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

["John E. Riley" <jeriley AT uark.edu>]

I liked John Desmond's post as well.  Part of what makes The Moviegoer endure 
and remain relevant for me
is the voice Percy captured in the narration.  Percy understood that one 
strength of the novel form is how
personal and direct the communication can seem.  Consider again the MGs first 
few lines:

"This morning I got a note from my aunt asking me to come for lunch.  I know 
what this means.
Since I go there every Sunday for dinner and today is Wednesday, it can only 
mean one thing:
she wants to have one of her serious talks.  It will extremely grave, either 
a piece of bad news
about her stepdaughter Kate or else a serious talk about me, about the future 
and what I ought
to do.  It is enough to scare the wits out of anyone, yet I confess I do not 
find the prospect
altogether unpleasant."

I remember being drawn in by that voice initially and carried by it through 
the novel.  And
even today I can feel those prickles on the back of the neck when I think of 
those lines, and
how they remind me of the experience of the novel and the world Walker Percy 
created.


John Riley
Reference
Mullins Library
University of Arkansas
Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA
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Today's Topics:

   1. Re: korrektiv press, and Percy birthday celebration, post
      (Korrektiv Press)


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Fri, 3 Jun 2011 10:45:11 -0700
From: Korrektiv Press <korrektiv AT gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [percy-l] korrektiv press, and Percy birthday
        celebration, post
To: "Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion"
        <percy-l AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Message-ID: <BANLkTim7x0G-Mo=LHoPT14Hudu++FvfgzA AT mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Thanks, Janet.  I thought John Desmond's short
post<http://korrektivpress.com/2011/05/a-percy-anniversary-guest-post-by-john-desmond/>was
particularly perceptive.
*The Moviegoer* (and I might say the same of just about any Percy book, but
particularly *The Moviegoer*) really does seem to have a mysterious and
profound effect on many readers that is different from the usual
novel-reading experience.  I know that's what my experience has been, and I
would wager that what Desmond says will ring true with quite a few members
of percy-l.

I hope you'll continue to check in on the blog from time to time.  If poetry
with a Percyan bent appeals to you, check out *House of
Words*<http://korrektivpress.com/works/how/>,
too.

Best regards,
Jonathan Potter

On Thu, Jun 2, 2011 at 5:06 AM, janet cantor <janetcantor37 AT yahoo.com>wrote:

> What a splendid post. So many of my quandaries about The Moviegoer are
> visited and answered for me in a satisfactory way.
> Thank you for this gift.
> Janet Cantor
>
> --- On *Wed, 6/1/11, Korrektiv Press <korrektiv AT gmail.com>* wrote:
>
>
> From: Korrektiv Press <korrektiv AT gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [percy-l] The Last Gentleman
> To: "Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion" <
> percy-l AT lists.ibiblio.org>
> Date: Wednesday, June 1, 2011, 1:22 AM
>
> The Korrektiv Press blog has been celebrating Walker Percy's birthday (May
> 28) and the 50th anniversary of The Moviegoer with a series of guest posts,
> including pieces by Patrick Samway, S.J. and John Desmond.  Percy-L members
> might enjoy following along and joining in the comments.  Here's the link to
> the initial post (which in turn links to the guest posts):
> http://korrektivpress.com/2011/05/happy-birthday-walker-percy/
>
> Thanks,
>
> Jonathan Potter
> Spokane WA
>
> -----Inline Attachment Follows-----
>
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