For Esme - With Love and Squalor, JD Salinger

Also ok. Good simple portraits of people, non judgmental simple realism. Unfortunately, I'm not that big a fan of normal realism. I wish I had read more lit criticism so I would have better language and understanding for these things. But I'll say that I do feel like this sort of realism isn't very realistic. It's too simple. I guess it's more like you're actually observing these people - no authorial insight, just seeing them - but the thing is that the tone of supposedly transparent language, to me, is never transparent, always get in the way and makes things not quite right, Because it tries to be transparent but it's most definitely shaping the subject through its tone, though all the words chosen. That said, I didn't hate its type of realist language - not the way I've been unable to stand things like Zeitoun - because at least it's slightly more in line with the characters than that terrible book's airy fairy shit. Although, reading over it now I can't discern that much of a difference between their styles, making me think that part of it has been my attitude coming into each book. But not all.