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Each of his phrases was rather like a little ancient island, inundated by a miniature sea of whiskey.
Nine Stories ~~~ J.D. Salinger


Oh Mr. Salinger, why couldn’t you have published more of these amazing stories in your life time???

Nine Stories -- a collection of brilliant short stories from J.D. Salinger. It is in this collection where the Glass family, the main constituents of Franny and Zooey, is first introduced. In the next eight stories, we meet and get to know characters with an assortment of mental and physical ailments, and self-discoveries.

This is my second journey with Salinger after Franny and Zooey. My favorites here are To Esme � With Love and Squalor, The Laughing Man, De Daumier-Smith’s Blue Period, and Teddy. A shared thread through all nine stories is the mood of desperation, of frustration, and of higgledy-piggledy identities. The characters are very real; these are real people with real issues starting to overspill into their everyday lives.



These stories haunt me. I found To Esme � With Love and Squalor a story about the effects of war on an individual stayed with me for days. It’s so simply written, and yet, packs so much emotion and observation on the state of war and the mental and physical drain it can take on one person. From the one line note about a twitch on the face, to a shaky hand, the subtle differences from the first half of the story to the second half create an overall dreadful vision.

What is De Daumier-Smith’s Blue Period -- loneliness, isolation, misrepresentation, reinvention, escape, connection? Who is Jean De Daumier-Smith -- we never really know since this the name the narrator calls himself. The fact that we never know Jean’s real name is significant; it serves to highlight the idea of misrepresentation and reinvention. Jean appears to be uncomfortable with who he is and by changing his name Salinger allows Jean to reinvent himself. The trigger for Jean wishing to reinvent himself stems from the loneliness and isolation that he feels possibly due to his mother’s death. By reinventing himself, Jean is able to escape from the painful realities of the world around him. We, all of us, can relate.



This collection of stories should be read over and over again. When I next read these stories I’ll discover something new about one of the characters or catch a new allusion or reference. What insights will I glean about the Glass family?

I could go on forever about the themes here. I could write pages about these people. I wonder where Esme is now. What will become of Teddy? Does the Chief find love and is he actually The Laughing Man?

It's what's left unsaid here that really intrigues. Words may go unuttered, but still one hopes ...