Book: Franny and Zooey
Quotes of Book: Franny and Zooey
But I'll tell you a terrible secret- Are you listening to me? There isn't anyone out there who isn't Seymour's Fat Lady. That includes your Professor Tupper, buddy. And all his goddam cousins by the dozens. There isn't anyone anywhere that isn't Seymour's Fat Lady. Don't you know that? Don't you know that goddam secret yet? And don't you know who the Fat Lady really is?...Ah, buddy. Ah, buddy. It's Christ Himself. Christ Himself, buddy."For joy apparently, it was all Franny could do to hold the phone, even with both hands.For a fullish minute or so, there were no other words, no further speech. Then: "I can't talk any more, buddy." The sound of a phone being replaced in its catch followed.Franny took in her breath slightly but continued to hold the phone to her ear. A dial tone, of course, followed the formal break in the connection. She appeared to find it extraordinarily beautiful to listen to, rather as if it were the best possible substitute for the primordial silence itself. But she seemed to know, too, when to stop listening to it, as if all of what little or much wisdom there is in the world were suddenly hers. When she replaced the phone, she seemed to know just what to do next, too. She cleared away the smoking things, then drew back the cotton bedspread from the bed she had been sitting on, took off her slippers, and got into the bed. For some minutes, before she fell into a deep, dreamless sleep, she just lay quiet, smiling at the ceiling. book-quoteThe rest, with very little exaggeration, was books. Meant-to-be-picked-up books. Permanently-left-behind books. Uncertain-what-to-do-with books. But books, books. Tall cases lined three walls of the room, filled to and beyond capacity. The overflow had been piled in stacks on the floor. There was little space left for walking, and none whatever for pacing. A stranger with a flair for cocktail-party descriptive prose might have commented that the room, at a quick glance, looked as if it had once been tenanted by two struggling twelve-year-old lawyers or researchists. Почти без преувеличение може да се каже, че останалото бяха книги. Книги, които някой все се е канел да отвори. Книги, които някой все не е смогвал да прочете. Книги, които някой не е знаел какво да прави. Но книги, книги. Високи етажерки бяха наредени край трите стени на стаята, претъпкани извън мяра. Книгите, за които нямаше място, бяха струпани на купчини по пода. Почти нямаше къде да се мине, да не говорим за разходки из стаята. Някой посетител с тънък усет към описанията на светски веселби сигурно би казал, че на пръв поглед стаята изглежда като някогашното обиталище на двама амбициозни дванайсетгодишни адвокати или изследователи. book-quote
