IIRC, there’s an inconsistency in Crime and Punishment as well. Something about going into a building at night, having a conversation, and then leaving in the day. I was going to say there’s nothing to do about it, but it’s in public domain, so you could literally just edit it to resolve the inconsistency. But honestly, it just doesn’t matter. We don’t read Doestoevsky because his books are so exquisitely free of inconsistencies.
The Sound and The Fury
Three parentheticals in 91 words? Looks like you just finished Seymour: An Introduction, not Nine Stories. At least put them in a bouquet for me.
To your point, I think it’s a correct observation, but it doesn’t bother me because I think it’s purposeful and fits the work. It’s hard to comment about an author’s entire body of work, especially when it’s not fresh, but to my memory, a lot of Salinger’s work circles around the idea of simple wisdom as found in children and the routine processes of living. The mental and emotional metamorphosis that takes place as people transition from childhood to adulthood is drastic and strange, but we often fail to appreciate that because it’s also universal. Salinger seems to want to call attention to that and to challenge the default assumption that it’s necessary and good. (I suspect that assumption was stronger and more in need of challenging when he was working and that the presence of CITR in our literary canon has had something to do with weakening it.) Salinger seems to want to say that something is being lost in that transition out of childhood that might be worth trying to hold on to. He takes children seriously because he thinks there is something we could learn from them. He highlights the childlike attributes of adults either as a model or to illustrate the connection to their past selves.
Just open your mind and soak up the vibes. I’ve noticed that a lot of readers on this sub are really adherent to an analytical approach to reading which I guess is understandable given the way that literature is usually taught and tested. But I think that in many cases you end up enjoying and learning more from books when you use a more experiential approach. In other words, just let yourself have the experience of reading the book. Let Cormac McCarthy take you on a mental journey. Don’t worry if you can’t recant it, or summarize it, or articulate the themes. The experience of spending several hours reading a book shapes the way that you think, even if you aren’t aware of or can’t articulate how.
It’s a great way to enjoy a book. I do that when I really want to devour a book, get fully immersed and tear through it as fast as possible. Usually, I’m reading on Kindle and listening on Audible, so it syncs my place between the different apps. I don’t usually listen while I’m actually reading, though there’s nothing wrong with doing that either. Reading along while you listen is a good approach if you’re finding something kind of difficult. The audio helps you keep momentum and the visual helps you stay focused.