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

["Henry P. Mills" <wpercy2 AT ibiblio.org>]

Tommy et al,

Using Percy-L as a forum for a slow reading list of one of Percy's novels is
certainly appropriate and germane to the interests of the community. Those
not able to read along can still benefit from the discussion.

>From past experience I know that such discussions generally work best when
one or more persons works to keep the discussion moving forward anytime
there is an extended lull, for instance, by introducing another topic. That
person can be appointed, the role can be passed between members, or the
group can promote and maintain its own well-being. All discussion will of
course be automatically archived. My only suggestion would be that those
participating make certain that LITR appears in the title of each message,
and perhaps the chapter being discussed. That will make discussion much
easier to identify and follow. As with Percy-L, the discussion should follow
and adhere to the values of the list as earlier related, namely civil
discourse of the kind you would expect of readers of Percy.

Henry Mills 


> From: Tommy Armstrong <tfa AT brickengraver.com>
> Reply-To: "Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion"
> <percy-l AT lists.ibiblio.org>
> Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2005 10:55:16 -0400
> To: "'Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion'"
> <percy-l AT lists.ibiblio.org>
> 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
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>   _____  
> 
> 
> --
> 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