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

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  • From: "Karey Perkins" <karey1 AT charter.net>
  • To: "'Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion'" <percy-l AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [percy-l] Any LOST lovers out there?
  • Date: Thu, 18 Mar 2010 19:56:26 -0400

Sorry, that should be the first link that the paragraph on Lancelot (#6) below is from.  BTW, Flannery O’Connor is #32…

 

Karey

 

From: percy-l-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:percy-l-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Karey Perkins
Sent: Thursday, March 18, 2010 7:53 PM
To: 'Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion'
Subject: Re: [percy-l] Any LOST lovers out there?

 

http://fieldingonfilm.com/wp/?p=781

 

http://weheartthis.com/2010/01/28/lost-required-reading/

 

For interested Lost lovers, above are two links which go through the books seen/read on the show, and possible meanings.  Note #6 in the second link – another possible meaning for Lancelot being on the show, though I like your suppositions Bob – the triangle is big in Lancelot, and Kate, Sawyer and Jack form a triangle throughout.  BTW, “Watership Down” was on the latest episode – with pundits guessing various meanings based on content.  I think sometimes think it’s more simple than that.  Sawyer went on a submarine – a watership down – in this last episode...

 

Here’s the other speculation as to why Sawyer is reading Lost, from the second link above:

 

6.    Lancelot by Walker Percy
Like most of the books seen on Lost, this one is being read by Sawyer. On Wikipedia: The 1977 novel “tells the story of the dejected lawyer Lancelot Lamar, who murders his wife after discovering that he is not the father of her youngest daughter. He ends up in a mental institution, where his story is told through his reflections on his disturbing past. The novel compares the protagonist unfavorably to his namesake, Sir Lancelot, as he experiences a vision of an empty modern American culture which invokes the symbolism of the mythical Wasteland. Lamar’s quest to expose this moral emptiness is a transposition of the quest for the Holy Grail; as he witnesses and records the increasing moral depravity of his wife and daughter during the filming of a Hollywood movie, he becomes obsessed with and corrupted by the immorality he seeks to condemn. The novel is replete with Arthurian references and references, including characters based on Merlin and Percival.” Maybe this book has some connections to Sawyer’s parents. You know the fact that Locke’s dad conned Sawyer’s mom, took the family money, and then abandoned her. In retribution, Sawyer’s dad killed his mom and then himself, leaving a revenge-seeking Sawyer behind.

 

 

Karey

 

 

 

From: percy-l-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:percy-l-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Robert OConnor
Sent: Thursday, March 18, 2010 7:26 PM
To: Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion
Subject: Re: [percy-l] Any LOST lovers out there?

 

Well,just an anecdote, and, unfortunately, I can't answer your question, but when I spotted this photo I was roped into  Lost.  That was sometime in season 4 and I've been watching the series since but never have seen the episode which showed Sawyer reading Lancelot.
If I had to hazard a guess I would say the writers cited Percy because of his overall themes of good, evil, existentialism and generous helpings of symbolism rather then the specific novel. Sawyer's character is a rascally con man with a way with the ladies which wouldn't fit the character in the novel. Hurley's character has logged time in a mental institute but his traits wouldn't fit either. A long shot is the competition between Jack and Sawyer for the hand of Kate mirroring Arthur, Lancelot and Guinevere and the writers plucked the book for the title not the content. As an aside, the only book the show has revealed to me so far is The Invention of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares which centers on a remote island with strange goings-on and a murky sense of reality.Bob
--- On Thu, 3/18/10, Karey Perkins <karey1 AT charter.net> wrote:


From: Karey Perkins <karey1 AT charter.net>
Subject: [percy-l] Any LOST lovers out there?
To: "'Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion'" <percy-l AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Date: Thursday, March 18, 2010, 10:36 AM

http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20061211173105/lostpedia/images/1/18/Lancelot_Sawyer.JPG

 

Why is Sawyer reading Walker Percy’s Lancelot?  Deeper symbolic meaning anyone?

 

Lost often puts significant books in the scenes, having characters read them.  There are others – think this is the only Percy book.

 

Karey
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