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

[<Tammy.DiBenedetto AT rcc.edu>]

Hi Richard,
 
I think the passage you're referencing is also from The Last Gentleman, 
Chapter 4, Section 11 (p. 265 of my edition), though not the part about 
saying 'Hi" a step too soon:
 
The paragraph begins, "Something else disturbed him.  Son Thigpen had brought 
over a carload of classmates from the university. . . ."
 
Near the middle:
His guests were Deltans, from the engineer's country, though he did not know 
them. But he knew their sort and it made him uneasy to see how little he was 
like them, how easy they were in their ways and how solitary and Yankeefied 
he was--though they seemed to take him immediately as one of them and easy 
too.  The young men were Sewanee Episcopal types, good soft-spoken 
hard-drinking graceful youths, gentle with women and very much themselves 
with themselves, set, that is, for the next fifty years in the actuality of 
themselves and their own good names.  They knew what they were, how things 
were, and how things should be. As for the engineer, he didn't know.  I'm 
form the Delta too, thought he, sticking his hand down through his pocket, 
and I'm Episcopal:  why ain't I like them, easy and actual?  Oh, to be like 
Rooney Lee.
 
 
 
Tammy DiBenedetto, PhD
Associate Professor, English
Riverside City College
4800 Magnolia Avenue
Riverside, CA  92506
951.222.8271

________________________________

From: percy-l-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org on behalf of Warren, Jr., Richard F
Sent: Thu 7/24/2008 8:55 PM
To: Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion
Subject: Re: [percy-l] ??



David,

I think that the passage you are seeking (good Percy term) is in Section
4 of Chapter 4 of The Last Gentleman, that most autobiographical of
Percy novels (page 196 in my copy), in which we observe Will:

Naturally in such an intersubjective paradise as this, he soon got the
proper horrors.  He began to skid a little and catch up with himself
like a car on ice.  His knee leapt so badly that he had to walk like a
spastic, hand thrust through pocket and poking patella with each step.
Spotting oncomers, fifty, sixty, seventy feet away, he began grinning
and composing himself for the encounter.  "Hi!" he hollered, Oh Lord, a
good twenty feet too soon.

The reminds me of another passage that I can't find (one of my two
favorite WP paragraphs) with a Percy protagonist who notes that he
always says "Hi" a step too soon or a step too late, distinguighing
himself from those "hard-drinking Sewanee lads, gentle with women,
secure in their own good names," who have that rhythm down.  Anyone
remember that one?

Richard

Richard F. Warren

Boult, Cummings, Conners & Berry, PLC
1600 Division Street, Suite 700
P.O. Box 340025
Nashville, Tennessee 37203
direct tel.: (615) 252-2337
direct fax: (615) 252-6337
Mobile tel: (615) 969-5327
e-mail:       rwarren AT boultcummings.com



-----Original Message-----
From: percy-l-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:percy-l-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Beck, David A
Sent: Thursday, July 24, 2008 8:12 PM
To: Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion
Subject: [percy-l] ??

Hey Percy people,

I'm trying to find a passage either in The Last Gentleman or The Second
Coming. It is when Will is on a college campus; his knee is jerking and
he greets the on-comers too early. I've checked both of my editions and
my thesis and can't find it.

While page numbers vary, if someone could give me the book (I think it
is The Second Coming) and chapter, that would be great.

Thanks!
-David

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