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

["Dye, Steve" <sldye AT bluegrass.org>]

Having been a member of this list for several years now, this is the best 
suggestion I have heard. It certainly beats recent subject matter. I am one 
of the "lay" members but have read everything Percy has written (am currently 
re-reading "The Moviegoer", which I first read in 1973). I just happened to 
come upon "Love in the Ruins" at a bookstore in New Orleans in 1988 and read 
it by the pool at what was then the Clarion Hotel on Canal Street. It would 
not be an exaggeration to say that reading Percy has changed my life. The 
first thing I thought of as I watched the events in New Orleans transpire 
that first few days was that it was right out of "Love in the Ruins". The odd 
thing is that recently I had felt that "love in the Ruins" had become 
somewhat "passé"!

-----Original Message-----
From: percy-l-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org 
[mailto:percy-l-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Tommy Armstrong
Sent: Monday, September 19, 2005 10:55 AM
To: 'Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion'
Subject: [percy-l] Group Read Suggestions??

I would very much like to do this--especially since there are a lot more
smarter people on this list than myself, and would very probably learn a
great deal. 

What do you think Mr. Modrator? 

Come up with some very simple ground rules such as a standard subject line,
a start time and schedule--"reasonable time" is one of the operative phrases
here, and the list could give their suggestions. With POB all the novels
were about the same length, but with Percy, some would obviously take longer
than others. I am not sure about the novels of Percy and their pagination
between different editions, but it did make for an easier discussion if most
were using the same edition or at least if there was a cross reference to
the quotation under discussion. 

If it really got good, one could then compile all the posts about the book
under discussion into a master document. 

The way it worked with POB was that pretty much anything was fair game as
long as it came from the novel that was being read. Links to maps,
definitions, historical material, etc. etc. 

For example the recipe of a "Gin Fizz" in Love in the Ruins.

Tommy Armstrong
PO Box 484 
Lillington, NC   27546
http://www.brickengraver.com
 
"If you're a big enough fool to climb a tree and like a cat refuse to come
down, then someone who loves you has to make as big a fool of himself to
rescue you."
W Percy




-----Original Message-----
From: percy-l-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:percy-l-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Lawrence Rhu
Sent: Monday, September 19, 2005 8:56 AM
To: percy-l AT lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Re: [percy-l] Group Read --has it been done?

Hello to all,

I think is would very interesting to work through the novels at a reasonable
pace as a sort of on-line/list reading group.  As for the non-fiction, that
strikes me as harder to organize for such a discussion group.

Also, for any of you out there who are looking to write conference papers
about Percy, there is an annual comp lit conference at USC (Columbia) in
February.   Its topic this year is "Cultures of Evil and the Attractions of
Villainy," which may make the experience of Tom More particlarly relevant.
Would any of you be interested in putting together a panel on the two More
novels and other relevant writings by Percy?

Larry

Lawrence F. Rhu
Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature University of
South Carolina Columbia, SC  29208
Tel:  803 777 0144
Fax:  803 777 9064
Email:  rhul AT sc.edu

>>> tfa AT brickengraver.com 09/17/05 1:53 PM >>>
I was just wondering if anything like that had been done on the Percy List.
I was once a member of a Patrick O'Brian list and they did a "group read" of
all of the Canon of 22 books that POB wrote--1 each two months if I
remember. Would this be an appropriate use of this list. We used a kind of a
standard subject line, such as "GroupRead Master and Commander" so that
email clients could easily easily sort on just that thread. People who
wished to participate did, those that did not simply filtered out that
thread. 
 
I for one would love some sort of a stuctured way that would "force" me to
go back through the Percy Canon--especially with some guidance from all the
able bodied seamen that inhabit this ship. 
 
Just a thought.
 
Tommy Armstrong
PO Box 484 
Lillington, NC   27546
http://www.brickengraver.com <http://www.brickengraver.com/> 
 
...with the method of science one beholds what is generally true about
individuals, but art beholds what is uniquely true.
 
Walker Percy
Signposts in a Strange Land





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