Rating: 
Summary: Self-enlightenment vs. force-fed spirituality
Review: The first story, "Franny", is by itself a marvelous read (and yes, I think it is rather ambiguous whether she is pregnant). The second story, "Zooey", doesn't have the same light touch, and the reader can't help but feel the oppressive weight Franny must have suffered under the tutelage of her pedantic older brothers. It is interesting to compare the ending of Franny to the ending of Zooey. In both, Franny attains enlightenment and at least momentary peace, in the first story through chanting the "Jesus Prayer" and in the second story through the realization that Jesus (Zooey's Fat Lady) is in everyone and that we live in his universal audience.If one is not careful, it would seem that Zooey's message to Franny is a repudiation of the spiritual enlightenment of the "Way of the Pilgrim" and that Franny accepts the revelation. Is this a victory of Christian spirituality over Buddhist enlightenment? Isn't it a bit odd that Zoo! ey, whose exhausting lectures and insensitivity drive Franny to tears, is the angel who delivers this message? Upon more careful consideration, however, the reader should see that continual prayer to God and recognition of God's continual ubiquity are actually two sides of the same coin. Perhaps Salinger was trying to dramatize the difference between self-enlightenment and force-fed spirituality. Even if the two messages are the same, the former makes for a better read and can be done in a third of the pages. There is clearly tremendous dysfunction in the Glass family, and I think overachievers everywhere will get chills up their spine as they relate to Salinger's characters. But even non-overachievers can relate to the anguish of adolescents learning how to discover who they are and to live for themselves instead of trying to match others' expectations.
Rating: 
Summary: Read 'Franny' as a stand-alone piece.
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Spiritual birth or also pregnant with child ??
Review: Salinger has left us to decide whether Franny is pregnant with child or just spiritual birth but the clues are there. First in her letter to Lane she mentions in the postscript that her mother isn't mad and therefore not aware that he'd snuck into the Glass apartment one Friday night weeks before. Secondly he plans to sneak up to her room that night. What better parallel development than a child growing within her during her spiritual awakening ?? Is there no possibility that the physical symptoms are hormonal changes brought on by pregnancy ?? Is Salinger's writing so one-dimensional he'd only provide the "hit me over the head" spirituality theme in the novel ?? I personally believe the "Franny" section was a masterwork while the "Zooey" section was down a level. Taken as a whole it's a beautifully crafted story with engaging characters leaving no doubt of Salingers gift for the writing craft.
Rating: 
Summary: A Waste of Time
Review: After disciovering (and falling in love with) "Catcher in the Rye" for the first time, I quickly picked this book up next but was sorely dissapointed. The themes here are similar to "Catcher" (angst ridden youths, the phoniness of modern day society) but where Holden Caufield was an intruiging and symapthetic character, Franny is underrdeveloped and Zooey is smug and unlikable. I was actually surprised to discover how little I got out of this novel and in the end I consider it to be a waste of my time.
Rating:
Summary: The "message" is just this:Do it for Seymour's Fat Lady.
Review: Yes, Salinger writes about religion. And yes, he writes about the phoniness of modern culture. But in my opinion, the entire book is giving us the message that Zooey gives Franny in the end: That there isn't anybody anywhere who isn't Seymour's Fat Lady. Read again about the Fat Lady -- Zooey says that he never wanted to wear clean socks cuz he was on the radio and who would know whether they were clean or not. And yet Seymour made him wear clean socks for "the Fat Lady." I think all he's saying is that here, on this earth and in this life, none of us really knows how the world works. All we can do is assume that the way we live our lives could affect countless other people that we never see, and in ways we'll never know. So we need to live with self respect and dignity and integrity. And we need to be kind and compassionate, not only to others but to ourselves. We can't worry about who's a phony or what the next person believes or not. If we keep a harmony within ourselves about what we do and how we treat each other, then in that harmony we'll find "god" in whatever form we can most easily accept it.
Rating:
Summary: Bravo reviewers!; Bravo amazon.com!
Review: This book is indeed no petty look at at pregnant adolescent's pesky family -- it is a marvelous spiritual guide to life. Read also "Seymour -- An Introduction"; "Raise High The Roof Beam Carpenters" and much of "Nine Stories" to realize the true depths of the Glass family's spiritual search.
Rating:
Summary: A small book with a big lesson about tolerance
Review: 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
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Summary: Zooey is a refreshing wake up call.
Review: Franny & Zooey is one of those books where you have to go back and re-read to make sense of it all. I loved it. I found it a nice contrast to J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye, which totally overwhelmed me with cynicsm. I love what Zooey has to say about Jesus- that who esle would have stayed silent when questioned by Pilate, and that you can't modify him to suit your needs. What I loved most of all was the Fat Lady! I picked up on a sense of random acts of kindness and art for art's sake. Franny's breakdown is another example of trying to escape from a broken world and I found the voice of Franny similar to Holden's in The Catcher in the Rye- cynical and phoney ego hating. This was a book I'll have to read every year!
Rating:
Summary: The superficiality of the "cultural church"
Review: Symbolized through the Jesus Prayer, Salinger portrays the "phoniness" of the cultural church, whose chief objective is to serve as an escape from the fear of our existential dilemma. True faith, as Kierkegaard would say entails letting go of the illusions and discovering Christ the person. And as Zooey points out we do this not by trying to escape God's world, but by embracing it. "In so much as you do for others (acting) you do for me".
Rating:
Summary: Salinger's Best (Forget that Holden Guy)
Review: Some (including the author himself) say that Buddy Glass is a reflection of Salingers innermost thoughts. I say Franny Glass is as close as we'll ever come. Through this novel we see Salinger's mind come alive with thoughts of reclusion, God, and a meaning to life. Picturing the twinkle in Bessie's eyes as her "only truly handsome son" teases her, we see Salinger's light of heart, and through Franny's final thoughtful, knowing stare as she grasps the infinite knowledge of meaning we view his contemplation. Could we ever really know JD Salinger-- the man, the myth, the recluse? Probably not, but we also aren't coming any closer than this. Read it, and never look back.
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