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

[John Pearson <jp AT jlarsp.com>]

It's interesting that the introspective students didn't connect with 
the Moviegoer. I was about as introspective as a college student gets, 
and I connected with it mightily as an undergrad. However, it wasn't as 
part of a class. It was extra-curricular reading; a recommendation of a 
friend of a friend. I sometimes wonder if I'd have connected with it as 
much as I did if I read it for a class. Certainly there were novels I 
read for class that had an impact on me, and a lot obviously depends on 
the professor. But there is something about making a discovery while at 
university, but not from the official classes.


John Pearson
Chicago, IL 60657
jp AT jlarsp.com

"A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his 
government."        Edward Abbey
"News is what powerful people want to keep hidden. Everything else is 
just publicity."        Bill Moyers
"The World is Divided into People Who Think They are Right."         
Peggy Seeger
On May 16, 2006, at 7:09 PM, RHONDA MCDONNELL wrote:

> You've identified the thing that makes the novel worth teaching for 
> me. Some
> of the students who were moved by MG really surprised me. It touched
> something within them and made them re-examine their lives and their 
> plans.
> On the other hand, some of the students who seemed 
> introspective--searchers
> like Binx--didn't connect with the novel at all. Go figure!
>
>
>
> --Rhonda
> . . . what people really fear is not that the bomb will fall but that 
> the
> bomb will not fall . . .
>                                --Walker Percy
>
>
>
>
>
> > From: "Beck,  David A" <dabeck AT iupui.edu>
> > Reply-To: "Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion"
> > <percy-l AT lists.ibiblio.org>
> > To: "Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion"
> > <percy-l AT lists.ibiblio.org>
> > Subject: [percy-l] moviegoer
> > Date: Mon, 15 May 2006 22:59:09 -0400
> >
> > Robert,
> > I hope that the "existential salience of Binx's predicament" comes
> > across to my students. If not, the whole thing is a wash. But, at the
> > same time, Dostoevsky's underground man shares some of the same signs
> > of alienation (I don't consider Dostoevsky outdated). On the other
> > hand, you bring up a great point: America is a different world from 
> > the
> > world of TMG. That's why I think students appreciate Dostoevsky (and
> > most of mine like C&P) or any "period piece" better than something 
> > that
> > is somewhat contemporary.
> > One of my favorite passages in TMG is when Binx has a conversation 
> > with
> > Walter:
> >
> >         "Oh Lord. What's wrong with the goddamn world, Binx?"
> >         "I am not sure. But something occurred to me this morning. I
> > was sitting on the bus--"
> >         "What do you do with yourself out there in Gentilly?" (39)
> >
> > To me this passage sums it up: either you get it (the search) or you
> > don't. Walter doesn't get it. Many people make statements, platitudes,
> > ask questions, but never really want to "search" for an answer. It's
> > easy to spit out a question, but quite another to look deeply into our
> > own existence, our place in this world. That aspect of the novel is
> > probably more real today than it was when Percy wrote the book. We 
> > have
> > more ways to hide from the search. Or perhaps we have more ways to
> > disguise what we are doing and call it a search
> > (does that make sense?).
> >   We have more tv channels to distract us, more obligations (taking
> > kids here and there--when did sports begin at age five?), more
> > technology (he says as he writes this email), etc. For me, the
> > challenge is to show students that something "ain't right" with our
> > day-to-day existence (or at least it's not right for most of us). So,
> > to show students that there is more to life than what is on the
> > surface, to encourage them to dig deeper and see the mystery that lies
> > beneath our day-to-day existence (to notice the dung
> > beetle)--that is what I hope this novel can do to them (as it did for
> > me). And, of course, I hope to inspire myself to continue the search.
> > Like Binx after reflecting on dung beetle, I get home and "forget all
> > about it."
> >   Whew! Sorry for the long email. But the more we correspond, the more
> > I see the importance of this book (and am glad that I decided to try 
> > it
> > again). It is a novel that, according to some of us, changed lives
> > (that's why it beat out Catch 22 for the National Book Award--of
> > course, there probably is a Heller listserve....)
> > Thanks for all of the feedback.
> > -David
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > 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
>
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> --
> 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