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  • From: honeyjbc1 <honeyjbc AT gmail.com>
  • To: percy lists <percy-l AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [percy-l] Fwd: Rhonda's questions and my opening thoughts and observations
  • Date: Sun, 7 Jun 2026 18:02:09 -0400

In case this did not get to the List I am resending it.


I see that Percy dedicated this, his fourth novel to Shelby Foote.
Foote dedicated his fourth book to Percy.

***

Repeated themes and things that show up in other Percy books - golf, birds and formations of birds, things seen because of light reflected off of objects, Tom has "stopped going to movies",  there are the references to blacks and whites and attitudes about them, the cures or diagnostics that may or may not be miraculous, there are the usual funhouse goofy things, and there is Percy's hilarious writing. I laughed out loud many times. 

Rhonda's questions:

1) Percy seems to begin in the middle of the story with very little action so far.

Response:
The style of the opening is documentary like.

3) "Do Tom's descriptions of the decay seem 'true' at this point? 

Response: 
I am looking at all of the grass growing through cracks, or plants overtaking existing things that man has created. This as I recall is a major metaphor throughout the book. Let me read further and see if my memory is correct. But I am considering the idea that man has pride in his ability to build buildings, do scientific experiments, glory in his sexual prowess and think he is hot stuff. but nature may turn out to be far more powerful and insidious, and it often mocks us and makes us smaller, less consequential than we believe we are. I will elaborate as we continue reading.

***

Now I am going to go through our assigned pages and see if my notes have other details that I want to bring out

***.

If we consider Percy's own history, he was a man of science, a psychiatrist in training, a physician, and he got waylaid and was treated for a long time for Tuberculosis. Tom has a similar history. I don't recall any of Percy's novels being so parallel to Percy's own story. Percy was a womanizer - three at a time in this book since his wife left him and his child died. He drank a lot. Percy wanted to marry his Bunt but she told Percy he had to get his act together or she would not have him. She told him no more womanizing or drinking. There are a lot of elements in this story early on that recapitulate Percy's pre Bunt story. 

We have the descriptions of the factions of religion with their personal peculiarities as only Percy can write about such a subject.

There is some kind of looming catastrophe or maybe not. Percy is so funny. Tom loves women. And he loves music and science, whiskey and G-d after women.

Either his scalp is tingling when he thinks about the three girls in their rooms each waiting for him, or maybe it is the liquor that is causing that sensation. 

Tom's biggest worry is that the catastrophe will happen before he has published his findings. and can be acclaimed.

Percy the phrasemaker - Tom is imagining the praise he will get because of scientific discoveries - "The latter day Archimedes who found the place to insert his lever and turn the world ...right side up." And look at that. If that isn't a sexual image...

I love that people of differing beliefs all live in Paradise Estates. So when he talks of them they are in Paradise. 

More to observe in future readings.

Thanks Rhonda.



  • [percy-l] Fwd: Rhonda's questions and my opening thoughts and observations, honeyjbc1, 06/07/2026

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