[percy-l] Re: Some Random Thoughts, Largely Unrelated, Based on Previous Discussions and Readings

Earthrise Press earthrisepress at comcast.net
Tue Dec 3 11:59:14 EST 2002


Rich,

I'd have responded that it's Percy's way of struggling or grappling with
the age. Percy dramatizes the antinomies and conflicts in The Thanatos
Syndrome. Much of what he wanted to say, as with all writers worth
reading, resides in the tension.... At least, that's my view. A biased 
reader, perhaps. 

I'd want to convey too that Percy once said the main issue of 
The Thanatos Syndrome is "to what degree is the sacredness of 
the individual recognized," suggesting modern man seeks answers to 
the dilemmas of life in a diabolical pseudo-science reminiscent of the 
eugenics of Germany under Hitler. 

Frederick Glaysher

  


  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Gray, Rich 
  To: 'percy-l at lists.ibiblio.org' 
  Sent: Tuesday, December 03, 2002 9:38 AM
  Subject: RE: [percy-l] Re: Some Random Thoughts, Largely Unrelated, Based on Previous Discussions and Readings


  I'm an instructor at Montreat College in Western North Carolina.  My Percy interest focuses on his novels.

  I just met with a reading circle who were finishing Thanatos Syndrome, Percy's last novel.  Some of them objected articulately to the chaos in the plot: the Belle Ame school scene toward the end, the barrage of themes, Father Smith's whacky sermon at the end, and Tom More's passivity.  I responded that this jumble of odd characters and scenes is Percy's way of reaching out toward the unnamed, post-Christian, chaotic age.  

  How would any of you respond?

   Rich Gray

  [Original Message-----
  From: Earthrise Press [mailto:earthrisepress at comcast.net]
  Sent: Tuesday, December 03, 2002 7:07 AM
  To: percy-l at lists.ibiblio.org
  Subject: Re: [percy-l] Re: Some Random Thoughts, Largely Unrelated, Based on Previous Discussions and Readings


    "Wade Riddick"  wrote:
    > Well, the list appears to have gone dark, which isn't surprising what with
    > the increasing corporate ownership of media and all.

    I've been occasionally lurking around for some months out of interest
    in Percy's work, surfing the website too. How about attempting a
    "revival" with one of my favorite quotations from Percy:

    Sign Posts in a Strange Land, 309:

    "The old modern age has ended. We live in a post-modern as well
    as a post-Christian age which as yet has no name....

    "It is post-modern because the Age of Enlightenment with its vision
    of man as a rational creature, naturally good and part of the cosmos,
    which itself is understandable by natural science--this age has also
    ended. It ended with the catastrophes of the twentieth century."

    What are we to make of the catastrophes of the 21st Century?
    Not off to an especially good start, are we?! Or too gloomy
    a quotation to prompt comment?

    Frederick Glaysher

    Earthrise Press
    P. O. Box 81842
    Rochester, MI 48308-1842
    Voice: 248-651-3380
    FAX: 248-608-6424
    EarthrisePress at Comcast.Net
    www.fglaysher.com
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