Open Invitation to Read Franny and Zooey with Me

a book that changed my life, why you should read it, and details on this next read-through

Dec 14, 2023

You are reading an introduction and invitation to join me on a slow read of J. D. Salinger’s Franny and Zooey. If you would like to join in, subscribe to my newsletter.

Dear Inklings,

After finishing up our November read-through of Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go, I asked you which book you’d like to read together next. I’m thrilled so many of you are interested in reading The Lord of the Rings. I spent ~~way too much~~ some time figuring out how to divide the reading nicely. No easy feat when the chapters range from 10-60 pages long (thanks a lot, Tolkien).

The Lord of the Rings read-through will take place in July 2024, so I do hope you will join me for that.

Meanwhile, I’d like to invite you on another, quite different, journey.

I’m talking about Franny and Zooey by J. D. Salinger. Yes, you’ve heard of Catcher in the Rye and Holden Caulfield, but have you heard of the genius Glass children?

Hopefully by the end of this letter, I’ll have convinced you to read a little green book that is far less well-known than Catcher in the Rye but far more impactful, in my opinion.

What is Franny and Zooey about?

Franny and Zooey Glass are the two youngest Glass children, out of seven. They are smart—brilliant, in fact. The 150-page book comprises of one short story (Franny) and a novella (Zooey).

The short story opens with Franny on a date with her boyfriend (also smart, but in a shallow way, as we quickly find out). Franny is in a Dark Night of the Soul; she is disillusioned by her experiences at college and the people around her. It’s reminiscent of Holden’s constant refrain of, “Everyone is a phony” (a recurring theme in Salinger’s works). Over the course of their dinner conversation, Franny grows increasingly distraught until she suffers a nervous breakdown.

When we meet Zooey, Franny has been staying at home recovering from her breakdown. Following prodding from their mother, Zooey engages Franny in a long, philosophical discussion about humanity, intellectualism, and theology.

Not much happens.

“To get straight to the worst, what I’m about to offer isn’t really a short story at all but a sort of prose home movie…”

This is one of the books named in the article I linked in the November digest, Who Needs Plot When You Have Vibes?. A lot of the book is just two characters sitting around, talking.

Now why, you may be thinking, would I want to read a book where nothing happens?

I’m glad you asked.

Why should I read Franny and Zooey?

It’s about enlightenment.

Franny’s journey is one of Plato’s cave, from being chained in darkness to rising into the light.

Society forces us into boxes. Most people don’t question the box they’re in. A few do. Even fewer have the courage to break out of the box.

It’s ultimately about love.

And humanity.

In the pseudo-introduction, the narrator, Buddy Glass, states,

“I say that my current offering isn’t a mystical story, or a religiously mystifying story, at all. I say it’s a compound, or multiple, love story, pure and complicated.”

Amidst the meandering. philosophical dialogue (and oh, is this heavy on dialogue), underlies a theme of love. As I said, Franny and Zooey are part of a large family. Like any family, it has its problems. But despite differences in both personality and intelligence, they do love each other. The family is central.

Beyond that, there is love for humanity—even toward those who exist on different levels and cannot see what we see.

It’s very short.

It’s a short story plus a novella; the whole thing comes in at only 150 pages. The schedule I’ve made for our read-through takes a month because this is another book that benefits from deep, slow, reading.

But it is nice and short, so hopefully not terribly intimidating.

Even Michael liked this book “a lot”

For all his redeeming qualities, I will forever lament how my husband is not a reader. He has, however, read most of the books I hold close to my heart (that is truly a love language, you know). This is one of them.

Although he can’t tell me why he liked it beyond, “It’s deep,” I think y’all can take it as a promising sign that he actually completed this book and liked it.

High praise.

This book changed my life.

At the time when I read it, I felt utterly alone. I was deep in my own Dark Night of the Soul, and no one could see or understand. I didn’t belong anywhere. My strange perspective isolated me from others on a soul level, and I could never reconcile with it. The feeling made me bitter and hopeless about the people, about life. When I read this book, I felt seen.

In the years since, I’ve read it a handful of times. Each reading reveals deeper layers. I truly believe in the universality of its themes for every stage of life.

This is a book for the outliers. It’s for anyone who wonders what the point of everything is. It’s for those who see the world differently and wish they could rage against the systems and machines that keep people in conformist ignorance but secretly hate themselves for not being brave enough to fight against it.

It’s a story for those who wonder who they are, and how much of it is really our own.

This book is for everyone.

How the read-through will work

To join in

If you haven’t yet, subscribe to my newsletter.

I’ll send a newsletter with the recap of the week’s reading along with my thoughts and discussion questions. You don’t need an app to read these letters. If you’re subscribed, they’ll go straight to your email.

Discussions will only take place in the comment sections this time. I’ve decided against using the Chat since it’s clunky to me and feels redundant.

I want to stress that you are more than welcome to lurk. Some of you joined my last read-through of Never Let Me Go and never participated in the comments or chats but told me you were reading along. I loved that! Whatever your comfort level with interactions, I’m just glad you’re here to read together.

As before, you are free to read at your own pace. At the time of this writing, a couple people are still on Never Let Me Go. Hey, life happens and this isn’t school. My posts are here for whenever you’re ready to jump in.