Incidentally, I loved the book.

I finished Franny and Zooey by J. D. Salinger last night. I can’t remember if I mentioned that I was reading it, but I started it last weekend when I’d forgotten to bring the 4th Harry Potter home with me. I’m reading that right now as well, but since Franny and Zooey was shorter (and I’d likely never read it if I got too into HP), I made it my priority to finish.

I love the way Salinger writes. Certainly you could call it pretentious, but his use of language, the seemingly irrelevant yet deeply beautiful stories he tells, the characters he introduces the reader to… he can fill you up in a way that only the best authors can. Franny and Zooey was no exception – I loved every page of it. The story he tells within it is so strange and fascinating.

One of my favourite things in the book, and I wonder if this stood out to others who’ve read it, was how many times he used the word “incidentally”. It was in the book at least 10 times, and it was never really necessary. He could’ve used a different word or removed it entirely, but it was there many times, and in a 200 page book, it stood out to me. While reading it, I often thought about why he used the word so many times, and my favourite conclusion is that he likes the sound of it, had been using it often himself at the time the story was written, and so he used it often in the writing. The reason I like this conclusion is because, incidentally, I do the exact same thing. I get attached to a word and use it as often as makes sense, and often more. Lately I’ve been using the word “convoluted” whenever possible. I’d try to use it right now, but it would likely be a convoluted process to get to that point.