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

[dabeck AT iupui.edu]

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