42 pages 1 hour read

J. D. Salinger

Franny and Zooey

Fiction | Short Story Collection | Adult | Published in 1961

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Part 1, Pages 28-39Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1: “Franny”

Part 1, Pages 28-39 Summary

Franny hastily puts the book back into her handbag and tells Lane it is just something she read on the train. Franny does not want to talk about the book, but Lane pesters her about it because he thinks that she is hiding something from him. Franny tells him that the book is called The Way of a Pilgrim and that it is a religious book that she got out of the library. She explains that the professor teaching her Religious Survey course mentioned it and that she thought it sounded interesting. Lane asks her what the book is about, and Franny explains that it was written by a Russian peasant in the 1800s who wanted to learn what it means to pray without ceasing, as described in the Bible. He wanders around Russia trying to find someone to explain it to him. He meets a starets, a religious teacher, who tells him about the book Philokalia, which he tells him will explain from the perspective of monks how to pray incessantly. After the man reads the Philokalia, the man wanders around Russia, explaining to people how to pray without ceasing.