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

["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/> 
* * * 
 





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