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

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Re: Reading list in order...

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  • From: David Alan Beck <dabeck AT iupui.edu>
  • To: "Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion" <percy-l AT franklin.metalab.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: Reading list in order...
  • Date: Thu, 26 Sep 2002 18:02:29 -0500 (EST)

Chris,
Yes, it sounds as if your ideas are the other side of the proverbial coin.
My focus was on the main characters and, it sounds like, you are showing
intersubjectivity from the secondary characters. An interesting
perspective. One member of my grad committee thought that I was too much
in agreement with Percy and didn't offer enough challenges to his ideas.
But, as I saw it, it wasn't as if I hadn't thought about weaknesses in his
philosophy; it was just that, from the first time I read Percy (Love in
the Ruins, which was introduced to me while I was an undergrad by the
professor who made the above criticism), I realized that I had found
a--sorry for the cliche--kindred soul. It was just as Percy said, in one
of the Conversation books, that a bored person on an ordinary Wednesday
reading a book about a bored person on an ordinary Wednesday makes a
connection (triadic?).
Anyway, it is goood to see that Marcel's books are becoming available once
again (both volumes of Mystery of Being are back in print--at a reasonable
price at that). I'd like to hear more of your ideas.
-David

On Wed, 25 Sep 2002, christopher boss wrote:

> david,
>
> i'm so curious to hear more about your grad work. from what i've read of
> your posts, it sounds as if we've be travelling parallel roads in our
> thoughts on percy. i wrote my master's thesis on percy, specifically on
> the
> importance of secondary characters to tom and will's quests--i used
> marcel's
> notion of "intersubjectivity" extensively throughout my argument. i
> essentially argued that the secondary characters were the means by which
> tom
> and will discovered "authentic" living.
>
> love to hear more of your thoughts.
>
> chris boss
>
>
> >From: David Alan Beck <dabeck AT iupui.edu>
> >Reply-To: "Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion"
> ><percy-l AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
> >To: "Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion"
> ><percy-l AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
> >Subject: [percy-l] Re: Reading list in order...
> >Date: Tue, 24 Sep 2002 17:41:57 -0500 (EST)
> >
> >
> >In that email, I was, once again, riding my hobby horse. My grad work was
> >on Percy and how the synthesis of Kierkegaard and Marcel is needed to
> >best understand Percy's fiction. Kierkegaard's "diagnosis" of modern
> >society is correct, but his "remedy"--the lone "knight of faith"--isn't
> >found in Percy. Percy uses Marcel's "intersubjectivity" as the remedy to
> >the man's (woman's) modern condition. It is through "the other" that one
> >finds himself. For example, Lancelot finds hope when he "sees" Fr. John.
> >They "connect" eye-to-eye and achieve intersubjectivity. L. is just one
> >example. In my opnion, none of Percy's fiction contains someone finding
> >himself outside of interaction (communion--to use a more Christian term)
> >with the other. (Of course, Buber and Levinas offer similar ideas, but
> >Marcel's "version"--due probably to being Catholic and seeing the
> >necessity of the sacred in and of the material world--is more
> >incarnational and fits more closely with Percy's worldview (as portrayed
> >in his fiction. I offer the qualifier because I never met him. Maybe
> >Marcus or Nikki can chime in.).
> >
> >David Beck
> >
> >"One cannot help but awe when he contemplates
> >the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the
> >marvelous structure of reality. It is enough
> >if one tries merely to comprehend a little of
> >this mystery every day."
> > - Albert Einstein
> >
> >
> >
> >--
> >An archive of all list discussion is available at
> ><http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy/hypermail>.
> >Visit the Walker Percy Project at <http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy>.
>
>
>
>
> <html><DIV><FONT face="Garamond, Times, Serif">Christopher R.
> Boss</FONT></DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=Garamond>Lecturer</FONT></DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=Garamond>Western Carolina University</FONT></DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=Garamond>Cullowhee, NC&nbsp; 28723</FONT></DIV></html>
>
>
> _________________________________________________________________
> Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com
>
>
> --
> An archive of all list discussion is available at
> <http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy/hypermail>.
> Visit the Walker Percy Project at <http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy>.
>
>
>


David Beck

"One cannot help but awe when he contemplates
the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the
marvelous structure of reality. It is enough
if one tries merely to comprehend a little of
this mystery every day."
- Albert Einstein




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