Re: 1997 WP Symposium write-up available

Ward Good (wgood@LEO.VSLA.EDU)
Sun, 30 Mar 1997 11:59:11 EST

According to D. Vinson:
> elements in LitR remind me of the novels of Kurt Vonnegut.
> TSC, on the other hand, is pure tenderness. I think Allie is one of
> Percy's most masterful creations, a perfect metaphor for the pilgrim lost
> in the modern world. She is also a stinging commentary on the mental health
> profession, and the society which identifies existential uncertainty and an
> inability to 'fit in' with mental illness. Percy does work in some
> apocalyptic elements, though: my favorite quotation from the book is the
> exclamation, "Is this an age of belief, ... a great renaissance of faith
> after a period of crass materialism, atheism, agnosticism, liberalism,
> scientism? Or is it an age of madness in which everyone believes
> everything? Which?" That sentiment sums up Percy's work for me.

I agree with you, although I still found the Second Coming
quite funny in many ways and that sense of tenderness alows the
humor to come through in more ways, for me at least, than it
does in Thanatos Syndrome, maybe its cause my own kids are
still little but I couldn't get past that aspect of TS. I
wanted more vengence on the bad guys and was angry with that
conclusion, eventhough it may have been necessary for the
larger message.

BTW, anyone else find the whole use of computers in TS
interesting. It was very acccurate for way back in '87.

--
Ward
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
R. Warden Good CFA    "A man may fish with a worm that hath eat of a king
Scott & Stringfellow   and eat of the fish that hath fed of that worm."
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