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Summary: Moving (sorry about the cliche, but it's true)
Review: Franny and Zooey is perfect for anyone who's ever wondered why we do certain things in life and why we should. No, it's not a preachy born-again Christian book, but more like a book about the religion of human nature. I own a well worn copy and read it at least once every month
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Summary: READ IT. It's VERY GOOD.
Review: This novel- really two short stories- is amazing. It is about religion, but isn't preachy. It details a girl's nervous breakdown, but isn't melodramatic. By the way, if I were a fictional character I'd be Franny
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Summary: Pretty good Salinger book
Review: 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.
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Summary: A Masterpiece - better than "Catcher in the Rye"
Review: I am convinced that the people who read this book and don't get anything out of it are the same people that don't like to contemplate philosophy, religion, and similar topics in order to figure out what this life is really about. Salinger uses his unique writing style to subtly inform the reader about what he thinks life is supposed to encompass. Even more than "Catcher in the Rye," this book spoke to me. The whole book takes place in the span of two days, albeit not one after the other, but two days nonetheless. It's amazing to me that in a piece of fiction, Salinger can say so much within a beautifully painted, strategically structured two days. We learn so much about the characters and their inner conflicts, and Salinger makes it clear exactly what message he is attempting to send to the reader. I would recommend this book to absolutely anybody - I think its message is one that everyone should hear. Whether or not the reader will listen is the true question.
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Summary: royal
Review: is it just me or did wes anderson create the royal tennenbaums after reading this book?
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Summary: Just Perfect
Review: Franny and Zooey is an amazing novel by the great J.D. Salinger. Salinger makes the cynist Glass family come alive in the novel, and is laugh out loud funny throughout. What is truly remarkable about this novel is that it consists of three long conversations - which is a feat that many authors could not pull off. This novel is a 5/5, and anyone who has ever met a 'section man' will right away relate to Salinger's masterpiece.
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Summary: Absolutely amazing
Review: This book means to me what a good book should: it touches a part of my heart I didn't know could be touched by another human being. That's what I love so much about J.D. Salinger, the way he taps into the human psyche so adeptly. I can't think of any other authors that can deliver that way. And yet, if that's not the purpose of writing, what is?
Franny and Zooey Glass are two hyper-critical, overanalytical young adults living on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Throughout the book, we watch Franny (f) go through the stages of a nervous breakdown while simultaneously turning to a phrase found in a religious book for guidance, and her older brother Zooey (m) try to help her while grappling with the same issues of modern society that she is. There is also their seemingly ignorant mother, who does nothing except agitate Zooey and pointlessly fawn over Franny, and the other members of the isolated, eclectic family.
The arc of this book is amazing. I won't give away the lesson Zooey finally is able to impart to his sister, suffice it to say that Mrs. Glass doesn't look quite so bad when the story is finished.
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Summary: Lord Salinger, have mercy on me
Review: J.D. Salinger is one of those writers that one either loves and thinks he is a genius, or hates him and finds him a practical joke. I, certainly, include myself in the first category. The more I read his works, the more I admire his style and geniality. "Franny and Zooey" has become one of my all time favorite books. It is short, a quick read -- but at the same time very profound and touching.
Divided in two parts, each named after each sibling, the book basically tells the story of Franny nerves breakdown. In the first part we meet Franny, who meets her boyfriend for a football weekend at his college. While they are having lunch she tells him about the phoniness at school and of the egotism of the facult, what is making her sick. She also says about a religious book, in which she found the Jesus Prayer. It is supposed to be a very powerful prayer, which goes "Lord Jesus, have mercy on me". It is very simple and one must say it all the time, until it becomes as natural as breathing. This prayer is supposed to meant to cleanse one's spirit. On the way to the toilet she faints, and when she is revived, Franny begins to say the prayer.
The second part, named `Zooey', takes place some time later, and it picks up from where the first one finished. It is narrated Buddy Glass -- an older brother of Franny's and Zooey's. In the Monday right after the girl's breakdown he is at home in New York. This part consist in dialogues and an old letter from Buddy to Zooey. Every dialogue features only two characters, either Zooey and his mother, or his sister -- or only the two women.
It is very powerful what the writer can bring up with his dialogues. We learn that the two of them have basically been raised on a blend of different religions, taught to them by their older brothers Buddy and Seymour (see "Nine Stories"'s "A Perfect Day for the Bananafish" to learn a little more about Seymour). Zooey try and help Franny sort out her spiritual and personal beliefs, trying to bring peace to her.
Salinger is able to explore a great variety of issues using Franny's breakdown as an `excuse'. Not only are mysticism and religion explored but also family, celebrity, education, and intellectualism. Religion, God, Jesus and personal beliefs play an important role throughout the narrative. The family plot deals with a family of geniuses that can't handle their geniality. The relationship between the siblings -- mostly Franny & Zooey, and Seymour and Buddy -- is very complex. The younger ones resent the education they received by their older brothers. Zooey usually says they became `freaks' because of it.
In "Franny and Zooey" Salinger managed to issue the experience of one's disenchantment. Franny hates both herself and others both herself and others for the egotistical behavior and phony conformity in which they all engage. One of her brothers advice is "If you are going to go war against the System, just do your shooting like a nice, intelligent girl -- because the enemy is there, and not because you don't like his hairdo or his goddam necktie".
This turns out to be the central theme in this book --and that is present is most Salinger's works. Here, in "Franny & Zooey" the issue has a redemptive twist -- it feels like the writer is telling us that people with huge egos and weak wills should be respected, at least for their humanity. And this is a message that not many writers are able to prove. But Salinger can do it with beauty.
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Summary: "I'm afraid I will compete - that's what scares me."
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: Nothing like Rye, trust me.
Review: "Franny and Zooey" is a rather peculiar book that either makes it or breaks it for the reader. Salinger writes great dialogue, no questioning that. The reason I picked this up was because of Holden (Catcher in the Rye), who spoke with great honesty -- someone I felt was entirely believeable. Not here. Try as I may to connect with the characters, this book simply didn't work for me. In essence, the story revolves around a pair of over-philosophical siblings, proteges of sorts. Together with their other sibilings, they hosted a radio talk show called "It's a Wise Child" and ever since, had their egos blown out of proportion... well, more like disfigured actually because I ended up feeling rather sorry for their strange outlook in life. Franny despises her lecturers, the education system, even her boyfriend's aspiration -- and the worst part of it, she can't help it. If you thought that Holden hated phonies, wait till you hear it from this dynamic duo! Evidently, both of them owe their dysfunctional behavior to their eldest pair of brothers who "funnel"fed them with ideas greater than themselves early on in life. The characters over-analyze everything, nothing is pure. This book is a hard read -- it is teeming (and I mean TEEEEMING) with sarcasm, pronouncements, judgments, tactlessness, dark humor (and not entirely funny ones, I might add). I probably should give credit to Salinger for creating such conflicted characters (yeah, they were snobs, but they got a heart too -- like when Franny takes up the "Jesus Prayer" in search of spirituality and Zooey consoles his sister over the phone after tearing her down) but in the end, I couldn't agree more with Salinger when he admitted in the foreword to his editor, I quote "... I urge my editor, mentor and (heaven help him) my closest friend... to accept this pretty skimpy looking book". You said it, man. You said it.
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