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

[Earthrise Press <earthrisepress AT comcast.net>]

Rich,

 

I'd have responded that it's Percy's way of struggling or grappling with

the age. Percy dramatizes the antinomies and conflicts in The Thanatos

Syndrome. Much of what he wanted to say, as with all writers worth

reading, resides in the tension.... At least, that's my view. A biased

reader, perhaps.

 

I'd want to convey too that Percy once said the main issue of

The Thanatos Syndrome is "to what degree is the sacredness of

the individual recognized," suggesting modern man seeks answers to

the dilemmas of life in a diabolical pseudo-science reminiscent of the

eugenics of Germany under Hitler.

 

Frederick Glaysher

 

 

 

----- Original Message -----

From: Gray, Rich

To: 'percy-l AT lists.ibiblio.org'

Sent: Tuesday, December 03, 2002 9:38 AM

Subject: RE: [percy-l] Re: Some Random Thoughts, Largely Unrelated, Based on Previous Discussions and Readings

I'm an instructor at Montreat College in Western North Carolina.  My Percy interest focuses on his novels.

 

I just met with a reading circle who were finishing Thanatos Syndrome, Percy's last novel.  Some of them objected articulately to the chaos in the plot: the Belle Ame school scene toward the end, the barrage of themes, Father Smith's whacky sermon at the end, and Tom More's passivity.  I responded that this jumble of odd characters and scenes is Percy's way of reaching out toward the unnamed, post-Christian, chaotic age. 

 

How would any of you respond?

 

 Rich Gray

[Original Message-----
From: Earthrise Press [mailto:earthrisepress AT comcast.net]
Sent: Tuesday, December 03, 2002 7:07 AM
To: percy-l AT lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Re: [percy-l] Re: Some Random Thoughts, Largely Unrelated, Based on Previous Discussions and Readings

"Wade Riddick"  wrote:
> Well, the list appears to have gone dark, which isn't surprising what with
> the increasing corporate ownership of media and all.

I've been occasionally lurking around for some months out of interest
in Percy's work, surfing the website too. How about attempting a
"revival" with one of my favorite quotations from Percy:

Sign Posts in a Strange Land, 309:

"The old modern age has ended. We live in a post-modern as well
as a post-Christian age which as yet has no name....

"It is post-modern because the Age of Enlightenment with its vision
of man as a rational creature, naturally good and part of the cosmos,
which itself is understandable by natural science--this age has also
ended. It ended with the catastrophes of the twentieth century."

What are we to make of the catastrophes of the 21st Century?
Not off to an especially good start, are we?! Or too gloomy
a quotation to prompt comment?

Frederick Glaysher

Earthrise Press
P. O. Box 81842
Rochester, MI 48308-1842
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FAX: 248-608-6424
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www.fglaysher.com