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A review by hernamewaslily
Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction by J.D. Salinger
4.0
‘Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters’ and ‘Seymour: An Introduction’ both originally featured in The New Yorker in 1955 and 1959, respectively, before being republished in this anthology in 1963.
The first story, ‘Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters,’ follows narrator Buddy Glass as he traverses the aftermath of his brother Seymour’s wedding, who failed to show face. Left standing outside the empty church, he jumps into a car that unbeknownst to him is full of the jilted bride’s friends and relatives. Not wanting to out himself as a blood relative, Buddy keeps quiet and listens in to the complaints and concerns of the other passengers. He is thus forced to reckon with acknowledging his brothers flaws whilst desperately wanting to defend him.
The second story, ‘Seymour: An Introduction,’ is told by Buddy, who by this point is an old man, and, at its title suggests, is an introduction to Seymour, who by this point is dead. This story felt looser than Salinger’s typical body of work with its diaristic, stream-of-consciousness style, though it still contains the trappings expected from Salinger for it to feel familiar; it’s wry humour and it’s tenderness, for example.
Whilst I preferred the first story to the last, I cannot deny that both are great. Salinger always turns out a perfectly crafted, witty tale and this collection was no exception.
The first story, ‘Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters,’ follows narrator Buddy Glass as he traverses the aftermath of his brother Seymour’s wedding, who failed to show face. Left standing outside the empty church, he jumps into a car that unbeknownst to him is full of the jilted bride’s friends and relatives. Not wanting to out himself as a blood relative, Buddy keeps quiet and listens in to the complaints and concerns of the other passengers. He is thus forced to reckon with acknowledging his brothers flaws whilst desperately wanting to defend him.
The second story, ‘Seymour: An Introduction,’ is told by Buddy, who by this point is an old man, and, at its title suggests, is an introduction to Seymour, who by this point is dead. This story felt looser than Salinger’s typical body of work with its diaristic, stream-of-consciousness style, though it still contains the trappings expected from Salinger for it to feel familiar; it’s wry humour and it’s tenderness, for example.
Whilst I preferred the first story to the last, I cannot deny that both are great. Salinger always turns out a perfectly crafted, witty tale and this collection was no exception.