Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters -and- Seymour, an Introduction

TITLE: Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour, an Introduction

AUTHOR: J.D. Salinger

Like every other American child in the last 40 years, I was forced to read The Catcher in the Rye in High School. And though I enjoyed it (it was, in fact, one of the only books set upon me in High School that I enjoyed), the book does its part to distort the perception of Salinger’s work. His other three books are starkly different, but too many people have read nothing but that, and it is worth saying that of the few dozen fans of his published works that I’ve known or spoken to in my life, I can’t think of anyone who puts Catcher in the Rye in the top two.

I say all that to say this: if all you know about J.D. Salinger is the obligatory Holden Caufield in late-adolescence – whether you liked the book or not – there is so much more, and I’ll say better, to read.

Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters: Salinger has this inimitable gift for writing beautiful prose conversationally. It’s as if he’s recounting to you, an old friend, the details of an event for which he was actually present. Just telling you a story. It’s seemingly effortless without being pedestrian, and while you can read it ten times and get something new out of it each time, you’ll frequently look down to find, with surprise, you’ve already read 50 pages.

This story is told in first person from Buddy Glass of the Glass family, Salinger’s favorite characters. He writes about them with such frequency (this, Franny and Zooey, and several of the Nine Stories are all about the same characters, and the narrative voice is always of the second oldest, Buddy), and with such palpable affection, such detail, that it still offers me a small surprise to reflect that they are imaginary.

But in any event, this is a first person account of the eldest brother, Seymour’s, wedding. Seymour is the poet of the family, and Salinger saves all his best thoughts and musings for him. Seymour never shows up, stands up his bride-to-be, and the story is much about the aftermath. There’s so much I want to say about this and I won’t, not that the plot is all so important, but still. It's good enough that you deserve what minor suspense is available to you. I will say that it’s a wonderful story, and contains moments of stunning, pan-human empathy like I’ve never read in my life. While Franny and Zooey, taken together, is my favorite, this one is a close second.

Seymour, an Introduction: I can’t broadly dismiss this story. Some people like it. I do, however, feel confident in saying that if there wasn’t such a paucity of Salinger material, I would never read this story again. It’s the author, again as Buddy Glass, talking at great length about his brother Seymour. No plot, no real point, just a character description, with about 20,000 asides, parentheticals, tangents, and other onanistic indulgences. That conversational style that I so emphatically praised above? This is the one and only time in his writing where he takes it much too far.

It’s still worth reading, I suppose, but I’d save it for when there is no more of him to read. It’s got a few great quotes, very clever stuff, which, unlike above, I have no conscience whatsoever about replaying:

• He mentions getting older: “whoever we are, no matter how like a blast furnace the heat from the candles on our latest birthday cake…”
• He reprints his Seymour's opinions on one of his past stories: “I feel your censure on all [the character's]‘God-damns.’ That seems off to me. What is it but a low form of prayer when he or Les or anybody else God-damns everything. I can’t believe God recognizes any form of blasphemy. It’s a prissy word invented by the clergy.”

He’s very clever, and very smart, and knows how to write. This story just gets too post-modern, too many asides to the reader, too many references to himself writing the story. Too much for me, anyway. One needs to have a good deal of interest in this made-up Seymour Glass to muscle through it, but even with an interest (which I have), it’s still laborious.

If you’ve read everything else, then read this. If you haven’t, goto Step 1, and come back when you have. You’ll want to, by then.