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Forty years ago the best book I'd ever read was NINE STORIES by J. D. Salinger, and the best story in the book might have been "For Esme.." as most folks say, but I preferred this one by a thin margin. The oddly titled "Uncle Wiggley in Connecticut" was a searingly emotional view of a young woman who had encountered intense true love in the person of Walt Glass, a wonderful guy with winning ways and humor. He was killed in Japan during the war, not in combat but in a freakish accident. In any case, he was gone from Eloise's life forever. Or... or... did he ever truly leave her --- do those we truly love ever really leave us --- because she still leaves half her bed for Walt to sleep in. These days in 2005 the common and useless advice is to "move on" --- a path that never works except with shallow people. The voice inside will come back and grab you no matter where you go to hide, no matter the denial. A love like Eloise's for Walt will not extinguish with death or time. In Mr. Salinger's story, Eloise will meet her old college chum Mary Jane during a snowstorm visit to Eloise's house. As two chums down a few drinks, the layers of Eloise's descent into being a bad wife, a bad mother, a bitch to her household help, et cetera; a gentle corruption that grows like rust in the absence of the light of Walt's love. A careful reader might observe (or might not) that her best friend Mary Jane isn't listening, in any real sense, to Eloise, but only glad to be enjoying the afternoon with her old buddy. Late at night I've often re-read many of the NINE STORIES, this one maybe 40 times. Each re-read usually adds some punch; it never grows stale. I sought out "My Foolish Heart" by driving a long way to Video Vault and pushed it in the VCR with much anticipation. Quickly I found that Salinger's story had indeed been converted into a soppy soap opera. It was literally painful to watch this horrible movie from one scene to the next. A desecration of one of the greatest and most sensitive stories ever published, it becomes the clear-cut winner as the Worst Movie Ever Made.
score 1/10
vitaleralphlouis 20 August 2005
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1154176/ |
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1-3-2021 04:56:07