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

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  • From: "Karey Perkins" <karey AT kareyperkins.com>
  • To: <marcus AT loyno.edu>, "'Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion'" <percy-l AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [percy-l] Percy-L Digest, Vol 39, Issue 12
  • Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2006 16:59:09 -0400

It definitely seems like something he would have at least noticed and been
interested in, since it won the 1974 Pulitzer Prize, since Becker was a
cultural anthropologist, and since Becker talks about the same guys
(Kierkegaard, etc.) Percy was so fond of! At any rate, whether Percy read
him or not, he adds much to Percy's ideas.

Another book which Percy certainly did not read (as it is (c) 1992), but
adds much to (or just says in a different way) Percy's thought, is Thomas
Moore's _Care of the Soul: A Guide for Cultivating Depth and Sacredness in
Everyday Life_. The name (Thomas Moore) is coincidental, of course, but
probably not that he was a Catholic monk, since his ideas and observations
are similar to Percy's. Since it was on the NYTimes bestseller list, I'm
sure many of you have heard of it or read it?

As you can tell, in addition to the writing, I'm enjoying the byways of
reading all of these other people like Becker and Moore, whether they
actually end up being much of a part of the dissertation or not. Percy had
such a wonderful turn of phrase and way of wording things, but I often find
that his ideas weren't necessarily conveyed in any kind of organized way
(though they were probably that way in his head). But it seems that the
Percy oeuvre is organized in a sort of hodge podge of essays (like Message
in the Bottle or Signposts or Lost in the Cosmos) that skipped around and
repeated themselves and related to future writings of his rather as much as
past rather than linearly. It's nice to read these authors who say things -
often with the same eloquence - but in a clearer order.

But I heartily recommend Becker and Moore for anyone who has the time.

Karey




-----Original Message-----
From: percy-l-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:percy-l-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Marcus
Sent: Tuesday, July 18, 2006 4:41 PM
To: percy-l AT lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Re: [percy-l] Percy-L Digest, Vol 39, Issue 12

My memory is shot and getting shot-er, but I knew and read
Becker while WP was alive and I am pretty sure I mentioned
him to Walker. "Hey, Walker, have you ever looked at The
Denial Of Death?" I have no recollectiion of him saying
anything in response.

Marcus

----- Original Message Follows -----
From: percy-l-request AT lists.ibiblio.org
To: percy-l AT lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Percy-L Digest, Vol 39, Issue 12
Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2006 12:00:26 -0400

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> Today's Topics:
>
> 1. Re: Ernest Becker's 1974 Pulitzer Prize winner: The
> Denial of
> Death (Nikkibar AT aol.com)
> 2. Re: Ernest Becker's 1974 Pulitzer Prize winner:
> TheDenial of
> Death (Karey Perkins)
> 3. Re: Ernest Becker's 1974 Pulitzer Prize winner:
> TheDenial of
> Death (Lawrence Rhu)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------
> ------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2006 12:52:05 EDT
> From: Nikkibar AT aol.com
> Subject: Re: [percy-l] Ernest Becker's 1974 Pulitzer Prize
> winner: The
> Denial of Death
> To: percy-l AT lists.ibiblio.org
> Message-ID: <2d4.b2993a6.31ed1a35 AT aol.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> Although this is not authoritative as it is virtually
> impossible to prove a negative, i do not ever recall
> hearing Walker discuss Becker. One might review his
> library donation inventory to see if Becker was among the
> books.
>
> Nikki Barranger
> -------------- next part --------------
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> ------------------------------
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> Message: 2
> Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2006 13:42:02 -0400
> From: "Karey Perkins" <karey AT kareyperkins.com>
> Subject: Re: [percy-l] Ernest Becker's 1974 Pulitzer Prize
> winner:
> TheDenial of Death
> To: "'Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion'"
> <percy-l AT lists.ibiblio.org>
> Message-ID: <002401c6a9c8$503ff540$0201000a@KAREY>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> Thanks. I do think it's interesting that some of the same
> concepts are discussed and similar conclusions are
> reached. Though, since they both did read the same people
> , that probably isn't so unusual.
>
>
>
> Karey
>
>
>
> _____
>
> From: percy-l-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org
> [mailto:percy-l-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of
> Nikkibar AT aol.com Sent: Monday, July 17, 2006 12:52 PM
> To: percy-l AT lists.ibiblio.org
> Subject: Re: [percy-l] Ernest Becker's 1974 Pulitzer Prize
> winner: TheDenial of Death
>
>
>
> Although this is not authoritative as it is virtually
> impossible to prove a negative, i do not ever recall
> hearing Walker discuss Becker. One might review his
> library donation inventory to see if Becker was among the
> books.
>
> Nikki Barranger
>
> -------------- next part --------------
> An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
> URL:
>
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>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 3
> Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2006 14:53:35 -0400
> From: "Lawrence Rhu" <rhul AT gwm.sc.edu>
> Subject: Re: [percy-l] Ernest Becker's 1974 Pulitzer Prize
> winner:
> TheDenial of Death
> To: <percy-l AT lists.ibiblio.org>
> Message-ID: <s4bba47a.033 AT gwm.sc.edu>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
>
> I think it (that P may not have read B yet shares such
> deep resonance with his lines of thought) is very
> interesting _precisely_ b/c it suggests that the
> boundaries of a shared culture are not textual in so
> specific -- or, if you will, positivistic, a way, as the
> question, "Did P read B?" implies. When Richard Ford says
> that The Moviegoer made him feel he could write a novel
> about anywhere, I think he was saying the same kind of
> thing. Percy expressed dismay at the label "Southern"
> novelist because he felt it was a way critics could easily
> pigeonhole him and deny him fuller, fairer reading. Yet
> he was certainly full and direct in his acknowledgment of
> Southernness as a central part of his identity, even
> though public conversation on the topic might set his
> teeth on edge when it was simply assumed to have specific
> meanings, etc. Of course, The Moviegoer couldn't be much
> more deeply embedded in New Orleans than it is, and yet it
> is inspired and animated by continental art a
> nd thinking. So somebody like Ford feels freed by it as
> a writer and ends up, in The Sportswriter, penning a
> remarkable novel so different yet so indebted to P's first
> and subsequent novels as well.
>
> 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
>
> >>> karey AT kareyperkins.com 07/17/06 1:42 PM >>>
> Thanks. I do think it's interesting that some of the same
> concepts are discussed and similar conclusions are
> reached. Though, since they both did read the same people
> , that probably isn't so unusual.
>
>
>
> Karey
>
>
>
> _____
>
> From: percy-l-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org
> [mailto:percy-l-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of
> Nikkibar AT aol.com Sent: Monday, July 17, 2006 12:52 PM
> To: percy-l AT lists.ibiblio.org
> Subject: Re: [percy-l] Ernest Becker's 1974 Pulitzer Prize
> winner: TheDenial of Death
>
>
>
> Although this is not authoritative as it is virtually
> impossible to prove a negative, i do not ever recall
> hearing Walker discuss Becker. One might review his
> library donation inventory to see if Becker was among the
> books.
>
> Nikki Barranger
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
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> Percy-L AT lists.ibiblio.org
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>
> End of Percy-L Digest, Vol 39, Issue 12
> ***************************************
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