Subject: Re: Teetering on the edge of the Grand Canyon...
From: David Welch (welchfam@GTE.NET)
Date: Tue Aug 31 1999 - 02:49:25 EDT
Henry P. Mills wrote:
> Dear Percy-L:
>
> Anyone care to help Melissa? Send replies directly to her and through
> the list if you want others to benefit.
>
> Best,
> Henry Mills
>
> __________________________
>
> From: MELISS02@aol.com
> Date: Sun, 29 Aug 1999 17:33:42 EDT
> Subject: Help...Hurry!!
> To: wpercy1@sunsite.unc.edu
> MIME-Version: 1.0
> Status:
>
> My name is Melissa and I'm looking for some information on a Walker
> Percy essay.
> "The Loss of the Creature" is what I have to explain in a 750-1250
> word paper. I need to know what this essay is talking about. What is
> the argument that Percy is making? And what does he mean by the
> problem we have seeing the Grand Canyon? Is this really a problem that
> needs to be solved or is this Percy exaggerating for effect...what
> effect? If you could please answer these questions I would be so
> grateful!!
I've not read the essay in question; it's not included (I don't think)
in the collection *Signposts in a Strange Land*. Where can one get hold
of a copy?
My guess is that the "problem of seeing the Grand Canyon" is the problem
of modern, post-Cartesian man, who is no longer able to recognize the
chasm that separates him from the rest of nature, i.e., his
transcendence through language. Then again, perhaps it's the problem of
the "ex-suicide," who has peered into the abyss and yet now has to find
a way to get along on a Wednesday afternoon.
Of course, this is all speculation, since I haven't read the essay.
Dave
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