Franny and Zooey
by J. D. Salinger · first published 1961
67% recommend33% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Dialogue-driven stories about a young woman's spiritual crisis and her family's talk, valued for sharp conversations and characters. Some readers say it introduced them to Stoicism and Zen. Suits Salinger fans.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Meet Franny and her younger brother, Zooey, in two Salinger stories.
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…Steel: The Fates of Human Societies - The Precipice: Existential Risk and the Future of Humanity - Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead - Franny and Zooey - Master of the Senate - Atlas Shrugged - Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed - Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides’s Trap? -…
on “Ask HN: What book changed your life?” ↗Franny and Zooey -- Salinger Mostly by introducing me to the Stoics (Aurelius especially) and a variety of Eastern, especially Zen Buddhist, works. Revolutionary Road -- Yates Yay, mentioned that one in two threads…
on “Ask HN: What are the books that changed the perspective of your life?” ↗…1950s), it was quite ahead of its time. Perhaps ahead by at least 2 decades in anticipating American youth's punk culture, that we see from the mid-70s onward. As a side note, you might give his later Franny and Zooey (1961) a try, finding a more nuanced Salinger at work.
on “Did Salinger Go Awry?” ↗He's really only got three other books, and only one of them's a novel, the others being a short story collection and a pair of novellas/novellettes. I read Catcher first and found it just OK. Franny and Zooey was my gateway deeper into Salinger (and Stoicism) back in high school. Liked Nine stories quite a bit on my first visit, but didn't care for Raise High & Seymour at all until a re-read over a decade…
on “J.D. Salinger, Unbound” ↗Anything from Salinger. Go beyond Catcher in the Rye. Nine Stories; Raise High the Roofbeam, Carpenters; Franny and Zooey. Hemingway's short fiction really kicked off a lot of reading for me. Men Without Women is a nice little collection. A couple others to go deeper on ... Stephen Kind and Roald Dahl. King has many incredible…
on “Ask HN: Great fiction books that have had a positive impact on your life?” ↗Franny and Zooey by Salinger. I love the conversations and the attitude of the characters. There is not much in the way of plot or story, but reading this book makes me feel like I'm participating in their conversations...…
on “Ask HN: What book have you re-read 3x or more?” ↗…this matter, and read and plan to read multiple books in this theme: 1. Be As You Are: The Teachings of Ramana Maharshi - David Godman 2. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Robert Pirsig 3. Franny and Zooey - JD Salinger These come from top of my mind. If you have the acumen, go read Bhagavad Gita, Gospel of Ramakrishna, Tao Te Ching, etc. Many people mistake what is conveyed as "NPC" here as being quitters…
on “I wanna live an NPC life” ↗Nine Stories Franny and Zooey
on “Ask HN: What are your favorite books of all time, and why?” ↗That story always messes with me when I read it. It is almost like it overwhelms my senses and I'm not a very big fan of catcher in the rye but Franny and Zooey was interesting.
on “J.D. Salinger Dead at 91” ↗For me, The Catcher in the Rye was what led me to his other books. Franny and Zooey was my favorite book for a long time (although it's been nearly a decade since I read it) and I think The Catcher in the Rye is probably the weakest of his four books in my opinion (and very likely the…
on “J.D. Salinger, Unbound” ↗Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger. I can't figure it out. It seems like it might be terrible. I'm half enjoying it and half sort of hypnotized like a chicken by it.
on “Ask HN: Which book are you reading?” ↗…authors to imitate style. In fact, if you write a lot of the same kind of thing that you read, you'll find your own style gravitating toward that of whoever you're reading at the time. I just (re)read Franny and Zooey, for instance, and for days I've been fighting Salinger outbreaks in my own prose. Presumably a machine could do the same thing, but I'd guess it's a very hard problem on top of creating something like…
on “Writing for Snobs” ↗off topic of the article but on topic to your comment.. of transcendental meditation jd salinger wrote a book called franny and zooey(i) where the main character is obsessed with a little book about an individual who seeks an answer to a question developed after reading a vague reference in the bible to praying incessantly it's biblical,…
on “It’s Not a ‘Stream’ of Consciousness” ↗…beginning, or maybe some people naturally come to understand that as they grow older. I know that I feel fortunate to have encountered Stoicism, by way of a high school English teacher who taught Salinger's Franny and Zooey, when I did.
on “An Online Stoic Mindfulness and Resilience Training Course Starting 17th May” ↗Reminds me of J.D. Salinger and how he was always mildly irritated that despite having written many other novels (Franny and Zooey, Bananafish, etc.) he is only ever remembered for Catcher in the Rye.
on “They don't make readers like they used to” ↗