Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

percy-l - Re: [percy-l] "What's so great about this Percy guy, anyway?"

percy-l AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Percy-L: Literary, Religious, Scientific, and Philosophical Discussion on Walker Percy

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Patrick Lynch <padraig AT well.com>
  • To: "Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion" <percy-l AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [percy-l] "What's so great about this Percy guy, anyway?"
  • Date: Wed, 31 Aug 2005 19:16:28 -0700

Gentle Folks:
While this all seems to be a part of what Percy said, along with the idea that we cannot originally experience the Grand Canyon if we have been over-exposed to pictures of the tourist site, the concept of rotation indicates more than a momentary stay against one's insidious life. The man on the train is confronted with a re-visioning of who he is. The "man asleep at the traffic light" remains asleep afterwards. The man on the train awakens to a different, more perceived self.

Nonetheless, Karl's comment reaffirms the news high that many feel watching CNN incessantly. But it is an inauthentic substitute for the deeper response of the man on the train. Perhaps even a poor substitute for feeling compassion for those affected by a disaster like Katrina.

Is this making sense?
P.
On Aug 31, 2005, at 6:50 PM, dabeck AT iupui.edu wrote:

Karl,
I think you're right. It is the anticipation more than the aftermath. But
probably it is also in the moment, to some extent. Like on the battlefield
(not that I've been there), the rush of the danger might make one more "alive"
in the moment (as I heard Jackson Browne sing the other day on the
radio: "While the veterans, dream of the fight/While fast asleep at the
traffic light") but that same person might have to deal with PTSD later.
I don't have Message in a Bottle with me, but the man on the train is in the
middle of a crisis when he notices his hand for the first time. I guess it all
depends on what the outcome is.
While slightly different, I remember a friend of mine whose daughter died
when she was six or seven, saying that it was the most painful experience in
his life, but at the same time, the most beautiful. He said that it awakened
him to what was important and to the presence of God (and he was a pastor). In
LIR, regarding his daughter's death, More asks something like, What if you ask
God for a miracle and it happens. What then? After that he says, "Samantha,
forgive me. I'm sorry you suffered and died, my heart broke, but there have
been times when I wasn't above enjoying it." One of the strangest lines in
Percy's fiction, in my opinion.
Does it tie into what we've been discussing (i.e. "hurricane syndrome", etc.?)
-David



Quoting "Karl M. Terrell" <kterrell AT sheastokes.com>:


I think it's the approach of bad news that excites us. The aftermath or
reality, however, dumps us back into ordinariness. Hence, the
fundamental need to continue searching.

Percy pointed out the weird, guilty giddiness we receive from bad news;
how we almost wish for it. The media, of course, is onto this. Several
weeks ago a plane crashed and all 100+ passengers walked away with no
deaths and few injuries. The sense of disappointment among the talking
heads was palpable.

Karl

-----Original Message-----
From: dabeck AT iupui.edu [mailto:dabeck AT iupui.edu]
Sent: Wednesday, August 31, 2005 11:57 AM
To: Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion
Subject: Re: [percy-l] "What's so great about this Percy guy, anyway?"



I'm not sure what Percy would say about this recent disaster. I do know,

however, that conveying this idea--that tragedy can break us from our
everydayness, even make life exciting again--is difficult to convey to
my
college students. Some get it; some think it's crazy.
When I used to Lancelot along with Fight Club, I would point out the
similarities (narrator/Tyler hoping that the plane he's on crashes, etc.
That
feeling pain is better than feeling nothing, etc.
I remember on and after 9/11 we had this discussion on the list. It
seemed to
be an example of where Percy's hurricane theory didn't work. Off to
class. -David

Quoting "Karl M. Terrell" <kterrell AT sheastokes.com>:


* * This communication is CONFIDENTIAL * *

Tying the two current themes together ... I was also first attracted
to Percy by the sheer delight in reading his wonderfully smooth prose,



and the way his likable characters roam outside the mainstream,

buffeting

about, but ultimately in search of some truer path. The search seems
to begin with awareness of the discomfort of "everydayness."

I was particularly struck, early on, with his comparison (I forget
where, but he returns to this in several books) of a successful man
sitting in his fine home in Short Hills, N.J. on a Wednesday
afternoon, birds chirping contentedly in the trees against a clear
blue sky -- he should be feeling fine; the world is his oyster; but he



finds himself profoundly ill at ease -- contrasted with the excitement



one feels when a hurricane is bearing down. Bad news takes us out of
the ordinariness of a Wednesday afternoon, where you're stuck and
don't know what to do, and wonder how in the hell you'll make it
through the next few hours.

But now the hurricane has passed, and has devastated a great city.
Amidst the grief, the ordinariness of a day-to-day struggle of
returning to the ordinary will take over. I wonder how Percy would
write of that experience -- perhaps he has, and I don't recall (it's
been many years since I really spent a lot of time with WP). Love in
the Ruins? Maybe someone out there can point to a book or passage.

Karl
-----Original Message----- .
From: Dye, Steve [mailto:sldye AT bluegrass.org]
Sent: Wednesday, August 31, 2005 10:04 AM
To: Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion
Subject: Re: [percy-l] "What's so great about this Percy guy, anyway?"


My thoughts exactly...the New Orleans that many of have known and
loved for years (and that was so beautifully written about by Percy)
is gone forever...

-----Original Message-----
From: percy-l-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:percy-l-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Stuart Chapman
Sent: Wednesday, August 31, 2005 9:42 AM
To: Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion
Subject: Re: [percy-l] "What's so great about this Percy guy, anyway?"

Been thinking about you, Percy, and everybody else New Orleans- related



over these last few days, and I hope that you are ok.

It's just awful.

Stuart

Dave Duty <daveduty AT austin.rr.com> wrote:
Is no one else on the list concerned about Nikki and the other New
Orleans area residents?

Nikki -- if your out there -- let us know if you and your loved ones
are ok -- God Bless -- Dave

JHForest AT cs.com <mailto:JHForest AT cs.com> wrote:



What would you say to a young person who asks, "What so great about

this
Percy guy, anyway?" <<

What keeps Walker Percy in print fifteen years after his death is the
sheer delight of reading his books.

A key word with Percy was "search." It seems to me all of his fiction
and non-fiction have to do with that topic. As he said:

"If I had the choice of knowing the truth or searching for the truth,
I'd take the search."

It's a subject of the search has been much on my mind lately if for no
other reason than I'm at work on a book about pilgrimage (understood
not only as making journeys to distant shrines but an attitude about
being that has little to do with travel). One way of defining a

pilgrim

is a person on a search.

Jim Forest

* * *
Jim & Nancy Forest
Kanisstraat 5 / 1811 GJ Alkmaar / The Netherlands
Jim's e-mail: jhforest AT cs.com <mailto:jhforest AT cs.com> (alternative
address: jhforest AT gmail.com <mailto:jhforest AT gmail.com> ) Nancy's
e-mail: forestflier AT cs.com <mailto:forestflier AT cs.com> (alternative
address: forestflier AT gmail.com <mailto:forestflier AT gmail.com> )
Orthodox Peace Fellowship web site: http://www.incommunion.org
<http://www.incommunion.org/>
Jim & Nancy Forest web site: http://incommunion.org/forest-flier/
<http://incommunion.org/forest-flier/>
photo web site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimforest/sets/
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimforest/sets/>
* * *






_____




--
An archive of all list discussion is available at
https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/percy-l/
<https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/percy-l/>

Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy
<http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy>
--
An archive of all list discussion is available at
https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/percy-l/

Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy

_____

Start your
<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=34442/*http:/www.yahoo.com/r/hs>
day with Yahoo! - make it your home page




********************************************************************* ***
********
****************

PRIVILEGED COMMUNICATION
The information contained in this e-mail, and any attachments thereto,



is only for the use of the recipient(s) named above. This message,
and its attachments, may contain information that falls under the
attorney-client and/or work product privileges. Receipt of this
message by an unintended recipient does not constitute a waiver by the



sender of any and all applicable privileges. If you are not the
intended recipient of this e-mail and any attachments, or an agent
responsible for delivering it to the intended recipients, you are
hereby notified that any use, dissemination, distribution,
downloading, or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited.



If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender
immediately by e-mail, permanently delete the e-mail and any
attachments immediately, and destroy all copies.


********************************************************************* ***
********
****************


--
An archive of all list discussion is available at
https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/percy-l/

Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy




--
An archive of all list discussion is available at
https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/percy-l/

Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy
--
An archive of all list discussion is available at
https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/percy-l/

Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy




--
An archive of all list discussion is available at http:// lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/

Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy







Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page