Franny and Zooey

Unfortunately, I did not appreciate this book. I would have rated it a zero if I could have. It did nothing for me. I read "catcher in the Rye" years ago and enjoyed it. Same author but different rating

After reading a succession of mediocre books, I treated myself to a re-read of this Salinger classic. Now this is writing, it's superb from the very first sentence!
The first short story follows student Frannny Glass on a date with an arrogant and self-absorbed young man. But as he tries to make out that he's not particularly smitten, pretending to have forgotten her letter which he has just read for the umpteenth time, Franny's protestations of affection actually belie a different truth:
' "Oh, it's lovely to see you!" Franny said as the cab moved off. "I've missed you." The words were no sooner out than she realized that she didn't mean them at all.'
And as an awkward date plays out, with Franny's efforts to discuss her new religious beliefs cut short with her young man's preoccupation not to miss the game, Salinger makes every nuance of their dialogue and actions come alive.

In the following novella, 'Zooey', we follow Franny to her family home in New York where she has retreated to have some kind of religious meltdown or nervous breakdown to the despair of her mother, and the criticism of her outspoken brother Zooey. This is a family of highly intelligent siblings - one brother has committed suicide, leaving its traces on the other members. But Zooey's ultimate and convincing arguments against his sister's giving up on life and the phoneys out there (similarities to Catcher in the Rye) are given with love, and with reference to words once used by the much-missed brother, Seymour...

Has to be one of my favourite authors.

This is an incredibly endearing and charming read. In a world where people seldom grapple with religious ideas or themes, Salinger provides a glimpse of two young people sincerely searching for spiritual truth in the unorganized junk drawer that our society keeps spiritual matters and religion in.

I loved Salinger's familiarity with a variety of different religions and their practices. He doesn't allow his characters to get mono-dogmatic. The characters rein in insight from all religions and find that all schools of thought contain grains of truth that are assembled to construct a world-view. Franny is stuck in the midst of a spiritual crisis unable to move forward with her life until she resolves that crisis. When was the last time anyone looked away from their Iphone long enough to allow themselves to have a spiritual crisis? Or to confront the fact that their existence begs larger questions than "when is the next season of 'The Walking Dead' available on Netflix?"

Salinger proposes some of those questions through Franny's transmundane conundrum to show that we can only touch the divine through our interactions with others. Zooey moderates Franny's pious hypocrisy and helps her to see that if she doesn't have a great grasp on the figure of her devotion, then she's just mindlessly repeating words that get her no closer to the kind of realized enlightenment she's looking for.

Which all sounds pretty heady and maybe even boring. However, Salinger clothes all these issues within the likable and approachable Glass family. Bessie walks around in a house dress with pockets big enough for her cigarettes and ashtrays. They live in an apartment with root beer stains on the ceiling, while Bessie is frantically trying to cure Franny so the painters can get to work on the room Franny's stuck in. Moving from room to room we get a sense of a family that loves and relies upon one another. The story's foundation is the warm and compassionate love between siblings and family. The family is so close knit, that in the midst of her crisis, Franny can come home to spiritually convalesce in an environment that nurtures understanding.

Where is your spiritual home? Where can you go when your soul is troubled? I think the larger themes in Franny and Zooey are the foundations of our spiritual homes and spiritual friendships that provide the basic building blocks and support for a healthy relationship with reality. It was a lovely story, the kind that you regret coming to the end of. Highly recommended.

This story is a great example of a brother-sister relationship, part of a family that looks to outsiders to have it all together, but each member struggles in their own way. Franny, discovering that the world around her is both bigger and smaller than she thought it was, leaves college and returns to her family home to sort out some of the unsettling realities she's facing. Her worried mother appeals to older brother, Zooey, to try to talk to Franny, to hopefully help pull her out of this "funk." Zooey, cynical and described by Franny as "absolutely the most unsympathetic person I've ever known," brutally and honestly shares with Franny what he thinks her problem is, and also attacks her newly embraced spirituality, questioning her motives. He later tries to smooth things over, and the story ends with a smile on Franny's face.

Everyone has their own favorite quotes from this one, especially in Zooey's lengthy advice to his little sister, Franny. I mean, don't we all need a big brother like Zooey to shake us with the calloused truth sometimes? Granted, he could have been kinder with his words, but I appreciated his bluntness (probably because it wasn't directed at me).

My favorite sections were these:

"It's us...we're freaks...we're the Tattooed Lady, and we're never going to have a minute's peace, for the rest of our lives, till everyone else is tattooed, too."

"There are nice things in the world- and I mean nice things. We're all such morons to get sidetracked."

"God instructs the heart, not by ideas but by pains and contradictions. -De Caussade"

"One other thing...you raved and you bitched when you came home about the stupidity of audiences. The goddam 'unskilled laughter' coming from the fifth row. And that's right, that's right-God knows it's depressing. I'm not saying it isn't. But that's none of your business, really. That's none of your business, Franny. An artist's only concern is to shoot for some kind of perfection, and on his own terms, not anyone else's. You have no right to think about those things, I swear to you. Not in any real sense, anyway. You know what I mean?"

In that last one, I kind of felt like Salinger was talking about his audience/readers and his process. And a perspective shift again, as I'm an amateur writer myself and appreciate what I see here as encouragement.

Magnificent.

That one word can be used to describe my feelings about this book. Nothing happens in this book, yet at the same time everything happens. The book takes place over the course of a single weekend during which Franny Glass has breakdown. Returning home after passing out at a planned outing with her boyfriend, she sinks into a malaise from which her brother Zooey attempts to talk her down.

As I said it doesn't sound like much, but from the very beginning I knew it was something special. The book is composed of two short stories, or more accurately one short story and one novella, named, one apiece, for each of the title characters, but there really is a lot packed into a few pages making it quite dense and not something you are likely to push through in one afternoon. Salinger relied heavily on dialogue for these two stories and I think going into it as if you are reading a play will help the reader. The conversations between first Franny and her boyfriend Lane, Zooey and his mother, and finally Zooey and Franny, are far ranging and often existential in nature. They discuss everything from the higher education system to the arts, religion, and psychology. I don't think this is a book for everyone, but for me it was perfection.

Franny and Zooey By J.D. Salinger

4 Stars

Oh Franny and Zooey, what a family! Salinger has done it again, I love reading his work. It's a love I share with my daughter who has loved A Catcher in The Rye forever it seems. Reading this called a myriad of thoughts and emotions. We begin in the first part reading a narrative between Franny and her lackidaisical boyfriend Lane. The narrative develops and you realize Lane is wrapped up in college and the frivilous things college boys find important and not so much with what Franny is truly struggling with. She actually becomes ill and we learn she is searching for life's meaning and deeper things then her surrounding world is currently providing her.

Next enters Zooey reading a letter in a bathtub which is uninterupted by his mother whom he refers to as the fat lady. This family is really something. They have a an older brother who taught Franny and Zooey a lot but committed suicide. The brothers and sisters were also highly intelligent with the whole family competing and devouring a lot of literature and knowledge. What effect has this had on them and how do they function around normal society when so many things are going on in their minds all the time? Franny is obsessed currently with a book called The Way of the Pilgrim which wants you to chant a religious mantra continiously to reach an mind expanding experience. Zooey is giving the task by the fat lady to sort out Franny before she becomes like her first born.

I've read in reviews that this feels like reading a play to some and I would agree with that. A much more interesting one in my opinion then say Waiting for Godot, which I did enjoy, and Death of a Salesmen which I lothed.

While reading this it reminded me of my household and some of the conversations I have with my son. It's randomness and has no real goal or plot but the journey is oh so interesting. I was totally fine with it, it was like I was visiting these characters for a weekend. At the end even though the conversation can go on for what seems like ever it does end and then, you rest.

Franny and Zooey was my first introduction to Salinger's Glass family. The two youngest members of the family are young and world weary New Yorkers who have philosophical debates about life, meaning, and purpose. Like Salinger's most famous character, Holden Caulfield, Franny and Zooey are disenchanted with the world and seek deeper meaning in their lives.

I found these two stories to be a quick, yet impactful read. I thought the characters were believable, sometimes overly precocious, and I liked the grounded quality that Bessie Glass, the mom brought (as other reviewers here have said). The theme of both short stories is the path to enlightenment and finding out what is true to yourself beyond the maddening crowd of noise and societal obligations. I think more of Salinger's world view is present in Zooey. You will leave reading feeling more whole.

Probably JD Salinger's second-most-famous novel, he's here again with the Glass family, in particular Zooey who has the same kind of attitude, questioning, condescension, pretension, and zinging pessimism as Holden Caulfield. The novel starts with the short story "Franny," where the heroin struggles with a spiritual conversion she's not quite sure she's actually having. Her difficulties surround her, in everything. She can't escape. There is no resolution.

Next we get "Zooey," a novella focused on the novel's true protagonist (or grown-up Holden), as he weeds through his family life, his two older genius brothers who have influenced his and Franny's life tremendously, for better or worse. We get his take on the acting life, true spirituality, and brilliance.

The whole book is a blazing philosophical and spiritual exercise, surely echoing many of Salinger's own positions, as he explores the truths and untruths and ramifications of trying to find the underpinnings of life. It moves slowly, but the conversation is fascinating--Salinger is brilliant at writing conversation, with emphases, colloquial speech, and (usually) authentic speaking rhythm. It's an easy read and I would recommend, simply for the relatable family dynamics and the very provoking spiritual and religious questionings.

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"any name of God--any name at all--has this peculiar, self-active power of its own, and it starts working after you've sort of started it up" (37)

"The cards are stacked (quite properly, I imagine) against all professional aesthetes, and no doubt we all deserve the dark, wordy, academic deaths we all sooner or later die." (59)

"Phooey, I say, on all white-shoe college boys who edit their campus literary magazines. Give me an honest con man any day." (98)

"I don't know what good it is to know so much and be smart as whips and all if it doesn't make you happy." (118)

"You're lucky if you get time to sneeze in this goddam phenomenal world. I used to worry about that. I don't worry about it very much any more. At least I'm still in love with Yorick's skull. At least I always have time enough to stay in love with Yorick's skull. I want an honorable goddam skull when I'm dead" (198)

"An artist's only concern is to shoot for some kind of perfection, and *on his own terms*, not anyone else's." (199)

Consisting of a short story and a related novella, here is Salinger's great statement on life.

Maybe(?) It certainly speaks to alienation, but so do all Salinger's works. Well... read it and tell me what you liked about it. I am certain there will be something. It is well written.

At times, the voice and the characters made me thing of Edward Albee's "Zoo Story", for some reason, a play written during the very same period of years. Maybe there was something in the air or water in the late 50's?

Anyway, what was not to like here? I could say my typical, "I wish the author knew how to use paragraph breaks" but what is the point? Writers never listen.

I counted 61 sentences in one "paragraph" in this book. As Salinger himself would say, through Zooey (or Caulfield before him), "For Christsake, you have to break the goddamn paragraph!"

What else? That Salinger's choice of well off, white, Manhattan-living, prep-school protagonists is annoying? Yes, it is, but, we can only write what we know.

The real highlight of the book, I think, is that it explains and distills religion, for us, more effectively than most of the holy books I have read.

Worth reading.

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

-- 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NKJV)

An all too infrequent subject for literature is considering how following the Bible might impact one's life. In this case, a young woman (Franny Glass) reacts to the world's phoniness by continually repeating a brief "Jesus prayer." In the short story, "Franny," this subject is introduced in the context of a weekend date in New Haven before a football game. Franny's attempt to draw closer to God contrasts powerfully with the superficial concerns of Lane, her date.

In the companion novella, "Zooey," we see the more sensitive reaction of Franny's brother, Zooey, to her more prayerful life. His solution is to attack her motives and methods, weaknesses that she's well aware of.

From both works, there's a haunting sense of being alone amid a secular world focused on trivia at a time when one is seeking to develop a spiritual foundation. Franny doesn't have a prayer partner to help her learn more about prayer and to develop her spiritual life. As a result, her foray leaves her weakened and vulnerable. The angst of the existentialist questions about the meaning of life comes through very strongly.

While not being overt about it, J.D. Salinger is setting up the case for detachment as the solution to the pain of modern living, as a contrast to either playing the world's game or seeking to find a meaningful spiritual connection.

I first read these works when they were initially published in book form in 1961. I didn't like Lane any better this time, but I wasn't as pleased with Zooey as I was on the initial reading. My reactions to Franny were about the same.

For anyone on a search for God, don't just guide your life by one Bible verse. Draw from the whole Bible, learn the Gospel message, and spend time with believers who are interested in helping you find answers to your questions and concerns. At some point, the Holy Spirit will take over . . . something that doesn't happen in these works.

It's good food for thought. Although the circumstances of the story are clearly dated into the 1950s, I think the search for spiritual meaning represented here is timeless.

I had the opportunity to read "Franny and Zooey" for a book group following upon the death of J.D. Salinger (1919 -2010). I had read "Catcher in the Rye" and this book as well, as I remember, late in high school but had not revisited the author since then.

I was struck by the religious, spiritual themes of the book, especially its involvement with Eastern religion and with mysticism. My interest in Buddhism has increased in recent years as I have become older. Salinger's books, which appealed to young people many years ago, seem to have aged with the time.

The book includes two short interrelated stories written a few years apart, "Franny" (1955) and "Zooey" (1957), which were published in book form in 1961. The two are the youngest children of the Glass family that Salinger created. Franny is 20 and her brother Zooey 25. There were seven Glass children, all of whom were intellectual and child prodigies who appeared, over the course of nearly 20 years, on a radio quiz show called "Its a Wise Child." Their intellectual brilliance, among many other factors, have left them confused about themselves. The oldest Glass child, Seymour, had committed suicide seven years before the events described in "Franny and Zooey". In these two stories, Franny and Zooey are shown with their difficulties and with their attempts to come to a sense of peace, understanding, and detachment in terms which are overtly spiritual.

The story "Franny" takes place over a college football weekend in 1955 where Franny comes to visit her boyfriend, Lane Coutrell. The story takes place over lunch between Franny and Lane and consists of their conversation. Franny is critical of her boyfriend and of his conventionality. She criticizes her professors amd most of the people around her for what she sees as complacency, ignorance, and egoism. In seeming contrast to what she perceives, Franny carries with her a Russian religious book called "The Way of a Pilgrim" The Way of a Pilgrim which discusses the need for continuous prayer as a well to self-illuminations. She discusses "The Way of a Pilgrim" and other forms of religious mantras found in Eastern religion with a skeptical and uninterested Lane during the course of their lunch. She collapses.

The longer story "Zooey" takes place a few days following Franny's weekend with Lane. It is set in the Glass family home in New York City. The first character we meet is Zooey who is rereading a long letter from his brother, Buddy, which recounts the Glass family story and urges Zooey to be active and to make something of his life. The remainder of the story consists of conversations between Zooey and his mother, Bessie, and between Zooey and Franny. Zooey struggles to overcome his feelings as a "freak" and as an ousider and to suppress his disdain for a culture devoted to television. Zooey is concerned for his sister and for her devotion to what he perceives as a religious cult which will separate her from the need to go forward and live. Franny and Zooey have two intense conversations, the first face-to-face, and the second over the telephone where Zooey initially disguises himself as the brother, Buddy. Both Franny and Zooey seem to find ways of moving forward following their conversations.

The book as a whole reminded me most of the Bhagavadgita in its theme of activity and doing what one needs to do more than of any Buddhist teaching. The book also reminded me of Kerouac who was active at about the same time as Salinger. Reading it as someone who is far from young, I had a sense of the quandries in which Franny and Zooey found themselves. I have struggled with some of the same religious texts and issues over the years. For all its success, this is a book that should be read quietly and in solitude.

Robin Friedman

For the most part, the setting for Franny and Zooey is limited to a train station, a restaurant and a Manhattan apartment. It is a story about the Glass family, of which Franny and Zooey are the two youngest siblings. If you've already read Catcher In The Rye The Catcher in the Rye, you'll immediately pick up on similar themes, particularly when Franny is speaking. The frustration with phoniness, especially collegiate/pop culture phoniness is here in earnest, but it's expanded and fleshed out and placed in a distinctly religious context for much of the book. Buddhism and Christianity are swirled together throughout the story like fudge ripple ice cream. It's almost impossible to take a bite without getting some of both. Franny and Zooey (originally published as two separate works in the New Yorker) was written at about the same time that Kerouac was Dharma Bumming The Dharma Bums (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) about the West and you can feel the beat influence 3,000 miles away in the Glass living room.

This novel is an enormous, far-ranging conversation with potentially eternal implications. The brother and sister are both freaks in a sense, much like Holden was, and two of their older siblings have already tragically passed away. They are not your ordinary, run-of-the-mill young adults. Both their DNA and their upbringing precluded that eventuality. Even if the reader doesn't buy the risk of damnation, it is impossible to deny that Franny and Zooey's sanity and potentially their lives themselves are at stake. Not every antagonist busts through the front door or waits for us down a dark alley. Sometimes, they are an aspect of our own psyche which threatens us from within like a synaptic Trojan Horse. Even without the spiritual/philosophical/psychological struggles, however, the conversations would make the book worth reading in and of themselves. They are erudite, profane, imaginative, shrill, sarcastic, witty and entirely entertaining. They make you laugh in spite of their tragic underpinnings. Only Shot At A Good Tombstone

Franny and Zooey takes place in a large apartment in upper Manhattan. There is an isolation, seclusion and haunting quality to life in the apartment. The story revolves around Franny Glass, the youngest of the Glass family. The Glass parents are successful and talented performers.

Franny is at a crisis point in her young life, a spiritual crisis. She appears to have broken down. Zooey is sent to talk to her. Both Franny and Zooey are precocious, and a bit egotistical as they begin a long personal and searching discussion.

The book is not dated, and in my view; it is still relevant and brilliant. The simple white cover and young, lively font capture the story's essence. Franny and Zooey goes much deeper than Catcher in the Rye, and it remains Salinger's greatest book. What makes it great is the conclusion. A conclusion that is both satisfying and surprising.

Another reread as I work though Salinger. Admittedly not a very strenuous project. I am hoping that his executors will find enough material in his papers to make it a little harder. Franny and Zooey is my favorite of his books. For starters they are the most likable of the Glass family, Les and Bessie aside. They are also the most plausible (though Buddy standing in for Salinger himself I suppose has to be granted plausibility as well) of the family which is composed to some extent of a Chinese menu of stock characters, philosopher, literary genius, actor, cool mom, tragic soldier, monk and actress/college student. The ideas and feelings that Franny and Zooey grapple with in these two stories are familiar to many people and perfectly captured albeit in an almost nauseating cloud of smoke.

(Review based on the Penguin edition of said book)

After having read "The Catcher in the Rye" and "Nine Stories", "Franny & Zooey" was the logical step onward. I absolutely adore JD Salinger, and that book didn't disappoint me at all.

In this short novel - in two parts - you get to know more about the Glass family, first touched upon in "Nine Stories".

Salinger is definitely one of the most talented writers I've ever had the pleasure to read, and I just can't get enough of his writings. He's at once witty, profound, extremely intelligent, humane, well-read, and God knows how many other adjectives I could list here.

So what's this book about? I'd say, perhaps wrongly, that it's about life for people who are too intelligent to have an easy ride through it. But even that sort of description doesn't do the book justice. I just don't know how to describe this book without failing to do so; I think it's better to just trust me and go buy it right away (provided you read the two former books I mentioned at the beginning of this review). You have to experience this!

I'm sorry about my reviews in general (and this one among them) because I never really write anything amazing unless I have something negative to say and criticise; the better the book, the worse the review. Salinger's treasures are too subtle to be apptly described in a review. I could say I love his style and everything, that I find him extraordinary and talented as hell, but that wouldn't do much convincing of anyone reading this review. Salinger may not please everyone, but you definitely must find out for yourself if you like his books or not.

This is an incredibly complex book for its brevity. Two inter-related stories take place in only five scenes, but the scale of the story and depth of the characters is much greater. Part of this is due to Salinger's uncanny ability to hit the nail on the head when it comes to young people coming to grips with the realities of the world and how they fit into it. In a few pages, we know the characters because we were the characters. We went through the same things they're going through. Whether it's Holden Caulfield in CATCHER IN THE RYE, or Franny Glass in this book, there's a little bit of us in the characters and a little of the characters in us.

Franny and Zooey is about a teenage girl going through the crisis of finding herself and her brother coming to her aid as she borders on nervous breakdown. Franny and Zooey are the youngest of seven children, all geniuses and all showbiz prodigies. The first story, "Franny," is a pretty straightforward scene of Franny's breakdown. It has smart dialogue and I absolutely love Franny by the end of it, but the real meat of this book comes with the second story.

Some people have latched onto exactly what causes Franny's condition as the main question in the story. I thought it a more interesting question: Who is the narrator of "Zooey?" We are told early on that it is an elder brother, Buddy, but I'm not so sure we should take this at face value, especially considering Zooey's tendency to act and impersonate, as exemplified later in the story. Could Zooey possibly be the narrator, and how does that change our perception of the story?

There is a line in "Zooey" that goes: "...all legitemate religious study must lead to unlearning the differences, the illusory differences between boys and girls, animals and stones, day and night, heat and cold." This seemed one of the major themes of the book, one of the lessons Franny is learning. It also applies to a comparison between Franny and CATCHER's Holden Caulfield. There's more in common between people, things, etc., than one may think. Sometimes it just takes a higher viewpoint.

This is a great book for a lit class, with many questions for discussion. Zooey's point, as he talks Franny out of her hole, that what motivates her-the quest for knowledge and enlightenment-is no different than than what motivates the people she looks down upon-those seekind money, fame, culture, property. With one swift stab, he pokes a hole in her stance of intellectual superiority. Whether one agrees with his argument or not, the dynamic between the younger, searching sister and older, slightly wiser brother is laced with insight and interest. A great, quick read.

To be honest, I read Franny and Zooey simply because my name is Zoe and people would always bring up the book, which was quite irritating (oh, and I'm a girl). So I basically read it so that I didn't seem ignorant everytime someone mentioned it. Suprisingly though, it is one of the best books I have ever read (I only write reviews on my favorites and least favorites). I know I'll be chastised for saying this because so many will disagree, but I really think that Franny and Zooey is to Catcher in the Rye what Villette is to Jane Eyre. Yes, I realize they are completely different. But people often give more recognition to Catcher in the Rye (and Jane Eyre) than to Franny and Zooey (and Villette). Villette and Franny and Zooey are the more risque of the novels (if such a thing is possible to say) and some of the intelligent types who bother to read them often find them better then their partners (which are usually mandatory school books which always increases dislike). Not to say Catcher in the Rye is not a brilliant book. It may be better than Franny and Zooey, I really cannot say. When I began F & Z I loved the first part about Franny and then it switches to the Zooey part...and well it seems to get dull, but it's really just an illusion, I swear, by the time you get farther into the section you recognize the background more for what it is, and the insight it gives you to the family. I love Salinger because it's so casual, which makes the novel feel as if it were being read to you instead of you reading it for yourself. F & Z is no exception. It's really upseting to me to read all the negative views, because I went into reading this book expecting to not like it, and came out loving it, so if that's possible I don't see how others can detest it as they do. I think some people simply do not understand the content of the book, so please do not be swayed by negative reviews. Out of all the books to share a name with a charachter, there are certainly worse. Oh, and I'm fifteen, but don't think this book is only for the young. If this book took you a lifetime to read and truly understand then you'll probably learn more then most will ever in their lifetime.

Due to the suicide of Seymour Glass, Franny's religious beliefs are fluctuating. Franny was never able to accept religion before her brother's suicide. However, now that she is trying to "find herself," she is caught up in the vast world of religion. Her obvious relationship with religion is illustrated through the book she continues to carry around. She tries to fall back on it, by praying incessantly. However, through her subconscious thoughts she is depicted as never being able to accept religion. Though people continue to try to offer Franny guidance, there remains a reason for her searching and nervous breakdown. Franny's searching is an obvious result of her brother's suicide. Since the tragic event, she is constantly seeking guidance, but cannot accept it. The one religious element she holds onto is her book, "The Way of the Pilgrim." It gives her reason to believe that she will get over the suicide. The peasant looking for prayer without ceasing found his way, found his path in life through religion. She sees the novel's sequel as her sequel, that if she prays incessantly, she could get over her troubles. Jesus Christ is the person she falls back on. She tells herself that she does not directly believe in Jesus, "But the thing is, the marvelous thing is, when you first start doing it, you don't even have to have faith in what you're doing. I mean even if you're terribly embarrassed about the whole thing, it's perfectly all right." In this case, she uses herself as an example, she cannot say to herself she fully believes that praying incessantly will make her get over her problems. However, she feels she needs some sort of help. By using this "Jesus prayer" she tries to escape the superficiality and corruptness of life that she feels, now that Seymour died and life has deceived her. Deep within, she knows she is doomed; she knows inside that no religion can help solve her psychological problems. Since the death of Seymour, her angers continuously frustrate her. She is constantly contradicting Lane, her boyfriend. With everything she contradicts him about, she feels inside she is getting her frustrations out. When in fact, she is taking it out on the wrong people. Her relationship to her religion subconsciously led to her nervous breakdown. She won't accept guidance or help because she cannot take the criticism. When Zooey is telling her that praying incessantly will not work, she knows she can't take it, so she acts as if she didn't hear him. At home, she separates herself from the family. She barely talks to them, and will not take her mom's guidance. "I tried-not a half hour ago-to get her to take a nice cup of chicken broth." Through her mother's continuous offering of chicken soup and psychoanalysis, her mother is trying to open up, to help guide Franny through her problems. However, Franny is relentless to accept guidance, from which she will get criticism. This criticism that she worries about will show her that life has once again deceived her.
When Seymour died, it made Franny change her view of religion. Originally, her family was split religions, so her parents taught all the kids all religions. "This is, we wanted you both to know who and what Jesus and Gautama and Lao-tse and Shankaracharya and Hui-neng and Sri Ramakrishna, etc..." She needed something to fallback on. She saw a way to be part of a religion, which supposedly works. Starting off, she would not even have to have faith in what she was doing. It fit a description of a religion perfect for her. However, the constant doubt remained in her mind that this was too easy to solve her problems. Religion is much vaster and more complicated then just this. However, consciously she could not acknowledge or accept it. When she was finally able to see it, she had a nervous breakdown.
Religion in the perspective of Franny Glass was way too simple. By simply repeating " 'Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me,' " she felt she could get rid of her problems, as the peasant and other people did in "The Way of the Pilgrim." However, with an inability to take criticism as Franny had, she could never accept there is more than just that to religion.

I've just finished my third reading (over the course of twenty years) of what I consider to be Salinger's most intriguing work. "Catcher" is much more satisfying from a narrative perspective, but "Franny and Zooey" is superior thematically.

Although this book has often been knocked for its wordiness, especially in the longer of the two stories: Zooey, a modern re-examination reveals its influence in many popular writers of today: J. Robert Lennon, Tom Robbins, and David Foster Wallace are three who spring to mind immediately. But back to the knock of "wordiness" F&Z has had to endure. The charge reminds me of a criticism of Mozart's work in the film Amadeus: "too many notes."

Seems to me that a reader who enjoys language, ideas, mood, and character might argue that the 200 pages of this book go by far too quickly! Salinger uses the dialogue and setting to artfully render his point and deliver it with maximum impact. Entertainingly petty, meandering arguments in the beginning build into substantial considerations and emotional rememberances to make way for a finale that strikes hard and deep. If you read this book and get into it, you will never forget its arguments (even if you disagree with most of them).

All of that aside, though, the 41 pages that comprise the Franny portion of the book stand up as one of the most skillfully written and purely entertaining pieces of work I've ever read. It is astounding what Salinger accomplishes in this story with little more than dialogue and descriptions of character mannerisms. I have found myself, over the years, in several restaurants that match the mood of this story so nearly that I find myself looking around for the table Lane and Franny occupy. If you don't want to wade through the philosophical/spiritual arguments in the Zooey story, at least read Franny.

There are many great reviews, but I thought I would take a moment to discuss this novel and why I enjoyed it.

If you are a Salinger fan, then his work needs no introduction. He only published one novel, this collection which includes a short story and a novella, and a collected work of short fiction.

Though I consider Catcher to be one of the greatest books written in the 20th century, this still deserves high praise, though it is hard to compare to Catcher. We follow the Glass family through these two stories, the characters that were lightly introduced in a few of his '9 stories'. I won't get into specifics, but the stories are connected. The first, the short story, involves Franny Glass and her boyfriend at dinner. The resulting scenes end with her nervous breakdown, and make for great reading. The second story focuses more on her brother Zooey and his interaction with her and their mother just after Franny's breakdown. Both stories are full of emotion, meaning, and substance. I highly recommend this as a great book to spend a weekend with!

"Franny and Zooey" is the story of the two youngest siblings in the Glass Family, Salinger's fictional dysfunctional family. Franny is undergoing a nervous breakdown during the movie and Zooey is trying to help her get back on course. Throughout the book, most of the story is told through dialogue.

I found the writing to be interesting, but there just wasn't a whole lot going on and I don't think it stands up as an equal to "A Catcher in the Rye." I would recommend the book to only the most hardcore Salinger fans.

I loved this book. What a collection of interesting and sad characters all from the same family, the Glass family. This mainly focuses on the youngest siblings of seven children, Franny and Zooey.

Both are actors, but Franny has come home from college, and is having a sort of breakdown. The book is divided into two segments, called "Franny" and "Zooey," both focusing on Franny's breakdown, which is of a spiritual nature, and is caused by her aversion to all things being ruled by ego, and false collegiate attitudes, and involves her intonation of a Jesus prayer, over and over.

Both Franny and Zooey have had a precocious upbringing in the Glass family, and were former panelists on a children's whiz kid like radio program. All the Glass children were former contestants. Zooey believes this upbringing, particularly the religious teachings of their older brothers Buddy and Seymour that has made them "freaks."

The dialogue in this book is very clever, and is divided into segments that almost have the quality of theater, beginning with the restaurant scene between Franny and boyfriend Lane, to Zooey's bathroom conversation with Bessie, the matriarch of the Glass family, and I've never heard a son talk to his mother the way Zooey talks to Bessie, and the final confrontations between Franny and Zooey. Salinger also provides biting criticisms of his own characters.

The final religious revelations are interesting, and sweet, and presented in a way that is completely unique. I would say this is a must read for everyone.

This little book packs quite a big punch of witty descriptions and thought-provoking dialogue in a succinct but moving religiously themed novel.

Not much happens plot-wise throughout the 200 or so pages of "Franny and Zooey." Instead, the book is set on a foundation of a few excellent character interactions: first between Franny, a college student, and her boyfriend; then between Zooey, Franny's older brother, and their mother; and finally between Franny and Zooey. I simply love the way Salinger paints his characters and their surroundings: he's perfectly precise when he has to be, but skillfully indeterminate the rest of the time, allowing the reader to actively engage the book by creating a visual and audio picture of what is going on.

While the book is religiously involved, it is absolutely accessible to non-religious people. In fact, Salinger does an excellent job of incorporating religions from all corners of the world in "Franny and Zooey," making this novel enlightening on multiple levels.

This book comes with a high recommendation. It was a breath of fresh air in my lineup of fiction and definitely a satisfactory find.

J.D. Salinger's brilliant "Franny and Zooey" is essentially a novella about a woman's quest for spiritual perfection. This book, approximately 200 pages in length, contains two sections (more like two fairly long chapters--the second much longer than the first) detailing Franny Glass' efforts to reach a higher spirtual plane, her subsequent breakdown, and her brother Zooey (Zachary) Glass' attempts to pull her out of her swoon.
Part one, appropriately titled "Franny" begins with Franny's breakdown in a highscale restaurant with her literary-student boyfriend. The story unravels slowly (much like Franny) as details of what's causing the change in Franny are revealed. After reading about an itinerant Russian peasant's quest for ultimate spirituality (in two books from older brother Seymour's library) through incessant repetition of the Jesus Prayer (a reference to 1Th 5:17), Franny sets out to do the same with a concerted effort to continually mutter the prayer herself. Franny spends the meal railing against the desires and cravings of the well-to-do around her and has by all appearances undergone a drastic change of personality which ultimately results in her breakdown.
Part two, titled "Zooey" picks up where part one lets off (for the most part). Franny returns home to the Glass house where she promptly refuses to eat and spends most of her time sleeping on the living room couch. This section of the novel (perhaps the most delightful 150 pages I have ever read) deals with Zooey's efforts to bring Franny back to reality. What makes this such a great book (aside from Salinger's way with words) is the dialogue between the various characters (only Franny, Zooey, and their mother, Bessie Glass make an appearance in part two). "Zooey" starts out with an amusing scene in Zooey's bathroom with an extremely amusing discussion between Zooey and Bessie regarding Franny's condition. Bessie urges Zooey to do something about it and ultimately Zooey agrees to talk to her. And talk to her he does. The dialogue between Zooey and Franny is equally engaging although instead of humor, it's tinged with an overt spirituality and love. Powerful and rapidly achieved, the conclusion to this story is simply beautiful. There's nothing more to say.
A terrific book on many levels--a true classic every bit the equal of "Catcher in the Rye" or "Nine Stories"--and not to be missed. Very highly recommended.

It was always a little embarrassing to admit that I hadn't read Franny and Zooey. In the literary world, I guess it's kind of the equivalent of a beauty queen admitting she wears dentures. Somewhere in between that admission and the other one (that I found `Catcher in the Rye' tolerably okay but not a masterpiece) those who saw me in equal standing begin to hee and haw and slap their knees from mirth over my taste--as if I drink sherry to get drunk (I do).

Well, now this lack is no longer a flaw to lug with me to the next book club meeting. I am properly initiated into the J.D. Salinger fan club. I loved Franny and Zooey. I loved Franny's entrance, her run-on letters to her lover, her ever so innocent religious fanaticism. I loved Zooey's interaction with Mrs. Glass, loved Zooey taking a bath, Franny's fragile breakdown, and Zooey's marvelous intentions and ultimate belief that no matter how tiny or clownish we are, we are all the "children of man."

The way it was put together, however sliced in interims, was hemmed with incredible talent. It was put together so elegantly, so mired in everyday dialogue, that I'll have to read it again to really get all the twists and turns and subtle metaphors that Salinger laid out like kitchen towels on the blank countertops of the un-inked page.

I read this aloud with my husband and enjoyed the funny banter and the arguments and blistering speech. But the end was really the beauty of the book. Before that, I felt a little like I was just speeding along confused about the destination...
I didn't think it was as compelling as "Catcher in the Rye," though there were many similarities that I liked and was drawn to: The relationship between the sister (Franny) and the brother (Zooey) was similar to that between Holden and Phoebe Caulfield, and, of course, the colloquial tone and the means of telling most of the story either through talking or the conceit of talking to the reader was so enjoyable, particularly read aloud. We took a while to get through it though, due to travel schedules, etc., and I think that letting it sit was a mistake; I think it lost some of its intensity because it wasn't read quickly. While reading it aloud was really fun, I think it would be equally enjoyable to hole-up with it for a day or weekend and get the whole effect of the conversations quickly following on one another in "real time," so to speak.
That said, I thought it was really beautiful at the end, and I kind of got a little catch in my throat as I read the conclusion. Zooey (rhymes with Louie, so I've been told) really loves his sister dearly and her crisis of faith is a crisis for him, too. Its resolution is one of the precious moments when you have a small insight into being really loved. Experiencing that kind of familial closeness was really enriching, I thought. The way Salinger brings it together was quite poetic and moving. I highly recommend it.

Having read all three of Salinger's published books, I was eager to see what he had to say in his other major piece on the Glass family. Besides indulging us in this unusual collection of characters, Salinger provides his answers to some of the most perplexing problems in his others stories, including 'catcher in the rye.' We all remember Holden's difficulty dealing with all the phony people in society as well as the death of his brother Allie. In this novel, Zooey guides Franny as she uncovers unsettling truths about phony people, and ultimately gives her some reassurance that meditation and reflection on mythical figures can answer these anxieties. Anyone who has read this book might also want to read 'Raise High the Roofbeams Carpenters; and Seymour, an Introduction' to learn more about Seymouor, who plays such a vital role in 'F&Z' despite the fact he isn't in it. Moreover, 'F&Z' gives some hints as to how Seymour met his mysterious fate.
All this being said, you can see how there is so much to get out of this novel. If it weren't for the fact that I read 'Catcher' when I was young, this novel woudl have undoubtedly become my favorite Salinger piece.

Wow! This one really blind sided me. I, of course, love The Catcher in the Rye, but when I tried reading Nine Stories, I was put off by them, so between that & his notorious silence, I just assumed Salinger was a one hit wonder. Still, he's got a birthday coming up (1/01/1919) and I found the book for a dollar, so I figured what the heck. Boy, am I glad.
The book consists of two interconnected stories from the Glass family series, originally published in The New Yorker; Franny is the youngest sister, Zooey the youngest brother. All seven of the children were featured, each as they came of age, on a radio program called "It's a Wise Child", where:
In general, listeners were divided into two, curiously restive camps: those who held that the Glasses
were a bunch of insufferably "superior" little bastards that should have been drowned or gassed at
birth, and those who held that they were bona-fide underage wits and savants, of an uncommon, if
unenviable, order.
I wavered between these two opinions, though leaning towards insufferable, through the first story, Franny (1955), which concerns Franny's visit to her college boyfriend as she teeters on the edge of a breakdown, and the first three quarters of Zooey (1957), which opens with an extended scene featuring the visiting TV star Zooey taking a bath and arguing with his mother as she tries to convince him to help Franny, who is continuing her breakdown on the family couch, having abandoned acting class. It seemed that these characters were simply Holden Caufields a little farther along in life--precocious, bright and charming, but hypersensitive to the point of neuroses. But then all of a sudden, when Zooey does intervene, the story really takes off.
Franny, who shares with Zooey and her other siblings (and with Holden Caufield) an exasperation with the inadequacies of all those around her and with the problems of the world in general, has become fascinated by the works of a Russian mystic who advocates endless repetition of a certain Jesus Prayer as a means of getting in touch with God. (...)
This beautiful revelatory story is so suffused with empathy, humanity and spirituality, I had very nearly the same reaction as Franny. Zooey/Salinger has offered a way out of Franny's/Holden's/our' dilemma: the dissatisfaction with the seeming shortcomings of the world and the people around us. First, we must let go of our obsession with the failings of those around us; we can not be, nor should we try to be, catchers in the rye, trying to save or change everyone. Second, we must polish them for the Fat Lady; seek to live our lives perfectly, that we may be worthy of the audience, Christ Himself.
If you have ever read and enjoyed The Catcher in the Rye, you owe it to yourself to read this book, an extended coda which, in effect, completes Holden's tale. It is one of the most moving and profoundly Christian works I've ever read. No wonder folks get so wound up at the thought of what Salinger has been writing during his extended silence.
GRADE: A+

I really enjoyed FRANNY & ZOOEY. The characters in this book are amazingly true to life and very believable. Each viewpoint expressed has its own merits and its own drawbacks, but each side is treated with a certain amount of respect. In far too many other books, the author's own philosophies will get in the way of the story and skew it in such a manner that one argument gets though virtually unscathed, while the other one ends up looking remarkably shaky. The person with the "correct" ideas is shown to be thoughtful and wise while the other ends up looking like a close-minded jerk. Here, however, J. D. Salinger was able to show both sides, warts and all, while letting both Franny and Zooey's viewpoint remain intact and stay true to their character. The discussion they have is quite realistic and touches on real subjects - taking the higher and nobler aspects of religious and theology and bringing them into one's everyday life is something that a lot of people have thought about but not everyone has done.
I highly recommend these two stories. They're real and they're believable.

How is it possible to transform seemingly mundane conversations and goings-on into provocatively compelling dialogue and enticingly iridescent prose with masterful ability? Read Franny & Zooey and find out. Two brooding, yet illuminating short stories published in The New Yorker 2 years apart, Franny & Zooey exists as a book with two inseparably joined stories on one level; conversely they, almost without exception, also exist as two patently disparate short stories unique unto themselves.
Although written in 3rd person, the amount of not so infrequent profound introspection that emanates from the acutely neurotic Franny & Zooey leaves one in awe of Salinger's unimpeachable acumen for fiction. For those in doubt, just read the first page and witness Salinger's penchant for jaw-dropping prose as he somehow magically transmogrifies a rather uneventful setting into an engrossingly captivating one.
Franny is acutely plagued by an insufferable disillusionment in a name-dropping pedantic collegiate environment that has sapped her passion for college and the cookie cutter lifestyle that invariably will accompany it soon after. Zooey's unremitting, if not humorous, cynicism and his biting sardonic commentary on his overbearing mother, Franny's esoteric religious beliefs, and on society in general make a perfect yin for Franny's yang.
"Sometimes I think that knowledge-when it's knowledge for knowledge's sake, anyway-is the worst of all."
- Franny

As with much of Salinger's short pieces, there is much more depth to his writing than there appears on the surface. For me, 'Franny' is one of his most perfect stories. There is much also to be taken from 'Zooey', but I also think it detracts from the simple beauty and openness to interpretation of the first story. Reading 'Franny' on its own - which is how it was originally published after all - my first impression was that Franny was pregnant. The clues are at the start of the story, as some reviewers have commented - "... so you can relax about that Friday night. I don't even think they heard us come in", says Franny. At the very end of the story, Lane also says: "When was that Friday night? Way the hell early last month, wasn't it?" He shook his head. "That's no good. Too goddam long between drinks. To put it crassly." The fact that these quotes frame the whole story, and the timing of the event, could lead you to conclude that Franny is pregnant. Admittedly, however, this is not followed-up in 'Zooey', but it does still remain a possibility, I think.

Readers' reactions to this book seem to depend upon whether they can identify with, or understand, people like the Glass children. Are deeply religious or philosophical issues important to you, or not? Do you, or do you not, wish to enter the conversation with the author/characters? I know some readers who cannot imagine that there are actually people like Franny in today's world. "People like that don't really exist!" See some of the reviews below - reading about religious issues is "boring in a work of fiction". Naturally, if you think so you would not likely enjoy this book. However, if you are such a person as Franny, and I assure you such people do exist and walk among you, then you may find it captivating. I cannot give a better description of the book than the review by Mr. Maynez - how can we live an ethical life? If such a question is important to you then I would definitely recommend the book.

Salinger's critics (including the honorable John Updike, jealous perhaps?) denounce Salinger's great love for his Glass Family. Others criticize the message of this novel, a transcendent,soaring message of hope and forgiveness. Maybe these traits are not popular with the traditionally cynical critic's circle, but the message and style of this novel have changed my life. These couple of stories are written so beautifully and subtley, while eliciting a strong, immediate emotional reaction in the reader. Franny is an extraordinary girl, but a universal enough character that I am continually able to identify with her and her struggles with sprituality and the phoniness of ego and self-centeredness. Salinger has encouraged me to start writing, to maybe convey some sort of simple truth through the written word. This book, like "Raise High.." and "Nine Stories," is mind bogglingly good. A masterpiece. Writer's should not be limited to the worldly, the material. Salinger dares to account for a greater force in our lives, and that's why we shine our shoes, even when we're on the radio.

So says Franny to her college beau, Lane in response to his wondering why she quit acting in school. I love this line; and many more. After having read Catcher in the Rye & some of his short stories back in high-school (many years ago), I finally found the right time & place to pick up where I left off with Salinger. Franny & Zooey is a wonderful "second novel", and recaptured much of the plain language & straight-forward conversational rhythm that I remembered enjoying while reading Catcher in the Rye. There are lots of interesting reviews here about this book and how it's affected people. I truly understand now, how reading an important book at different stages of one's life can take on new significance, often in very different ways from the initial reading. Since this is my first time through Franny & Zooey, I feel obligated to compare it to Catcher. The many similarities between the two novels include the age of the main characters (college), connections with acting or actors/"hollywood", addiction to cigarettes (is there a single line in this book not spoken without a cigarette in hand?), and the confessional nature of conversation in which "family" looms large. But while Holden Caulfield, Franny, & Zooey all complain about the "phonyness" of the world around them, Holden seems (as I recall - it's been twelve years since I last read Catcher) more preoccupied with youth & preservation, while Franny & Zooey delve into religion. Ultimately, Franny & Zooey is about an existential crisis - Franny's hunger for religion & truth while feeling overwhelmed by the superficiality of pedantic professors, erudite intellectuals, and, well, her "lame" boyfriend himself. She is so overwhelmed that she faints at the restaurant.

Enter Zooey. Zooey is a bit of an intellectual himself, as is the whole Glass family. Thus, the ironical nature of much of Zooey's "speaches". Salinger lets Zooey be long-winded and he takes up most of the novel. I think some readers might be put of by this, and it can be a trifle tiresome at times, but it does end up "feeling right" afterwards when Zooey's child-prodigy monster of a character shows its true colours. This unique characterization is one reason why Salinger is recognized as a great American writer. In any event, despite his condesending treatment of his mother, which comes across as strange, mean, and funny all at once, Zooey is ultimately just being himself. This monster, Salinger seems to be saying, is exactly what his parents "Les & Bess" have created. We learn that the oldest kid, Seymour has committed suicide, and the second oldest, Buddy, has moved far away (but is present in the form of a letter & in spirit). Zooey is taking a bath, smoking, and reading his big brothers letter. It looks like Buddy has thankfully "escaped" the grasp of this obsessive family - run Buddy, run! (Before leaving the bathroom, make sure you note Salinger's precise description of the medicine cabinet's contents - there are some telling details there). Ultimately, Zooey makes his way out to the living room (also described in excellent detail) where lays Franny, curled up in a ball with the family cat. By the end, the slightly older but more immature Zooey is finally acting like a big-brother should (although tellingly, incapable of a face to face conversation - you'll have to read & see for yourself), and manages to display some real wisdom. The conversation between the two of them revolves around the nature of ego, and religious impulse, and Zooey consults with his memories of Seymour & Buddy (his gurus, whether he likes it or not) in order to calm Franny down. He's been through it, and understands her very well. He tells her not to make these signifcant issues out to be "so damn personal". It's a great moment too, when Zooey starts talking to Franny about "the Fat Lady".

As I write this review which I didn't imagine would become this long-winded (Zooey has infected me!) I realize that this book is deeper than Catcher, and perhaps more significant. I'm actually more impressed with its simplicity than its deep & meaningful subject-matter. Salinger's "greatness" is his wonderful ability to capture the beauty in something as seemingly mundane as two college kids sitting at a table, smoking, eating "snails & frog-legs", sipping martinis, and talking about themselves. You'll have no problem reading this book in one or two sittings, and then you'll come away from it thinking, "Wow! I need to re-read that some day, in some other place & time." I still hear the Zen-like clapping of Zooey's hand(s)...

One final note about Salinger. My impression is that there is no way he intended to stop writing (and I don't think he did) after Raise High the Roofbeams, Carpenters & Seymour. Yes, he stopped "publishing", but Franny & Zooey just feels too much like one face of a complex prism - that prism ultimately being a whole book of stories & novellas dealing with the Glass family. There's so much missing, it seems, in terms of the other family members, and especially the Mother & Father themselves. My guess is that one day, perhaps after Salinger's death as he seems to intend, we will have multiple "Franny & Zooey's" to compliment & fill out this incongruously short Glass saga . . . I, for one, look forward to the discovery & printing (& glorious fanfare!!) of a NEW Salinger story. It's just a matter of whether or not he chooses to be around for the zoo.

This book was different than the books I normally read, however it was a refreshing change. For those of you reading reviews and finding that this book is just the conversations between characters, I think that it is a little more than that. The settings are amazingly realistic and believable, I was captivated by how well this book transports you into the settings. The characters dialogue is fantastic, and I still haven't decided how I would explain the plot to a friend because in my opinion this is more of an examination of dialogue. I enjoyed the book.

Franny and Zooey is not really a single novel. Rather, it's more like two novellas, though the novellas have overlapping characters. These stories, originally published in The New Yorker magazine, concern Franny and Zooey Glass, two members of the family that was the subject of most of Salinger's short fiction (and also the Wes Anderson movie The Royal Tannenbaums). Franny is an intellectually precocious late adolescent who tries to attain spiritual purification by obsessively reiterating the "Jesus prayer" as an antidote to the perceived superficiality and corruptness of life. She subsequently suffers a nervous breakdown. In the second story, her next older brother, Zooey, attempts to heal Franny by pointing out that her constant repetition of the "Jesus prayer" is as self-involved and egotistical as the egotism against which she rails. Entertaining and intelligent.

Anyone can see themselves in the characters of Franny and/or Zooey. In Franny, we have the hopeless romantic looking for faith, while Zooey cuts through this with a realistic sword. Zooey is the ego and the sharp witty intellect we aspire to every day, while Franny is the beautiful, fragile, and judgemental being we all protect from the outside world. She is Gatsby's Daisy if Daisy was really worthy of his attention. There is a line in the letter from Buddy that immediately struck a chord with me for it sums up what I hope that anyone I come into contact with actually takes with them from our encounter and I believe that it is applicable to all. "Although my passes at omniscence may seem ridiculous, please be kind to the side of me that comes out as merely clever." paraphrase - I'm at work. This book reads like a letter from an old friend who made you mad for always being right. In the end, the moral of the story is tolerance and understanding and maybe that these two characters can cohabitate inside each and every one of us. READ THIS BOOK

Franny and Zooey is very similar to Salinger’s most famous work (Catcher in the Rye), in that the reader almost feels as if they are eavesdropping on the characters therapy sessions. The author gives very little physical description of the characters, but really knocks it out of the park with the characters describing themselves emotionally and philosophically with their own words.

This is a book that one needs to read when they are young, there is virtually no plot but plenty of angst. In the two interconnected stories, Franny is having a nervous breakdown which causes her to drop out of her Ivy League college. She is clinging to a religious text, and her mother and brother (Zooey) are telling her to snap out of it, and trying to dislodge her weeping body from the couch in their Upper West Side apartment (the mother mainly wants to move her so that the painters can renovate the room). At this time there was virtually no help for someone suffering from depression - like Franny and Zooey’s brother Seymour who committed suicide seven years earlier.

Snark Alert! Unfortunately, I can sum this book up in 3 words: White People Problems.

People tend to disapear in Salinger's works, which makes the author's literary exile that much more ironic, if not compelling. Franny, the youngest of two females in the Glass family, is about to disappear, into the back of her parent's couch, during her 'spiritual crisis'. What keeps Franny from being self-involved, is that she is so concerned with humanity on a religious level, and that her ambivalence stems not from her thinking she is morally superior, but conversely, that she feels just as hypocritical and shallow as the rest of humanity, and that she cannot transcend it.
What makes Salinger so enjoyable, and important, is the hand's on, non-academic philosophy in his books, and "Franny and Zooey" is most indicative of that. The novel addresses the disparities between Christianity and Buddhism, Western and Eastern thought. Franny idolizes Jesus, he has become a rock star to a little girl, with his bare-chested starving and dying. Like Holden, she shuns the phony and the arrogant. Zooey, her older brother, bitter at Seymour and Buddy (the eldest Glass bothers) for 'brainwashing' the younger two at an early age, plays devil's advocate perhaps a little too harsh, telling Franny to get over it, that she too is hypocrite, just another ego attached to their beliefs.
When Franny goes overboard with tears and derision, Zooey calls Franny on the phone, pretending that he's Buddy. Buddy's tone is more gentle, more understanding. He tells Franny to love God but not religion. "Do it for the Fat Lady," He says. A sublime scene involving three family members and two voices. The Fat Lady is Jesus Christ himself- not the icon, not the ideology- but the mortal man who died and did not rise again.
As secular as this last note may seem, readers will let go of the last page having just underwent a 'religios experience.'

A young woman asks, "Isn't there more than this?" "Perhaps not," her brother answers, "but does there need to be?" While not taken from the book, this exchange briefly summarizes this discursive intellectual thought-piece from J.D. Salinger. Comprised of two stories that were published separately in "The New Yorker" during the mid-fifties, the transition to `novel' was never entirely completed, but this book about two college-age siblings and their search for fulfillment is certainly not without appeal.

The first story, "Franny" reads like a comedy of manners focusing on the Ivy League college crowd of the 1950's. Franny and her boyfriend Lane are two bright young intellectuals, with comfortable backgrounds and brilliant futures who go on about the Yale Game, and their course work, and their academic advisors, etc.., ad nauseum, in more than enough detail to make us feel like we're right there in the restaurant with them. But it soon transpires that Franny is no more interested in their insipid chatter than we are. Questioning the value of her studies, the wisdom of her teachers, and the ability of her fellow students, Franny is only going through the motions of her day to day life. Her dissatisfaction comes to a head when she passes out at the restaurant.

The sequel, "Zooey" reveals that Franny is a member of the celebrated Glass family, and finds her ensconced with her mother, brother, and cat in the family's New York apartment. At this point the narrator, older brother Buddy Glass rears his unwelcome head and dominates the rest of the book. Unwelcome, because Salinger loses his artistic distance and allows the material to become cloying. To wit: all 7 or so Glass siblings were child prodigies of encyclopedic knowledge, talent, creativity, and religious wisdom; they all grew to love each other very much, including their parents, and all of them are either successful or dead or both. Buddy's adoration of his family smothers us, and becomes the whole focus of the story. We don't get into the other characters' heads nearly as much as we get into the narrator's. We see every little detail of the story played out, with plenty of voice-overs to ensure that we don't miss the significance of a single detail. Meanwhile, Franny sleeps through the middle section, and Lane is completely abandoned.

But despite the skill with which Salinger portrays teenage alienation, this book is not likely to play well with anyone who is not a white, middle-class intellectual; if you're not a Glass, you don't belong here. This story is just a gentle reminder that even during peacetime, young people can find reasons to be upset with the system - it goes with the territory. Teens who are into self-discovery should find resonance with their own feelings - they're certainly the target audience - but its doubtful that today's young intellectuals see nothing more to be critical of than their professors' affectations. A document of a simpler, more homogenous era.

Franny & Zooey by J.D. Salinger examines the youngest children of the Glass family. Like their older brother, Seymour, made famous in Salinger's classic short story, A Perfect Day for Banana Fish and most of Salinger's children, they are gifted, precocious youths who have found ways to be miserable when faced with the task of growing up. While the Zooey, an actor and underachiever by Glass standards prefers to face his personal problems with a stubbornness and wittiness, his younger sister, Franny is waist deep in self-pity because she feels misunderstood and alone and can not find meaning in pretentious and phony upper class college life. Zooey is the perfect person to give Franny the tough love and show her the new perspectives to help her through her dilemmas and that's precisely what he tries to do one morning when he finds her in a weariness-induced sleep on their family couch. Although, it is not a book for readers bored by characters simply lounging around and talking (because that is precisely all they do), Franny and Zooey is a superb exploration of the relationships between adult siblings when they reluctantly leave the nest.

I appreciate the store. com's effort to give brief reviews of books so that people may browse, and find something that catches their fancy. What I don't like is the obvious fact that whoever wrote this reviewer obviously never read the book. At best they might have skimmed it. First thing, Franny is not pregnant. Her physical illness is a manafestation of her spiritual crisis. also she's not worried about her friends becoming housewives. Lastly, Zooey is not there simply to pester Franny. The book is just a wee bit deeper than that. Salinger is analyzing the form of function of religion, and also connecting it to the family structure, Zooey's comment about Franny not recognizing a bowl of "consecrated" chicken soup is one of the cornerstones of the novel. Jesus, or what ever spiritual entity you choose to identify with, in Salinger's opinion, is not just some abstract being sitting on high, looking down at us without caring. Instead, as one of the quotes on Seymour and Buddy's door says, "I move not without thy knowledge." The Zooey story is one of the most important religious/philisophical works of the second half of the twentieth century. It ranks with Camus' The Plague as some of the best descriptions of the human condition. To trivialize it the way that the the store.com review is a shame for fans of the book. More importantly, it might deny others the chance of discovering this boo

In a nutshell - offspring who are too intelligent for their own good, oblivious parents, suicide, meaning of life, nervous breakdown, our purpose, and references like being an arhat thrown in here and there. It all felt very personal and familiar and made me wonder how many other people would find that these two stories hit close to home.
I should mention that I just discovered recently that this is my brothers favorite book (and he's no "phony"). I wouldn't rate it as my favorite, but I do have an affinity with this text, having now read it twice, once as a teenager and now as a thirtysomething.
Salinger describes this work in the preface as "a pretty skimpy looking book". It's certainly short, but both stories are funny and addresses how a family - albeit highly dysfunctional by today's pop-psychology standards - deals with issues like death and suicide.
I really enjoyed the interplay in the second story between brother and sister Franny and Zooey over big questions like the search for wisdom, being real and losing the ego.

This is my favorite Salinger book. I read it every year again, and it's a touchpoint for me about how my view of the world is changing.

I think Salinger's penchant for weaving multiple storylines together that he did in 9 Stories and with other stories involving the Glass family is in its best form here, with 2 focal people. It's a great twist that those two people are in the same house for much of the book.

Salinger does a great job of setting the whole thing in an apartment that's getting painted and a bathroom where Zooey is washing and preparing to leave. Essentially the entire space is in transition, a bit of a phoenix cycle, as are the two main characters. And in that setting he weaves magic of what it means to be a human in this world. And the last 15 pages or so is the best conversation and accompanying metaphor out there.

J. D. Salinger has a knack about puzzling his readers to the very end of the book and redeems himself with transcendent concluding remarks. "Franny and Zooey" does not possess much surface appeal as the more known "The Catcher in the Rye". The book does not really follow a conventional plot and is thus deprived of any suspense and climax. It is rather a crafted delineation of human emotions, nuances and layers of the relationships between adult siblings. Salinger, putting his arguments in the mouth of Franny and her brother Zooey, addresses the disparities between Christianity and Buddhism and the convergence of Eastern and Western thoughts.
Franny, 20, the youngest of the Glass children, is about to drop out from college as she feels sick of pedants and conceited egos. She desires to be spiritual and to pray incessantly to Jesus whom she later on out of frustration deserts for Buddhism. Franny experiences a spiritual crisis that leads to her nervous breakdown. She feels just as shallow and hypocritical as the rest of humanity.
Zooey, 25, a handsome aspiring actor, is an underachiever in the standard of the Glass family. His eldest brother Seymour had a doctoral degree but committed suicide during his vacation in Florida. His next elder brother Buddy cajoles him to obtain a doctoral degree just so he has something to fall back to if the show business doesn't work out. In helping Franny to snap out of her crisis, Zooey's bitterness toward his elder brothers inevitably surfaces that out of jaundice he expressions his feeling like being haunted by a house-full of ghost and half-dead ghost (since Buddy follows Seymour's model but he doesn't commit suicide).
At various points of the book am I stuck with doubts and unanswered questions regarding Franny's sufferings. To say the least even though the book touches upon some religious overtones but the core of which revolves around the idea of human ego, detachment, harmony and temperance. The novel affords a snapshot of how elder adult siblings can significantly influence their younger siblings at an early stage and formulate their mind. Readers shall catch a glimpse of the clash between old-schooled values and novel insights of the younger generation within a family.
2004 (7)

[...]

I certainly have nothing wildly original to contribute to what's already been written about Salinger and his work. Originally published in the New Yorker and focused on the youngest of the Glass children, Franny focuses on the genesis of Franny's spiritual/existential crisis and the companion novella Zooey tackles Zooey's reaction as Franny takes brings her breakdown to the family home in Manhattan. Salinger's narrative voice is so strong and his characters so dynamic and vibrant. My favorite scene takes place in the Glass family bathroom as Zooey's bath is interrupted by Bessie, his meddlesome mother. Whether meant as a religious parable or love story, it's certainly thought-provoking and rife with memorable moments and enviable dialogue (I *wish* I could be as intentional, witty and, when appropriate, eviscerating as Zooey when I speak!).

Rubric rating: 8. I wasn't crazy about Catcher in the Rye the first time around (but then again, the first time around I was a 14 year old girl) and Franny and Zooey made me want to give it another shot.

This book is great. Salinger's writing is beautiful. His characters are interesting, intricate, human, and often intense. He doesn't need crazy action sequences or ballyhoo. His characters merely converse with each other, and yet his book is more engaging than almost any action novel, and it is certainly more thought provoking.

This book has changed me. It didn't change my life in any dramatic or wild way, but, having read it, I am now subtly different. For one, I realized that I had slipped into some of the dubious thinking that Zooey describes in the book. Second, I now view literature in a slightly different light. This book certainly stands out in the crowd. Finally, I feel inspired by this book's high quality - I feel slightly elevated. This probably doesn't make sense to you, who are reading this review. Maybe it will after you read the book.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book, although I still think "Catcher in the Rye" is better.

Finally, if you have read The Bible and a little of Epictetus' work, then you'll appreciate certain passages of "Franny and Zooey" a bit more.

However unfortunate it is that this is Mr. Salinger's last published work is irrelevant. What follows after the title page is an onslaught of character dialogue that would be served an injustice if described as something other than "pure genius". It is astounding how Salinger took and formed these amazing beings out of pure literary thought. Where other authors falter at creating characters that are conceivably from the same mindset, the uniqueness of the Glass familys' personalities give evidence to the brilliance this man portrayed in novel form. The flow of the story is perfect, with the Franny section you receive and apply emotions to this character that pour out uncontrollably upon reading the Zooey section. The feeling this book leaves the reader with seems almost planned by Salinger, a possible hint at the fact that this was going to be the last book disclosed to the public. Despite all the negative press he has received for being somewhat of a hermit and ogre, J. D. Salinger's writing should be a staple in the lives of every adolescent youth. The Glass family a model for an idealistic belief system in American society and families today. However personal he has kept his feelings from the end of this book, there is no doubting that this man has mastered his craft.

The book is divided into two parts, "Franny" and "Zooey." It's not so much a novel as a first short story that ends abruptly, begging more, and therefore engenders a second short story that tries to wrap it up. I have a feeling it makes more sense to readers in their late teens or early twenties (and preferably from New York) than it made to me as a much older reader. It's the manifestos of two bright, intellectual, strong-willed young people, but really more Zooey's than Franny's. It's great writing page by page but less successful as a whole than Catcher in the Rye. One of the virtues of Catcher is that Salinger doesn't make claims about preciousness or genius in Holden; so Holden comes off more human than Franny or Zooey--more tortured, more vulnerable, more a victim of his own time and psyche, more inviting of compassion and much easier to identify with. I wonder whether Salinger wanted to somehow get closer to Franny than he managed to do in F&Z. It's as though Zooey pirates the book and cuts us off from what might otherwise have been a great female counterpart story to Holden's.

Franny 20, Female is distraught about her life. Zooey 25, male is Franny's brother. And although Franny thinks she'll never make it through (what she thinks is a huge crisis), least of all through the help of her Bratty, know-it-all brother; the answers to all her problems have never quite been closer to her than they are now.
This book, by the hugely talented Salinger will fill a spot in your heart whether you're the brother, or sister he's writing about. Althoug short, this book touches you unlike any other book can or has.
The story is simple, and full of dialogue which, keeps you reading if if not interested. Its a slow rise to a great climactic ending which is absolutly destined to give you a rewarding feeling. At about 200 pages its a quick weekend read.

Salinger is the master of irreverent prose, and he uses that mastery perfect use in this book, a study on the nature of ego, knowledge, "establishment" (imagine that in a Salinger book?!), and religious piety, to name a few of the ideas and themes that get tossed around.
The setting and plot are simple: Salinger's Glass family returns, and we're given the dialog of three conversations and the entire contents of two letters -- that's it. But in that short space (and my edition of the book is only about 130 pages), Salinger manages to pack more than many writers can get into a book three times the size. He shows instead of telling.
This is a must of those who like Salinger's earlier work, and is more compelling for me than "Catcher."