salinger that he had planned 5 publications to be scheduled between 2015 and 2020 (among which some new stories featuring the Glass family!).

I'm glad I read these two novellas last as I feel they hold the key to who Seymour Glass really was. He's always been depicted through his younger brother Buddy's eyes, and I feel that the latter had not been entirely straight with us, readers. It took a few pages of Seymour's diary to realise how fragile he actually was, and this lifted the veil of mystery surrounding his suicide and turned it into something 'real' for me. Buddy clearly put his brother on a pedestal and the traits of a jaded, unflinchable, zen figure were probably more his than Seymour's. He finally makes sense and he feels so tangible to me now that I feel physically unable to shine an unflattering light on him, but he had his flaws and Buddy refused to see them.

The first novella Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters follows Buddy as he goes to New York during a military leave to attend Seymour's wedding. But this one doesn't show up. Ensue awkward conversations with the bride's family members and friends. This is where Buddy will stumble upon Seymour's diary, possibly the most important moment in the Glass stories.

Second novella, Seymour: An Introduction, is Buddy attempting to write about Seymour and his loss. It is written in a stream of consciousness style, probably to reflect that Buddy is as honest as he can be, but it is not a genre I enjoy so some sections were more arduous than others. For me, the easiest, more enjoyable ones were about Seymour.

Other J.D. Salinger books I reviewed: Franny and Zooey | Nine Stories

One Day (David Nicholls, 2009)

I was keeping this book for a beach kind of holiday, hoping for a fast-paced read to get me through lazy days. Well, the beach holiday never came but I was in dire need of an easy read after going through a classic and still struggling with Martin Amis' London Fields.
I think it is more of a summer book (as the book takes place every 15th of July between 1988 and 2007) but even though I picked it up in the midst of Winter, it filled its purpose nicely. Plus I was in that weird mood in the run up to Christmas of watching English romcoms (blame it on Love Actually) and I was eyeing up the film adaptation with Jim Sturgess and Anne Hathaway.

It is a bit of surprising book choice for me I guess but it was a spontaneous charity shop purchase spurred by the soon-to-be released adaptation and a vague recollection of Sandra Beijer writing about her being touched by the story (and I trust her).

I actually enjoyed this read. It is not mind-blowing but it is moving. The story follows the relationship of Dexter and Emma, starting with the very night of their university graduation, when life in all its possibilities vertiginously pans out before them. Then for the next 20 years, we meet them again every 15th of July. David Nicholls admirably used this storyline device without falling into the trap set by fastforwards and flashbacks, there were no clumsy catch-up paragraphs. Everything flows perfectly and it's a hard one to put down. 

It actually reminded me of Nick Hornby, it is full of pop culture and that sort of 90's-00's English sense of humour. It did linger in my mind for a while after I read the last page as it made me think of my own temporality and stuff like that.

I've read complaints online about the extra chapters after the story's actual resolution, that they were a bit pointless, but in my opinion they were what made the book. I thought that the parallel the author builds between Dexter's daughter and Emma was actually quite special. Also you get to witness the core of their special bond, which I thought gave more substance to this love story.

I enjoyed the movie for what it was too, the storyline device didn't work as well and the meaning conveyed in the extra chapters of the book didn't come as striking. But still, a nice romcom, alright!

Other recommended summer reads: Bonjour Tristesse (Françoise Sagan) | Brideshead Revisited (Evelyn Waugh) | I Capture the Castle (Dodie Smith)

**Special thanks to Magda for letting me play with her props & cats for the pictures.**

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