From dabeck at iupui.edu Wed May 10 22:39:06 2006 From: dabeck at iupui.edu (Beck, David A) Date: Wed, 10 May 2006 22:39:06 -0400 Subject: [percy-l] The Moviegoer Message-ID: <20060510223906.fsxnk7wj4s0kcoos@webmail.iu.edu> Friends, A few weeks (months?) ago, someone posted a message about the success of teaching The Moviegoer to a high school class. (I'm thinking it was Rhonda.) But the email encouraged me to try it once again, in my Intro to Lit class this summer. Most of the class will be bright-faced, eager to learn, college freshman--well, college freshman anyway. The Moviegoer is one of my favorites, but it's also one that I've never taught successfully. Most thought it was too weird (I interpreted that as being too dated--replace Tony Curtis with Tom Cruise, etc.) But if high schoolers got it, then maybe it is the way I've been teaching it. Lancelot has always gone over well in my 200-level lit classes. And Love in the Ruins also works pretty well, though it's a little too long. But TMG is such a great book that I thought I needed to give it one more try. I'm re-reading it now and am really enjoying it again. So my question is (to the list and to Rhonda, if she is the one who posted the email): What is a good way of presenting this novel that is dated (in its references) but is as timely now (if not more so) than ever to college freshman? Any help will be much appreciated. The class doesn't begin until 6/26. Thanks. -David From rhul at gwm.sc.edu Thu May 11 09:38:50 2006 From: rhul at gwm.sc.edu (Lawrence Rhu) Date: Thu, 11 May 2006 09:38:50 -0400 Subject: [percy-l] The Moviegoer Message-ID: Isn't it "dated" in the ways Don Quixote or Madame Bovary is dated? Their protagonists fall under the spells of the fashionable fictions of their times -- chivalric romance, sentimental novel -- but they share themes that continue to engage us: the relations between imagination and reality, moods and worlds, etc. Try The Movies of My Life by Alberto Fuguet for a more recent similar sort of fictional effort, but I would readily put Percy's masterful novel in the line of those by Cervantes and Flaubert. Larry Lawrence F. Rhu Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature University of South Carolina Columbia, SC 29208 Tel: 803 777 0144 Fax: 803 777 9064 Email: rhul at sc.edu >>> dabeck at iupui.edu 05/10/06 10:39 PM >>> Friends, A few weeks (months?) ago, someone posted a message about the success of teaching The Moviegoer to a high school class. (I'm thinking it was Rhonda.) But the email encouraged me to try it once again, in my Intro to Lit class this summer. Most of the class will be bright-faced, eager to learn, college freshman--well, college freshman anyway. The Moviegoer is one of my favorites, but it's also one that I've never taught successfully. Most thought it was too weird (I interpreted that as being too dated--replace Tony Curtis with Tom Cruise, etc.) But if high schoolers got it, then maybe it is the way I've been teaching it. Lancelot has always gone over well in my 200-level lit classes. And Love in the Ruins also works pretty well, though it's a little too long. But TMG is such a great book that I thought I needed to give it one more try. I'm re-reading it now and am really enjoying it again. So my question is (to the list and to Rhonda, if she is the one who posted the email): What is a good way of presenting this novel that is dated (in its references) but is as timely now (if not more so) than ever to college freshman? Any help will be much appreciated. The class doesn't begin until 6/26. Thanks. -David -- An archive of all list discussion is available at http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy From mitchdl at email.unc.edu Thu May 11 10:42:57 2006 From: mitchdl at email.unc.edu (mitchdl at email.unc.edu) Date: Thu, 11 May 2006 10:42:57 -0400 Subject: [percy-l] The Moviegoer In-Reply-To: <20060510223906.fsxnk7wj4s0kcoos@webmail.iu.edu> References: <20060510223906.fsxnk7wj4s0kcoos@webmail.iu.edu> Message-ID: <20060511104257.w0nr8rpev4sckwos@webmail5.isis.unc.edu> I just finished teaching The Moviegoer at the end of a Southern Lit class and was surprised at how well the students responded. Granted, this was an upper-level course composed of English majors (and one sociology major!), so it's a different bag from an intro course. I think there's less of a problem with TMG seeming dated now than there would have been in the eighties/nineties, for the simple reason that the references are absolutely meaningless to students now (William Holden??). They take them purely as fictional names and judge the meaning by the context, instead of partially recognizing and depositing them in the 'fogey' bin. The predicament, of course, is unchanged and worse now than ever. Most surprising, though, was the response to Kate. If any character might be said to be a bit overdrawn, it's Kate, but the students (all female) immediately recognized a familiar type. This, I would say, is one path into TMG with these students. It helps that mine tend to be notably less ideologically driven readers, so they don't get distracted with the "She's dependent on a man!" business. They understand more about desperate times and desperate measures. Since this is an intro class, however, TMG will leave many students flat. So my recommendation would be to divide the class as the world is divided: those who love Percy (TWLP) and those who hate Percy (TWHP), or sheep and goats. Take the class outside and let the TWHPers loll about on the grass with their Ipods while the TWLPs palpitate their frontal lobes and gaze ironically at the former group. All the best, Doug Quoting "Beck, David A" : > Friends, > A few weeks (months?) ago, someone posted a message about the success > of teaching The Moviegoer to a high school class. (I'm thinking it was > Rhonda.) But the email encouraged me to try it once again, in my Intro > to Lit class this summer. Most of the class will be bright-faced, eager > to learn, college freshman--well, college freshman anyway. > The Moviegoer is one of my favorites, but it's also one that I've never > taught successfully. Most thought it was too weird (I interpreted that > as being too dated--replace Tony Curtis with Tom Cruise, etc.) But if > high schoolers got it, then maybe it is the way I've been teaching it. > Lancelot has always gone over well in my 200-level lit classes. And > Love in the Ruins also works pretty well, though it's a little too > long. But TMG is such a great book that I thought I needed to give it > one more try. I'm re-reading it now and am really enjoying it again. > So my question is (to the list and to Rhonda, if she is the one who > posted the email): What is a good way of presenting this novel that is > dated (in its references) but is as timely now (if not more so) than > ever to college freshman? > Any help will be much appreciated. The class doesn't begin until 6/26. > Thanks. > -David > > > -- > An archive of all list discussion is available at > http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ > > Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy > From kterrell at sheastokes.com Thu May 11 13:41:14 2006 From: kterrell at sheastokes.com (Karl M. Terrell) Date: Thu, 11 May 2006 13:41:14 -0400 Subject: [percy-l] The Moviegoer Message-ID: <7A5E4A01592B87438BF92B2CC0CA9DC2212B88@at01.sheamcnitt.com> * * This communication is CONFIDENTIAL * * I took an American literature intro class at your university/my alma mater, UNC-CH, in the late 70s (I was not an English major), and it was then and there that I was introduced to Percy. We read the Moviegoer. I've been under his spell ever since, having read everything he has written, solely for pleasure. I don't pretend to know why I got turned on to this particular writer; I'm not the literary type, and don't analyze such things. I just appreciate good writing, by a writer who has something to say, and peppers it along with wonderful observations about the planet and the people around us. Karl -----Original Message----- From: mitchdl at email.unc.edu [mailto:mitchdl at email.unc.edu] Sent: Thursday, May 11, 2006 10:43 AM To: percy-l at lists.ibiblio.org Subject: Re: [percy-l] The Moviegoer I just finished teaching The Moviegoer at the end of a Southern Lit class and was surprised at how well the students responded. Granted, this was an upper-level course composed of English majors (and one sociology major!), so it's a different bag from an intro course. I think there's less of a problem with TMG seeming dated now than there would have been in the eighties/nineties, for the simple reason that the references are absolutely meaningless to students now (William Holden??). They take them purely as fictional names and judge the meaning by the context, instead of partially recognizing and depositing them in the 'fogey' bin. The predicament, of course, is unchanged and worse now than ever. Most surprising, though, was the response to Kate. If any character might be said to be a bit overdrawn, it's Kate, but the students (all female) immediately recognized a familiar type. This, I would say, is one path into TMG with these students. It helps that mine tend to be notably less ideologically driven readers, so they don't get distracted with the "She's dependent on a man!" business. They understand more about desperate times and desperate measures. Since this is an intro class, however, TMG will leave many students flat. So my recommendation would be to divide the class as the world is divided: those who love Percy (TWLP) and those who hate Percy (TWHP), or sheep and goats. Take the class outside and let the TWHPers loll about on the grass with their Ipods while the TWLPs palpitate their frontal lobes and gaze ironically at the former group. All the best, Doug Quoting "Beck, David A" : > Friends, > A few weeks (months?) ago, someone posted a message about the success > of teaching The Moviegoer to a high school class. (I'm thinking it was > Rhonda.) But the email encouraged me to try it once again, in my Intro > to Lit class this summer. Most of the class will be bright-faced, > eager to learn, college freshman--well, college freshman anyway. > The Moviegoer is one of my favorites, but it's also one that I've > never taught successfully. Most thought it was too weird (I > interpreted that as being too dated--replace Tony Curtis with Tom > Cruise, etc.) But if high schoolers got it, then maybe it is the way I've been teaching it. > Lancelot has always gone over well in my 200-level lit classes. And > Love in the Ruins also works pretty well, though it's a little too > long. But TMG is such a great book that I thought I needed to give it > one more try. I'm re-reading it now and am really enjoying it again. > So my question is (to the list and to Rhonda, if she is the one who > posted the email): What is a good way of presenting this novel that is > dated (in its references) but is as timely now (if not more so) than > ever to college freshman? > Any help will be much appreciated. The class doesn't begin until 6/26. > Thanks. > -David > > > -- > An archive of all list discussion is available at > http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ > > Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy > -- An archive of all list discussion is available at http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy ************************************************************************************************ PRIVILEGED COMMUNICATION The information contained in this e-mail, and any attachments thereto, is only for the use of the recipient(s) named above. This message, and its attachments, may contain information that falls under the attorney-client and/or work product privileges. Receipt of this message by an unintended recipient does not constitute a waiver by the sender of any and all applicable privileges. If you are not the intended recipient of this e-mail and any attachments, or an agent responsible for delivering it to the intended recipients, you are hereby notified that any use, dissemination, distribution, downloading, or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender immediately by e-mail, permanently delete the e-mail and any attachments immediately, and destroy all copies. ************************************************************************************************ From dabeck at iupui.edu Thu May 11 20:10:18 2006 From: dabeck at iupui.edu (Beck, David A) Date: Thu, 11 May 2006 20:10:18 -0400 Subject: [percy-l] The Moviegoer In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <20060511201018.5t4y7ydioswkgkc0@webmail.iu.edu> Larry, I see what you mean. But I think students prepare themselves when reading, say, Flaubert or Shakespeare, knowing that they are entering a different world. Some of the more modern works, however, seem real---in that it's their world--but the references don't. (A colleague of mine said that he taught Delillo's White Noise recently and realized how dated it is and that the "threat" seems less threatening than present-day reality.) Of course, I could be all wrong. I don't have any strong convictions about what I'm saying. In fact, I'm just thinking out loud, trying to figure out why I have bombed with the Moviegoer, but not Lancelot or LITR. It's easy to see why students like those two--but even references in LITR are "dated." One student, who really liked it, said that he could tell it was written in the late 60's or early 70's. I remember one student complained that nothing happened in the MG. I probably should wait for my 200-level class in the fall, but I just have a "hankering" to teach it this summer (and, come evaluation time, might pay dearly for it). Thanks for the feedback. -David Quoting Lawrence Rhu : > Isn't it "dated" in the ways Don Quixote or Madame Bovary is dated? > Their protagonists fall under the spells of the fashionable fictions > of their times -- chivalric romance, sentimental novel -- but they > share themes that continue to engage us: the relations between > imagination and reality, moods and worlds, etc. Try The Movies of My > Life by Alberto Fuguet for a more recent similar sort of fictional > effort, but I would readily put Percy's masterful novel in the line > of those by Cervantes and Flaubert. > > Larry > > Lawrence F. Rhu > Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature > University of South Carolina > Columbia, SC 29208 > Tel: 803 777 0144 > Fax: 803 777 9064 > Email: rhul at sc.edu > >>>> dabeck at iupui.edu 05/10/06 10:39 PM >>> > Friends, > A few weeks (months?) ago, someone posted a message about the success > of teaching The Moviegoer to a high school class. (I'm thinking it was > Rhonda.) But the email encouraged me to try it once again, in my Intro > to Lit class this summer. Most of the class will be bright-faced, eager > to learn, college freshman--well, college freshman anyway. > The Moviegoer is one of my favorites, but it's also one that I've never > taught successfully. Most thought it was too weird (I interpreted that > as being too dated--replace Tony Curtis with Tom Cruise, etc.) But if > high schoolers got it, then maybe it is the way I've been teaching it. > Lancelot has always gone over well in my 200-level lit classes. And > Love in the Ruins also works pretty well, though it's a little too > long. But TMG is such a great book that I thought I needed to give it > one more try. I'm re-reading it now and am really enjoying it again. > So my question is (to the list and to Rhonda, if she is the one who > posted the email): What is a good way of presenting this novel that is > dated (in its references) but is as timely now (if not more so) than > ever to college freshman? > Any help will be much appreciated. The class doesn't begin until 6/26. > Thanks. > -David > > > -- > An archive of all list discussion is available at > http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ > > Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy > > -- > An archive of all list discussion is available at > http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ > > Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy > From dabeck at iupui.edu Thu May 11 20:21:39 2006 From: dabeck at iupui.edu (Beck, David A) Date: Thu, 11 May 2006 20:21:39 -0400 Subject: [percy-l] The Moviegoer In-Reply-To: <20060511104257.w0nr8rpev4sckwos@webmail5.isis.unc.edu> References: <20060510223906.fsxnk7wj4s0kcoos@webmail.iu.edu> <20060511104257.w0nr8rpev4sckwos@webmail5.isis.unc.edu> Message-ID: <20060511202139.71i8ap22sgc8k8so@webmail.iu.edu> Doug, Thanks for your insights. Sounds like you had a dream class (all English majors and one soc). My guess is that my class will be filled with elementary ed majors (no comment). You might be right about it going over better now than 10-20 years ago. I'll just tell them to replace the few actors mentioned with contemporary ones (who is a contemporary Holden??). Thanks. -David Quoting mitchdl at email.unc.edu: > I just finished teaching The Moviegoer at the end of a Southern Lit > class and was surprised at how well the students responded. Granted, > this was an upper-level course composed of English majors (and one > sociology major!), so it's a different bag from an intro course. > > I think there's less of a problem with TMG seeming dated now than there > would have been in the eighties/nineties, for the simple reason that > the references are absolutely meaningless to students now (William > Holden??). They take them purely as fictional names and judge the > meaning by the context, instead of partially recognizing and depositing > them in the 'fogey' bin. > > The predicament, of course, is unchanged and worse now than ever. > > Most surprising, though, was the response to Kate. If any character > might be said to be a bit overdrawn, it's Kate, but the students (all > female) immediately recognized a familiar type. This, I would say, is > one path into TMG with these students. It helps that mine tend to be > notably less ideologically driven readers, so they don't get distracted > with the "She's dependent on a man!" business. They understand more > about desperate times and desperate measures. > > Since this is an intro class, however, TMG will leave many students > flat. So my recommendation would be to divide the class as the world > is divided: those who love Percy (TWLP) and those who hate Percy > (TWHP), or sheep and goats. Take the class outside and let the TWHPers > loll about on the grass with their Ipods while the TWLPs palpitate > their frontal lobes and gaze ironically at the former group. > > All the best, > > Doug > > > > > Quoting "Beck, David A" : > >> Friends, >> A few weeks (months?) ago, someone posted a message about the success >> of teaching The Moviegoer to a high school class. (I'm thinking it was >> Rhonda.) But the email encouraged me to try it once again, in my Intro >> to Lit class this summer. Most of the class will be bright-faced, eager >> to learn, college freshman--well, college freshman anyway. >> The Moviegoer is one of my favorites, but it's also one that I've never >> taught successfully. Most thought it was too weird (I interpreted that >> as being too dated--replace Tony Curtis with Tom Cruise, etc.) But if >> high schoolers got it, then maybe it is the way I've been teaching it. >> Lancelot has always gone over well in my 200-level lit classes. And >> Love in the Ruins also works pretty well, though it's a little too >> long. But TMG is such a great book that I thought I needed to give it >> one more try. I'm re-reading it now and am really enjoying it again. >> So my question is (to the list and to Rhonda, if she is the one who >> posted the email): What is a good way of presenting this novel that is >> dated (in its references) but is as timely now (if not more so) than >> ever to college freshman? >> Any help will be much appreciated. The class doesn't begin until 6/26. >> Thanks. >> -David >> >> >> -- >> An archive of all list discussion is available at >> http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ >> >> Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy >> > > > -- > An archive of all list discussion is available at > http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ > > Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy > From rhonda_mcdonnell at msn.com Thu May 11 21:06:19 2006 From: rhonda_mcdonnell at msn.com (RHONDA MCDONNELL) Date: Thu, 11 May 2006 18:06:19 -0700 Subject: [percy-l] The Moviegoer In-Reply-To: <20060511201018.5t4y7ydioswkgkc0@webmail.iu.edu> Message-ID: Hi David-- Yes, it was me--I taught it again this spring, and again, students loved it. And students hated it. It depended on the kid. But they all seemed to get it, which was important to me. I used it in AP Senior English (Advanced Placement Literature and COmposition), which is taught on a level equal to an introductory lit. course at college. I did some things to help students out. I told them who William Holden, Rory Calhoun, and Gregory Peck were, and what they were known for. I gave them correlating actors in today's Hollywood. We had read THE STRANGER, and I'd given them a rudimentary understanding of Existentialism. They were frustrated by Mersault, and Binx was the answer, so that helped them like him. We spent time looking at the humor of the text. I had the students find passages and references that were humorous. Following class discussion helped those who had difficulty seeing the humor get it. And, finally, and most importantly, before they started reading, I had them read Percy's essay "Stoicism in the South" and I gave them a Kierkegaard primer (Karey Perkins has a nice overview online). Following the novel, during the time we were discussing it, I also had them read excerpts from several other essays: "The Man on the Train," "Notes for a Novel at the End of the World," and "Novel Writing in an Apocalyptic Age." Still, some didn't like it. Others have rhapsodized. One young man, frantic over having lost his copy of the essay excerpts, requested a second copy from me. In my world, these moments are victories. I have 44 students, a mixed bag, young philosophers, cheerleaders, jazz musicians, football players, etc. The only thing they have in common is that they're bright and introspective (although some of them keep that a secret). Good luck with it--If you use study guides, etc, and would like copies of mine, let me know. --Rhonda The best lack all convictions, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity. -- WB Yeats >From: "Beck, David A" >Reply-To: "Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion" > >To: percy-l at lists.ibiblio.org >Subject: Re: [percy-l] The Moviegoer >Date: Thu, 11 May 2006 20:10:18 -0400 > >Larry, >I see what you mean. But I think students prepare themselves when >reading, say, Flaubert or Shakespeare, knowing that they are entering a >different world. Some of the more modern works, however, seem real---in >that it's their world--but the references don't. (A colleague of mine >said that he taught Delillo's White Noise recently and realized how >dated it is and that the "threat" seems less threatening than >present-day reality.) >Of course, I could be all wrong. I don't have any strong convictions >about what I'm saying. In fact, I'm just thinking out loud, trying to >figure out why I have bombed with the Moviegoer, but not Lancelot or >LITR. It's easy to see why students like those two--but even references >in LITR are "dated." One student, who really liked it, said that he >could tell it was written in the late 60's or early 70's. >I remember one student complained that nothing happened in the MG. I >probably should wait for my 200-level class in the fall, but I just >have a "hankering" to teach it this summer (and, come evaluation time, >might pay dearly for it). >Thanks for the feedback. >-David > > >Quoting Lawrence Rhu : > > > Isn't it "dated" in the ways Don Quixote or Madame Bovary is dated? > > Their protagonists fall under the spells of the fashionable fictions > > of their times -- chivalric romance, sentimental novel -- but they > > share themes that continue to engage us: the relations between > > imagination and reality, moods and worlds, etc. Try The Movies of My > > Life by Alberto Fuguet for a more recent similar sort of fictional > > effort, but I would readily put Percy's masterful novel in the line > > of those by Cervantes and Flaubert. > > > > Larry > > > > Lawrence F. Rhu > > Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature > > University of South Carolina > > Columbia, SC 29208 > > Tel: 803 777 0144 > > Fax: 803 777 9064 > > Email: rhul at sc.edu > > > >>>> dabeck at iupui.edu 05/10/06 10:39 PM >>> > > Friends, > > A few weeks (months?) ago, someone posted a message about the success > > of teaching The Moviegoer to a high school class. (I'm thinking it was > > Rhonda.) But the email encouraged me to try it once again, in my Intro > > to Lit class this summer. Most of the class will be bright-faced, eager > > to learn, college freshman--well, college freshman anyway. > > The Moviegoer is one of my favorites, but it's also one that I've never > > taught successfully. Most thought it was too weird (I interpreted that > > as being too dated--replace Tony Curtis with Tom Cruise, etc.) But if > > high schoolers got it, then maybe it is the way I've been teaching it. > > Lancelot has always gone over well in my 200-level lit classes. And > > Love in the Ruins also works pretty well, though it's a little too > > long. But TMG is such a great book that I thought I needed to give it > > one more try. I'm re-reading it now and am really enjoying it again. > > So my question is (to the list and to Rhonda, if she is the one who > > posted the email): What is a good way of presenting this novel that is > > dated (in its references) but is as timely now (if not more so) than > > ever to college freshman? > > Any help will be much appreciated. The class doesn't begin until 6/26. > > Thanks. > > -David > > > > > > -- > > An archive of all list discussion is available at > > http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ > > > > Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy > > > > -- > > An archive of all list discussion is available at > > http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ > > > > Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy > > > > > >-- >An archive of all list discussion is available at >http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ > >Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy _________________________________________________________________ Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger! Download today - it's FREE! http://messenger.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200471ave/direct/01/ From rhonda_mcdonnell at msn.com Thu May 11 21:07:57 2006 From: rhonda_mcdonnell at msn.com (RHONDA MCDONNELL) Date: Thu, 11 May 2006 18:07:57 -0700 Subject: [percy-l] The Moviegoer In-Reply-To: <20060511201018.5t4y7ydioswkgkc0@webmail.iu.edu> Message-ID: A modern William Holden -- George Clooney, maybe? He's become so much deeper lately. Rhonda _________________________________________________________________ Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger! Download today - it's FREE! http://messenger.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200471ave/direct/01/ From karey at kareyperkins.com Thu May 11 23:24:07 2006 From: karey at kareyperkins.com (Karey Perkins) Date: Thu, 11 May 2006 23:24:07 -0400 Subject: [percy-l] The Moviegoer In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <001101c67573$877ec9c0$0201000a@KAREY> Hi Rhonda, David, et al - Sorry I've written so little - I've been in a hole - a "work hole," swamped with teaching classes, and had no time to focus on Percy or the dissertation - or even updating my website! Thanks for the reference Rhonda! Glad it is of use. But, good news is, I have a two month sabbatical (a long, long, long, long time off for us at DeVry...) and time to once again focus on (and finish) WHAT REALLY MATTERS! (Percy...) Good to hear all is well there and Percy is still alive in the minds and hearts of many. I've mostly been subsisting off the Peirce listserv due to lack of conversation here. Sabbatical starts June 25, then I'll be back in touch! Karey Member, TWLP -----Original Message----- From: percy-l-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:percy-l-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of RHONDA MCDONNELL Sent: Thursday, May 11, 2006 9:06 PM To: percy-l at lists.ibiblio.org Subject: Re: [percy-l] The Moviegoer Hi David-- Yes, it was me--I taught it again this spring, and again, students loved it. And students hated it. It depended on the kid. But they all seemed to get it, which was important to me. I used it in AP Senior English (Advanced Placement Literature and COmposition), which is taught on a level equal to an introductory lit. course at college. I did some things to help students out. I told them who William Holden, Rory Calhoun, and Gregory Peck were, and what they were known for. I gave them correlating actors in today's Hollywood. We had read THE STRANGER, and I'd given them a rudimentary understanding of Existentialism. They were frustrated by Mersault, and Binx was the answer, so that helped them like him. We spent time looking at the humor of the text. I had the students find passages and references that were humorous. Following class discussion helped those who had difficulty seeing the humor get it. And, finally, and most importantly, before they started reading, I had them read Percy's essay "Stoicism in the South" and I gave them a Kierkegaard primer (Karey Perkins has a nice overview online). Following the novel, during the time we were discussing it, I also had them read excerpts from several other essays: "The Man on the Train," "Notes for a Novel at the End of the World," and "Novel Writing in an Apocalyptic Age." Still, some didn't like it. Others have rhapsodized. One young man, frantic over having lost his copy of the essay excerpts, requested a second copy from me. In my world, these moments are victories. I have 44 students, a mixed bag, young philosophers, cheerleaders, jazz musicians, football players, etc. The only thing they have in common is that they're bright and introspective (although some of them keep that a secret). Good luck with it--If you use study guides, etc, and would like copies of mine, let me know. --Rhonda The best lack all convictions, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity. -- WB Yeats >From: "Beck, David A" >Reply-To: "Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion" > >To: percy-l at lists.ibiblio.org >Subject: Re: [percy-l] The Moviegoer >Date: Thu, 11 May 2006 20:10:18 -0400 > >Larry, >I see what you mean. But I think students prepare themselves when >reading, say, Flaubert or Shakespeare, knowing that they are entering a >different world. Some of the more modern works, however, seem real---in >that it's their world--but the references don't. (A colleague of mine >said that he taught Delillo's White Noise recently and realized how >dated it is and that the "threat" seems less threatening than >present-day reality.) >Of course, I could be all wrong. I don't have any strong convictions >about what I'm saying. In fact, I'm just thinking out loud, trying to >figure out why I have bombed with the Moviegoer, but not Lancelot or >LITR. It's easy to see why students like those two--but even references >in LITR are "dated." One student, who really liked it, said that he >could tell it was written in the late 60's or early 70's. >I remember one student complained that nothing happened in the MG. I >probably should wait for my 200-level class in the fall, but I just >have a "hankering" to teach it this summer (and, come evaluation time, >might pay dearly for it). >Thanks for the feedback. >-David > > >Quoting Lawrence Rhu : > > > Isn't it "dated" in the ways Don Quixote or Madame Bovary is dated? > > Their protagonists fall under the spells of the fashionable fictions > > of their times -- chivalric romance, sentimental novel -- but they > > share themes that continue to engage us: the relations between > > imagination and reality, moods and worlds, etc. Try The Movies of My > > Life by Alberto Fuguet for a more recent similar sort of fictional > > effort, but I would readily put Percy's masterful novel in the line > > of those by Cervantes and Flaubert. > > > > Larry > > > > Lawrence F. Rhu > > Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature > > University of South Carolina > > Columbia, SC 29208 > > Tel: 803 777 0144 > > Fax: 803 777 9064 > > Email: rhul at sc.edu > > > >>>> dabeck at iupui.edu 05/10/06 10:39 PM >>> > > Friends, > > A few weeks (months?) ago, someone posted a message about the success > > of teaching The Moviegoer to a high school class. (I'm thinking it was > > Rhonda.) But the email encouraged me to try it once again, in my Intro > > to Lit class this summer. Most of the class will be bright-faced, eager > > to learn, college freshman--well, college freshman anyway. > > The Moviegoer is one of my favorites, but it's also one that I've never > > taught successfully. Most thought it was too weird (I interpreted that > > as being too dated--replace Tony Curtis with Tom Cruise, etc.) But if > > high schoolers got it, then maybe it is the way I've been teaching it. > > Lancelot has always gone over well in my 200-level lit classes. And > > Love in the Ruins also works pretty well, though it's a little too > > long. But TMG is such a great book that I thought I needed to give it > > one more try. I'm re-reading it now and am really enjoying it again. > > So my question is (to the list and to Rhonda, if she is the one who > > posted the email): What is a good way of presenting this novel that is > > dated (in its references) but is as timely now (if not more so) than > > ever to college freshman? > > Any help will be much appreciated. The class doesn't begin until 6/26. > > Thanks. > > -David > > > > > > -- > > An archive of all list discussion is available at > > http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ > > > > Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy > > > > -- > > An archive of all list discussion is available at > > http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ > > > > Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy > > > > > >-- >An archive of all list discussion is available at >http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ > >Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy _________________________________________________________________ Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger! Download today - it's FREE! http://messenger.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200471ave/direct/01/ -- An archive of all list discussion is available at http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy From gypsyjimmy1 at yahoo.com Sat May 13 15:18:31 2006 From: gypsyjimmy1 at yahoo.com (Jim Wesson) Date: Sat, 13 May 2006 12:18:31 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [percy-l] The Moviegoer elem ed In-Reply-To: <7A5E4A01592B87438BF92B2CC0CA9DC2212B88@at01.sheamcnitt.com> Message-ID: <20060513191831.51198.qmail@web36201.mail.mud.yahoo.com> wonderful, the only thing that could beter this,is that you were an elem.ed. major,a thankless job if there ever was one. peace, jim --- "Karl M. Terrell" wrote: > * * This communication is CONFIDENTIAL * * > > > > > I took an American literature intro class at your > university/my alma > mater, UNC-CH, in the late 70s (I was not an English > major), and it was > then and there that I was introduced to Percy. We > read the Moviegoer. > I've been under his spell ever since, having read > everything he has > written, solely for pleasure. > > I don't pretend to know why I got turned on to this > particular writer; > I'm not the literary type, and don't analyze such > things. I just > appreciate good writing, by a writer who has > something to say, and > peppers it along with wonderful observations about > the planet and the > people around us. > > Karl > > -----Original Message----- > From: mitchdl at email.unc.edu > [mailto:mitchdl at email.unc.edu] > Sent: Thursday, May 11, 2006 10:43 AM > To: percy-l at lists.ibiblio.org > Subject: Re: [percy-l] The Moviegoer > > I just finished teaching The Moviegoer at the end of > a Southern Lit > class and was surprised at how well the students > responded. Granted, > this was an upper-level course composed of English > majors (and one > sociology major!), so it's a different bag from an > intro course. > > I think there's less of a problem with TMG seeming > dated now than there > would have been in the eighties/nineties, for the > simple reason that the > references are absolutely meaningless to students > now (William > Holden??). They take them purely as fictional names > and judge the > meaning by the context, instead of partially > recognizing and depositing > them in the 'fogey' bin. > > The predicament, of course, is unchanged and worse > now than ever. > > Most surprising, though, was the response to Kate. > If any character > might be said to be a bit overdrawn, it's Kate, but > the students (all > female) immediately recognized a familiar type. > This, I would say, is > one path into TMG with these students. It helps > that mine tend to be > notably less ideologically driven readers, so they > don't get distracted > with the "She's dependent on a man!" business. They > understand more > about desperate times and desperate measures. > > Since this is an intro class, however, TMG will > leave many students > flat. So my recommendation would be to divide the > class as the world is > divided: those who love Percy (TWLP) and those who > hate Percy (TWHP), > or sheep and goats. Take the class outside and let > the TWHPers loll > about on the grass with their Ipods while the TWLPs > palpitate their > frontal lobes and gaze ironically at the former > group. > > All the best, > > Doug > > > > > Quoting "Beck, David A" : > > > Friends, > > A few weeks (months?) ago, someone posted a > message about the success > > of teaching The Moviegoer to a high school class. > (I'm thinking it was > > Rhonda.) But the email encouraged me to try it > once again, in my Intro > > > to Lit class this summer. Most of the class will > be bright-faced, > > eager to learn, college freshman--well, college > freshman anyway. > > The Moviegoer is one of my favorites, but it's > also one that I've > > never taught successfully. Most thought it was too > weird (I > > interpreted that as being too dated--replace Tony > Curtis with Tom > > Cruise, etc.) But if high schoolers got it, then > maybe it is the way > I've been teaching it. > > Lancelot has always gone over well in my 200-level > lit classes. And > > Love in the Ruins also works pretty well, though > it's a little too > > long. But TMG is such a great book that I thought > I needed to give it > > one more try. I'm re-reading it now and am really > enjoying it again. > > So my question is (to the list and to Rhonda, if > she is the one who > > posted the email): What is a good way of > presenting this novel that is > > > dated (in its references) but is as timely now (if > not more so) than > > ever to college freshman? > > Any help will be much appreciated. The class > doesn't begin until 6/26. > > Thanks. > > -David > > > > > > -- > > An archive of all list discussion is available at > > http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ > > > > Visit the Walker Percy Project at > http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy > > > > > -- > An archive of all list discussion is available at > http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ > > Visit the Walker Percy Project at > http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy > > > ************************************************************************************************ > PRIVILEGED COMMUNICATION > The information contained in this e-mail, and any > attachments thereto, is only for the use of the > recipient(s) named above. This message, and its > attachments, may contain information that falls > under the attorney-client and/or work product > privileges. Receipt of this message by an unintended > recipient does not constitute a waiver by the sender > of any and all applicable privileges. If you are not > the intended recipient of this e-mail and any > attachments, or an agent responsible for delivering > it to the intended recipients, you are hereby > notified that any use, dissemination, distribution, > downloading, or copying of this communication is > strictly prohibited. If you have received this > e-mail in error, please notify the sender > immediately by e-mail, permanently delete the e-mail > and any attachments immediately, and destroy all > copies. > ************************************************************************************************ > -- > An archive of all list discussion is available at > http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ > > Visit the Walker Percy Project at > http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com From RGray at montreat.edu Sat May 13 20:09:11 2006 From: RGray at montreat.edu (Gray, Rich) Date: Sat, 13 May 2006 20:09:11 -0400 Subject: [percy-l] The Moviegoer elem ed Message-ID: The Moviegoer definitely surprises readers who expect a plot-driven novel. These readers can enjoy satire and philosophical reflection, if the ideas adhere to the skeleton of a suspenseful story. Moviegoer, lacking such a plot of rising action-climax-falling action, substitutes Binx's monolog. I like to think of this style of writing as prose-poetry. What stands out artisticallyf or me is the poetry of Binx describing his life at a philosophical turning point. The half-page passages of eloquent, terse, metaphoric strikes me like a Robert Browning dramatic monolog. Students may like learning Kierkegaard's three modes of belief: aesthetic, ethical, and religious (Binx pursuing Sharon, Aunt Emily lecturing Binx, and Binx contemplating the search). An earlier post mentioned using in class a few Percy essays. I like that approach, as Percy had huge success as an essayist--one of America's most articulate novelists, both in essay and interview. Percy didn't just blab -- he used essay and interview as artistic modes, in support of his novel-writing. This is a fruitful string of posts. Moviegoer is a top ten novel in the post WWII era, and we have the opportunity of introducing Moviegoer to a new generation of readers. Rich Gray -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: winmail.dat Type: application/ms-tnef Size: 4026 bytes Desc: not available URL: From sldye at bluegrass.org Mon May 15 09:32:26 2006 From: sldye at bluegrass.org (Dye, Steve) Date: Mon, 15 May 2006 09:32:26 -0400 Subject: [percy-l] The Moviegoer Message-ID: <74C25147FD45F644AAB363F7A432E5F50137C95F@KingKong.Bluegrass.Board> I couldn't have said it better myself - I first happened upon Percy in a novels class in college in the mid-70's. Had never heard of Percy. I was enthralled by The Moviegoer and then came upon "Love in the Ruins" while vacationing in New Orleans in the mid-80s just looking for something interesting to read by the pool in the afternoons while waiting for the evenings in the Quarter. I was stunned at how that book resonated with me and I became a Percy "devotee" also for sheer pleasure. Percy has, in many ways, changed my life. I am also not an academic and wonder sometimes if this site is a little too "academic"....Percy, as dead serious as he is, also makes me laugh out loud. I think he was one of the great "human beings".... Steven L. Dye, MA Director Bluegrass MH-MR Board, Inc. 1500 Leestown Road, Suite 338 Lexington, KY 40511 -----Original Message----- From: percy-l-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:percy-l-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Karl M. Terrell Sent: Thursday, May 11, 2006 1:41 PM To: Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion Subject: Re: [percy-l] The Moviegoer * * This communication is CONFIDENTIAL * * I took an American literature intro class at your university/my alma mater, UNC-CH, in the late 70s (I was not an English major), and it was then and there that I was introduced to Percy. We read the Moviegoer. I've been under his spell ever since, having read everything he has written, solely for pleasure. I don't pretend to know why I got turned on to this particular writer; I'm not the literary type, and don't analyze such things. I just appreciate good writing, by a writer who has something to say, and peppers it along with wonderful observations about the planet and the people around us. Karl -----Original Message----- From: mitchdl at email.unc.edu [mailto:mitchdl at email.unc.edu] Sent: Thursday, May 11, 2006 10:43 AM To: percy-l at lists.ibiblio.org Subject: Re: [percy-l] The Moviegoer I just finished teaching The Moviegoer at the end of a Southern Lit class and was surprised at how well the students responded. Granted, this was an upper-level course composed of English majors (and one sociology major!), so it's a different bag from an intro course. I think there's less of a problem with TMG seeming dated now than there would have been in the eighties/nineties, for the simple reason that the references are absolutely meaningless to students now (William Holden??). They take them purely as fictional names and judge the meaning by the context, instead of partially recognizing and depositing them in the 'fogey' bin. The predicament, of course, is unchanged and worse now than ever. Most surprising, though, was the response to Kate. If any character might be said to be a bit overdrawn, it's Kate, but the students (all female) immediately recognized a familiar type. This, I would say, is one path into TMG with these students. It helps that mine tend to be notably less ideologically driven readers, so they don't get distracted with the "She's dependent on a man!" business. They understand more about desperate times and desperate measures. Since this is an intro class, however, TMG will leave many students flat. So my recommendation would be to divide the class as the world is divided: those who love Percy (TWLP) and those who hate Percy (TWHP), or sheep and goats. Take the class outside and let the TWHPers loll about on the grass with their Ipods while the TWLPs palpitate their frontal lobes and gaze ironically at the former group. All the best, Doug Quoting "Beck, David A" : > Friends, > A few weeks (months?) ago, someone posted a message about the success > of teaching The Moviegoer to a high school class. (I'm thinking it was > Rhonda.) But the email encouraged me to try it once again, in my Intro > to Lit class this summer. Most of the class will be bright-faced, > eager to learn, college freshman--well, college freshman anyway. > The Moviegoer is one of my favorites, but it's also one that I've > never taught successfully. Most thought it was too weird (I > interpreted that as being too dated--replace Tony Curtis with Tom > Cruise, etc.) But if high schoolers got it, then maybe it is the way I've been teaching it. > Lancelot has always gone over well in my 200-level lit classes. And > Love in the Ruins also works pretty well, though it's a little too > long. But TMG is such a great book that I thought I needed to give it > one more try. I'm re-reading it now and am really enjoying it again. > So my question is (to the list and to Rhonda, if she is the one who > posted the email): What is a good way of presenting this novel that is > dated (in its references) but is as timely now (if not more so) than > ever to college freshman? > Any help will be much appreciated. The class doesn't begin until 6/26. > Thanks. > -David > > > -- > An archive of all list discussion is available at > http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ > > Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy > -- An archive of all list discussion is available at http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy ************************************************************************ ************************ PRIVILEGED COMMUNICATION The information contained in this e-mail, and any attachments thereto, is only for the use of the recipient(s) named above. This message, and its attachments, may contain information that falls under the attorney-client and/or work product privileges. Receipt of this message by an unintended recipient does not constitute a waiver by the sender of any and all applicable privileges. If you are not the intended recipient of this e-mail and any attachments, or an agent responsible for delivering it to the intended recipients, you are hereby notified that any use, dissemination, distribution, downloading, or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender immediately by e-mail, permanently delete the e-mail and any attachments immediately, and destroy all copies. ************************************************************************ ************************ -- An archive of all list discussion is available at http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy From Robert_Pauley at oxy.com Mon May 15 19:14:43 2006 From: Robert_Pauley at oxy.com (Robert_Pauley at oxy.com) Date: Mon, 15 May 2006 16:14:43 -0700 Subject: [percy-l] The Moviegoer Message-ID: <7706697134D5C94781B111C8C298D6740B60722A@olawexc8.naoxy.com> Right on. I was introduced to Percy through my brother, who was teaching a section of Robert Coles' "Moral Inquiry" class at Harvard. "Moviegoer" was on the reading list. I'd always considered Percy an "important" and therefore boring novelist (perhaps because one of his books was fixed high on my mother's shelves next to "The Tin Drum" and some Dreiser novel; as a child, I read only for fun). But "The Moviegoer" floored me. It was almost as if coming upon some kind of treasure map to the mind. I'll never forget the opening passages, with musing on the satisfactions of domestic identity, lying in bed at his Aunt's house staring up at the ceiling medallion, or the strange but wonderful image of Aunt Emily as a "young Prince," or, of course, describing the secret thrill of being "onto something." Reading Percy, I just felt better about everything. Nomino ergo sum. I can't really remember Coles' take on Percy. But I've never been terribly interested in or enlightened by critiques of Percy. And my eyes glaze over at the semiotics stuff. Percy must be experienced. He is the most "useful" novelist I've ever come across. I'm not sure how he pulls it off. Nothing much happens in his novels, yet everything does. Thanks to this list, I am now re-reading The Moviegoer. -----Original Message----- From: percy-l-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:percy-l-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Dye, Steve Sent: Monday, May 15, 2006 6:32 AM To: Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion Subject: Re: [percy-l] The Moviegoer I couldn't have said it better myself - I first happened upon Percy in a novels class in college in the mid-70's. Had never heard of Percy. I was enthralled by The Moviegoer and then came upon "Love in the Ruins" while vacationing in New Orleans in the mid-80s just looking for something interesting to read by the pool in the afternoons while waiting for the evenings in the Quarter. I was stunned at how that book resonated with me and I became a Percy "devotee" also for sheer pleasure. Percy has, in many ways, changed my life. I am also not an academic and wonder sometimes if this site is a little too "academic"....Percy, as dead serious as he is, also makes me laugh out loud. I think he was one of the great "human beings".... Steven L. Dye, MA Director Bluegrass MH-MR Board, Inc. 1500 Leestown Road, Suite 338 Lexington, KY 40511 -----Original Message----- From: percy-l-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:percy-l-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Karl M. Terrell Sent: Thursday, May 11, 2006 1:41 PM To: Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion Subject: Re: [percy-l] The Moviegoer * * This communication is CONFIDENTIAL * * I took an American literature intro class at your university/my alma mater, UNC-CH, in the late 70s (I was not an English major), and it was then and there that I was introduced to Percy. We read the Moviegoer. I've been under his spell ever since, having read everything he has written, solely for pleasure. I don't pretend to know why I got turned on to this particular writer; I'm not the literary type, and don't analyze such things. I just appreciate good writing, by a writer who has something to say, and peppers it along with wonderful observations about the planet and the people around us. Karl -----Original Message----- From: mitchdl at email.unc.edu [mailto:mitchdl at email.unc.edu] Sent: Thursday, May 11, 2006 10:43 AM To: percy-l at lists.ibiblio.org Subject: Re: [percy-l] The Moviegoer I just finished teaching The Moviegoer at the end of a Southern Lit class and was surprised at how well the students responded. Granted, this was an upper-level course composed of English majors (and one sociology major!), so it's a different bag from an intro course. I think there's less of a problem with TMG seeming dated now than there would have been in the eighties/nineties, for the simple reason that the references are absolutely meaningless to students now (William Holden??). They take them purely as fictional names and judge the meaning by the context, instead of partially recognizing and depositing them in the 'fogey' bin. The predicament, of course, is unchanged and worse now than ever. Most surprising, though, was the response to Kate. If any character might be said to be a bit overdrawn, it's Kate, but the students (all female) immediately recognized a familiar type. This, I would say, is one path into TMG with these students. It helps that mine tend to be notably less ideologically driven readers, so they don't get distracted with the "She's dependent on a man!" business. They understand more about desperate times and desperate measures. Since this is an intro class, however, TMG will leave many students flat. So my recommendation would be to divide the class as the world is divided: those who love Percy (TWLP) and those who hate Percy (TWHP), or sheep and goats. Take the class outside and let the TWHPers loll about on the grass with their Ipods while the TWLPs palpitate their frontal lobes and gaze ironically at the former group. All the best, Doug Quoting "Beck, David A" : > Friends, > A few weeks (months?) ago, someone posted a message about the success > of teaching The Moviegoer to a high school class. (I'm thinking it was > Rhonda.) But the email encouraged me to try it once again, in my Intro > to Lit class this summer. Most of the class will be bright-faced, > eager to learn, college freshman--well, college freshman anyway. > The Moviegoer is one of my favorites, but it's also one that I've > never taught successfully. Most thought it was too weird (I > interpreted that as being too dated--replace Tony Curtis with Tom > Cruise, etc.) But if high schoolers got it, then maybe it is the way I've been teaching it. > Lancelot has always gone over well in my 200-level lit classes. And > Love in the Ruins also works pretty well, though it's a little too > long. But TMG is such a great book that I thought I needed to give it > one more try. I'm re-reading it now and am really enjoying it again. > So my question is (to the list and to Rhonda, if she is the one who > posted the email): What is a good way of presenting this novel that is > dated (in its references) but is as timely now (if not more so) than > ever to college freshman? > Any help will be much appreciated. The class doesn't begin until 6/26. > Thanks. > -David > > > -- > An archive of all list discussion is available at > http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ > > Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy > -- An archive of all list discussion is available at http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy ************************************************************************ ************************ PRIVILEGED COMMUNICATION The information contained in this e-mail, and any attachments thereto, is only for the use of the recipient(s) named above. This message, and its attachments, may contain information that falls under the attorney-client and/or work product privileges. Receipt of this message by an unintended recipient does not constitute a waiver by the sender of any and all applicable privileges. If you are not the intended recipient of this e-mail and any attachments, or an agent responsible for delivering it to the intended recipients, you are hereby notified that any use, dissemination, distribution, downloading, or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender immediately by e-mail, permanently delete the e-mail and any attachments immediately, and destroy all copies. ************************************************************************ ************************ -- An archive of all list discussion is available at http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy -- An archive of all list discussion is available at http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy From jdp at scn.org Mon May 15 19:24:48 2006 From: jdp at scn.org (Jonathan Potter) Date: Mon, 15 May 2006 16:24:48 -0700 Subject: [percy-l] The Moviegoer In-Reply-To: <7706697134D5C94781B111C8C298D6740B60722A@olawexc8.naoxy.com> References: <7706697134D5C94781B111C8C298D6740B60722A@olawexc8.naoxy.com> Message-ID: <12305a9c0605151624m7aecf4b9kad5fd5fcdc9aed61@mail.gmail.com> Yes, yes. Agreed. Although I first read Lost in the Cosmos and Message in the Bottle, and was turned on by 'em, reading the novels was quite another experience. Felt more at home than I'd ever felt before somehow. Not unlike the impact of Anne Sullivan on Helen Keller. Not that there isn't an obvious continuity with the non-fiction as well. But something happens in the novels that criticism can't touch. Jonathan Potter Spokane WA (which is mentioned somewhere in the Moviegoer) On 5/15/06, Robert_Pauley at oxy.com wrote: > > Right on. I was introduced to Percy through my brother, who was teaching > a section of Robert Coles' "Moral Inquiry" class at Harvard. > "Moviegoer" was on the reading list. I'd always considered Percy an > "important" and therefore boring novelist (perhaps because one of his > books was fixed high on my mother's shelves next to "The Tin Drum" and > some Dreiser novel; as a child, I read only for fun). But "The > Moviegoer" floored me. It was almost as if coming upon some kind of > treasure map to the mind. I'll never forget the opening passages, with > musing on the satisfactions of domestic identity, lying in bed at his > Aunt's house staring up at the ceiling medallion, or the strange but > wonderful image of Aunt Emily as a "young Prince," or, of course, > describing the secret thrill of being "onto something." Reading Percy, I > just felt better about everything. Nomino ergo sum. > > I can't really remember Coles' take on Percy. But I've never been > terribly interested in or enlightened by critiques of Percy. And my > eyes glaze over at the semiotics stuff. Percy must be experienced. He > is the most "useful" novelist I've ever come across. I'm not sure how he > pulls it off. Nothing much happens in his novels, yet everything does. > > Thanks to this list, I am now re-reading The Moviegoer. > > -----Original Message----- > From: percy-l-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org > [mailto:percy-l-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Dye, Steve > Sent: Monday, May 15, 2006 6:32 AM > To: Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion > Subject: Re: [percy-l] The Moviegoer > > I couldn't have said it better myself - I first happened upon Percy in a > novels class in college in the mid-70's. Had never heard of Percy. I was > enthralled by The Moviegoer and then came upon "Love in the Ruins" while > vacationing in New Orleans in the mid-80s just looking for something > interesting to read by the pool in the afternoons while waiting for the > evenings in the Quarter. I was stunned at how that book resonated with > me and I became a Percy "devotee" also for sheer pleasure. Percy has, > in many ways, changed my life. I am also not an academic and wonder > sometimes if this site is a little too "academic"....Percy, as dead > serious as he is, also makes me laugh out loud. I think he was one of > the great "human beings".... > > Steven L. Dye, MA > Director > Bluegrass MH-MR Board, Inc. > 1500 Leestown Road, Suite 338 > Lexington, KY 40511 > > > -----Original Message----- > From: percy-l-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org > [mailto:percy-l-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Karl M. Terrell > Sent: Thursday, May 11, 2006 1:41 PM > To: Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion > Subject: Re: [percy-l] The Moviegoer > > * * This communication is CONFIDENTIAL * * > > > > > I took an American literature intro class at your university/my alma > mater, UNC-CH, in the late 70s (I was not an English major), and it was > then and there that I was introduced to Percy. We read the Moviegoer. > I've been under his spell ever since, having read everything he has > written, solely for pleasure. > > I don't pretend to know why I got turned on to this particular writer; > I'm not the literary type, and don't analyze such things. I just > appreciate good writing, by a writer who has something to say, and > peppers it along with wonderful observations about the planet and the > people around us. > > Karl > > -----Original Message----- > From: mitchdl at email.unc.edu [mailto:mitchdl at email.unc.edu] > Sent: Thursday, May 11, 2006 10:43 AM > To: percy-l at lists.ibiblio.org > Subject: Re: [percy-l] The Moviegoer > > I just finished teaching The Moviegoer at the end of a Southern Lit > class and was surprised at how well the students responded. Granted, > this was an upper-level course composed of English majors (and one > sociology major!), so it's a different bag from an intro course. > > I think there's less of a problem with TMG seeming dated now than there > would have been in the eighties/nineties, for the simple reason that the > references are absolutely meaningless to students now (William > Holden??). They take them purely as fictional names and judge the > meaning by the context, instead of partially recognizing and depositing > them in the 'fogey' bin. > > The predicament, of course, is unchanged and worse now than ever. > > Most surprising, though, was the response to Kate. If any character > might be said to be a bit overdrawn, it's Kate, but the students (all > female) immediately recognized a familiar type. This, I would say, is > one path into TMG with these students. It helps that mine tend to be > notably less ideologically driven readers, so they don't get distracted > with the "She's dependent on a man!" business. They understand more > about desperate times and desperate measures. > > Since this is an intro class, however, TMG will leave many students > flat. So my recommendation would be to divide the class as the world is > divided: those who love Percy (TWLP) and those who hate Percy (TWHP), > or sheep and goats. Take the class outside and let the TWHPers loll > about on the grass with their Ipods while the TWLPs palpitate their > frontal lobes and gaze ironically at the former group. > > All the best, > > Doug > > > > > Quoting "Beck, David A" : > > > Friends, > > A few weeks (months?) ago, someone posted a message about the success > > of teaching The Moviegoer to a high school class. (I'm thinking it was > > Rhonda.) But the email encouraged me to try it once again, in my Intro > > > to Lit class this summer. Most of the class will be bright-faced, > > eager to learn, college freshman--well, college freshman anyway. > > The Moviegoer is one of my favorites, but it's also one that I've > > never taught successfully. Most thought it was too weird (I > > interpreted that as being too dated--replace Tony Curtis with Tom > > Cruise, etc.) But if high schoolers got it, then maybe it is the way > I've been teaching it. > > Lancelot has always gone over well in my 200-level lit classes. And > > Love in the Ruins also works pretty well, though it's a little too > > long. But TMG is such a great book that I thought I needed to give it > > one more try. I'm re-reading it now and am really enjoying it again. > > So my question is (to the list and to Rhonda, if she is the one who > > posted the email): What is a good way of presenting this novel that is > > > dated (in its references) but is as timely now (if not more so) than > > ever to college freshman? > > Any help will be much appreciated. The class doesn't begin until 6/26. > > Thanks. > > -David > > > > > > -- > > An archive of all list discussion is available at > > http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ > > > > Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy > > > > > -- > An archive of all list discussion is available at > http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ > > Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy > > > ************************************************************************ > ************************ > PRIVILEGED COMMUNICATION > The information contained in this e-mail, and any attachments thereto, > is only for the use of the recipient(s) named above. This message, and > its attachments, may contain information that falls under the > attorney-client and/or work product privileges. Receipt of this message > by an unintended recipient does not constitute a waiver by the sender of > any and all applicable privileges. If you are not the intended recipient > of this e-mail and any attachments, or an agent responsible for > delivering it to the intended recipients, you are hereby notified that > any use, dissemination, distribution, downloading, or copying of this > communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail > in error, please notify the sender immediately by e-mail, permanently > delete the e-mail and any attachments immediately, and destroy all > copies. > ************************************************************************ > ************************ > -- > An archive of all list discussion is available at > http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ > > Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy > -- > An archive of all list discussion is available at > http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ > > Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy > -- > An archive of all list discussion is available at > http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ > > Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dabeck at iupui.edu Mon May 15 19:45:36 2006 From: dabeck at iupui.edu (Beck, David A) Date: Mon, 15 May 2006 19:45:36 -0400 Subject: [percy-l] moviegoer Message-ID: <20060515194536.ferzow0cowwg4sck@webmail.iu.edu> Robert et al, I'm also re-reading TMG. (I tried listening to it on some cds from the library and wasn't impressed with the quality or reader. Besides, I think Percy is one of those authors who is better read than listened to.) Anyway, I know we tried to have a discussion on LIR and it didn't take off. Maybe you (Robert) and anyone else who might be re-reading (or has read) it can throw out some reflections, insights, etc. I'd like to see a discussion start on some specifics about the book, perhaps starting at the beginning and working our way through it. Just a thought. -David From Robert_Pauley at oxy.com Mon May 15 20:19:06 2006 From: Robert_Pauley at oxy.com (Robert_Pauley at oxy.com) Date: Mon, 15 May 2006 17:19:06 -0700 Subject: [percy-l] moviegoer Message-ID: <7706697134D5C94781B111C8C298D6740B60734D@olawexc8.naoxy.com> David: It's been 20 years since I first cracked it, and I'm in fact reading it with some attention to how it strikes me differently, or rather what now strikes me. I will try to make mental notes as time permits. I notice right-off how drowsy and discursive the opening is (not in a bad way), yet how efficiently and vividly Percy captures the various characters. I'd forgotten some of the simple joys of character here, especially Uncle Jules (Binx wants to bury his face in the snowy expanse of his snug cotton shirts). I shouldn't get ahead of myself, but I'm also reflecting on the datedness of the story's social world and detail. There is a particular ambered Americana and class detail here that some (many?) might not be able to grog (I grew up close enough to this world to recognize the signs and symbols and sly parodies thereof). Will the existential salience of Binx's predicament have the same meaning? Just early thoughts. --R -----Original Message----- From: percy-l-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:percy-l-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Beck, David A Sent: Monday, May 15, 2006 4:46 PM To: Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion Subject: [percy-l] moviegoer Robert et al, I'm also re-reading TMG. (I tried listening to it on some cds from the library and wasn't impressed with the quality or reader. Besides, I think Percy is one of those authors who is better read than listened to.) Anyway, I know we tried to have a discussion on LIR and it didn't take off. Maybe you (Robert) and anyone else who might be re-reading (or has read) it can throw out some reflections, insights, etc. I'd like to see a discussion start on some specifics about the book, perhaps starting at the beginning and working our way through it. Just a thought. -David -- An archive of all list discussion is available at http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy From dabeck at iupui.edu Mon May 15 22:59:09 2006 From: dabeck at iupui.edu (Beck, David A) Date: Mon, 15 May 2006 22:59:09 -0400 Subject: [percy-l] moviegoer Message-ID: <20060515225909.shy40ahtq848cgs0@webmail.iu.edu> Robert, I hope that the "existential salience of Binx's predicament" comes across to my students. If not, the whole thing is a wash. But, at the same time, Dostoevsky's underground man shares some of the same signs of alienation (I don't consider Dostoevsky outdated). On the other hand, you bring up a great point: America is a different world from the world of TMG. That's why I think students appreciate Dostoevsky (and most of mine like C&P) or any "period piece" better than something that is somewhat contemporary. One of my favorite passages in TMG is when Binx has a conversation with Walter: "Oh Lord. What's wrong with the goddamn world, Binx?" "I am not sure. But something occurred to me this morning. I was sitting on the bus--" "What do you do with yourself out there in Gentilly?" (39) To me this passage sums it up: either you get it (the search) or you don't. Walter doesn't get it. Many people make statements, platitudes, ask questions, but never really want to "search" for an answer. It's easy to spit out a question, but quite another to look deeply into our own existence, our place in this world. That aspect of the novel is probably more real today than it was when Percy wrote the book. We have more ways to hide from the search. Or perhaps we have more ways to disguise what we are doing and call it a search (does that make sense?). We have more tv channels to distract us, more obligations (taking kids here and there--when did sports begin at age five?), more technology (he says as he writes this email), etc. For me, the challenge is to show students that something "ain't right" with our day-to-day existence (or at least it's not right for most of us). So, to show students that there is more to life than what is on the surface, to encourage them to dig deeper and see the mystery that lies beneath our day-to-day existence (to notice the dung beetle)--that is what I hope this novel can do to them (as it did for me). And, of course, I hope to inspire myself to continue the search. Like Binx after reflecting on dung beetle, I get home and "forget all about it." Whew! Sorry for the long email. But the more we correspond, the more I see the importance of this book (and am glad that I decided to try it again). It is a novel that, according to some of us, changed lives (that's why it beat out Catch 22 for the National Book Award--of course, there probably is a Heller listserve....) Thanks for all of the feedback. -David From rhonda_mcdonnell at msn.com Tue May 16 01:19:47 2006 From: rhonda_mcdonnell at msn.com (RHONDA MCDONNELL) Date: Mon, 15 May 2006 22:19:47 -0700 Subject: [percy-l] The Moviegoer In-Reply-To: <12305a9c0605151624m7aecf4b9kad5fd5fcdc9aed61@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: All right--so I'm going to throw in something academic--In the appendices to THEIF OF PEIRCE is a wonderful essay by Ken Ketner on Percy's novel science--It muses upon that effect that Percy has on his audience. Give it a shot--your eyes might stay unglazed! --Rhonda . . . what people really fear is not that the bomb will fall but that the bomb will not fall . . . --Walker Percy >From: "Jonathan Potter" >Reply-To: "Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion" > >To: "Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion" > >Subject: Re: [percy-l] The Moviegoer >Date: Mon, 15 May 2006 16:24:48 -0700 > >Yes, yes. Agreed. Although I first read Lost in the Cosmos and Message in >the Bottle, and was turned on by 'em, reading the novels was quite another >experience. Felt more at home than I'd ever felt before somehow. Not >unlike the impact of Anne Sullivan on Helen Keller. Not that there isn't >an >obvious continuity with the non-fiction as well. But something happens in >the novels that criticism can't touch. > >Jonathan Potter >Spokane WA (which is mentioned somewhere in the Moviegoer) > > >On 5/15/06, Robert_Pauley at oxy.com wrote: >> >>Right on. I was introduced to Percy through my brother, who was teaching >>a section of Robert Coles' "Moral Inquiry" class at Harvard. >>"Moviegoer" was on the reading list. I'd always considered Percy an >>"important" and therefore boring novelist (perhaps because one of his >>books was fixed high on my mother's shelves next to "The Tin Drum" and >>some Dreiser novel; as a child, I read only for fun). But "The >>Moviegoer" floored me. It was almost as if coming upon some kind of >>treasure map to the mind. I'll never forget the opening passages, with >>musing on the satisfactions of domestic identity, lying in bed at his >>Aunt's house staring up at the ceiling medallion, or the strange but >>wonderful image of Aunt Emily as a "young Prince," or, of course, >>describing the secret thrill of being "onto something." Reading Percy, I >>just felt better about everything. Nomino ergo sum. >> >>I can't really remember Coles' take on Percy. But I've never been >>terribly interested in or enlightened by critiques of Percy. And my >>eyes glaze over at the semiotics stuff. Percy must be experienced. He >>is the most "useful" novelist I've ever come across. I'm not sure how he >>pulls it off. Nothing much happens in his novels, yet everything does. >> >>Thanks to this list, I am now re-reading The Moviegoer. >> >>-----Original Message----- >>From: percy-l-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org >>[mailto:percy-l-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Dye, Steve >>Sent: Monday, May 15, 2006 6:32 AM >>To: Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion >>Subject: Re: [percy-l] The Moviegoer >> >>I couldn't have said it better myself - I first happened upon Percy in a >>novels class in college in the mid-70's. Had never heard of Percy. I was >>enthralled by The Moviegoer and then came upon "Love in the Ruins" while >>vacationing in New Orleans in the mid-80s just looking for something >>interesting to read by the pool in the afternoons while waiting for the >>evenings in the Quarter. I was stunned at how that book resonated with >>me and I became a Percy "devotee" also for sheer pleasure. Percy has, >>in many ways, changed my life. I am also not an academic and wonder >>sometimes if this site is a little too "academic"....Percy, as dead >>serious as he is, also makes me laugh out loud. I think he was one of >>the great "human beings".... >> >>Steven L. Dye, MA >>Director >>Bluegrass MH-MR Board, Inc. >>1500 Leestown Road, Suite 338 >>Lexington, KY 40511 >> >> >>-----Original Message----- >>From: percy-l-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org >>[mailto:percy-l-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Karl M. Terrell >>Sent: Thursday, May 11, 2006 1:41 PM >>To: Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion >>Subject: Re: [percy-l] The Moviegoer >> >>* * This communication is CONFIDENTIAL * * >> >> >> >> >>I took an American literature intro class at your university/my alma >>mater, UNC-CH, in the late 70s (I was not an English major), and it was >>then and there that I was introduced to Percy. We read the Moviegoer. >>I've been under his spell ever since, having read everything he has >>written, solely for pleasure. >> >>I don't pretend to know why I got turned on to this particular writer; >>I'm not the literary type, and don't analyze such things. I just >>appreciate good writing, by a writer who has something to say, and >>peppers it along with wonderful observations about the planet and the >>people around us. >> >>Karl >> >>-----Original Message----- >>From: mitchdl at email.unc.edu [mailto:mitchdl at email.unc.edu] >>Sent: Thursday, May 11, 2006 10:43 AM >>To: percy-l at lists.ibiblio.org >>Subject: Re: [percy-l] The Moviegoer >> >>I just finished teaching The Moviegoer at the end of a Southern Lit >>class and was surprised at how well the students responded. Granted, >>this was an upper-level course composed of English majors (and one >>sociology major!), so it's a different bag from an intro course. >> >>I think there's less of a problem with TMG seeming dated now than there >>would have been in the eighties/nineties, for the simple reason that the >>references are absolutely meaningless to students now (William >>Holden??). They take them purely as fictional names and judge the >>meaning by the context, instead of partially recognizing and depositing >>them in the 'fogey' bin. >> >>The predicament, of course, is unchanged and worse now than ever. >> >>Most surprising, though, was the response to Kate. If any character >>might be said to be a bit overdrawn, it's Kate, but the students (all >>female) immediately recognized a familiar type. This, I would say, is >>one path into TMG with these students. It helps that mine tend to be >>notably less ideologically driven readers, so they don't get distracted >>with the "She's dependent on a man!" business. They understand more >>about desperate times and desperate measures. >> >>Since this is an intro class, however, TMG will leave many students >>flat. So my recommendation would be to divide the class as the world is >>divided: those who love Percy (TWLP) and those who hate Percy (TWHP), >>or sheep and goats. Take the class outside and let the TWHPers loll >>about on the grass with their Ipods while the TWLPs palpitate their >>frontal lobes and gaze ironically at the former group. >> >>All the best, >> >>Doug >> >> >> >> >>Quoting "Beck, David A" : >> >> > Friends, >> > A few weeks (months?) ago, someone posted a message about the success >> > of teaching The Moviegoer to a high school class. (I'm thinking it was >> > Rhonda.) But the email encouraged me to try it once again, in my Intro >> >> > to Lit class this summer. Most of the class will be bright-faced, >> > eager to learn, college freshman--well, college freshman anyway. >> > The Moviegoer is one of my favorites, but it's also one that I've >> > never taught successfully. Most thought it was too weird (I >> > interpreted that as being too dated--replace Tony Curtis with Tom >> > Cruise, etc.) But if high schoolers got it, then maybe it is the way >>I've been teaching it. >> > Lancelot has always gone over well in my 200-level lit classes. And >> > Love in the Ruins also works pretty well, though it's a little too >> > long. But TMG is such a great book that I thought I needed to give it >> > one more try. I'm re-reading it now and am really enjoying it again. >> > So my question is (to the list and to Rhonda, if she is the one who >> > posted the email): What is a good way of presenting this novel that is >> >> > dated (in its references) but is as timely now (if not more so) than >> > ever to college freshman? >> > Any help will be much appreciated. The class doesn't begin until 6/26. >> > Thanks. >> > -David >> > >> > >> > -- >> > An archive of all list discussion is available at >> > http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ >> > >> > Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy >> > >> >> >>-- >>An archive of all list discussion is available at >>http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ >> >>Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy >> >> >>************************************************************************ >>************************ >>PRIVILEGED COMMUNICATION >>The information contained in this e-mail, and any attachments thereto, >>is only for the use of the recipient(s) named above. This message, and >>its attachments, may contain information that falls under the >>attorney-client and/or work product privileges. Receipt of this message >>by an unintended recipient does not constitute a waiver by the sender of >>any and all applicable privileges. If you are not the intended recipient >>of this e-mail and any attachments, or an agent responsible for >>delivering it to the intended recipients, you are hereby notified that >>any use, dissemination, distribution, downloading, or copying of this >>communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail >>in error, please notify the sender immediately by e-mail, permanently >>delete the e-mail and any attachments immediately, and destroy all >>copies. >>************************************************************************ >>************************ >>-- >>An archive of all list discussion is available at >>http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ >> >>Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy >>-- >>An archive of all list discussion is available at >>http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ >> >>Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy >>-- >>An archive of all list discussion is available at >>http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ >> >>Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy >> >-- >An archive of all list discussion is available at >http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ > >Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy _________________________________________________________________ Don?t just search. Find. Check out the new MSN Search! http://search.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200636ave/direct/01/ From rhul at gwm.sc.edu Tue May 16 09:42:06 2006 From: rhul at gwm.sc.edu (Lawrence Rhu) Date: Tue, 16 May 2006 09:42:06 -0400 Subject: [percy-l] The Moviegoer Message-ID: Dear All, I have a new book coming out this month, or early next month, from Fordham University Press. It is called Stanley Cavell's American Dream: Shakespeare, Philosophy, and Hollywood Movies. About twenty of its pages in the first two chapters discuss The Moviegoer. Both of the last two chapters close with references to the (penultimate) ending of The Moviegoer (just before the Epilogue). One of its two epigraphs quotes that passage: It is impossible to say why he is here. Is it part and parcel of the complex business of coming up in the world? Or is it because he believes that God himself is present here at the corner of Elysian Fields and Bons Enfants? Or is he here for both reasons: through some dim dazzling trick of grace: coming for the one and receiving the other as God's own importunate bonus? It is impossible to say. Walker Percy, The Moviegoer I say all this because I would like you to know about my book. It certainly reveals how deeply Percy's novel got to me long ago and continues to matter immensely despite ever-changing critical fashions. Given the fact that I am a college professor and a university press is publishing my book, you might also call it "academic," and I would feel obliged, after a number of disclaimers, reluctantly to concede that point. However, I certainly worked my hardest to write appealing and intelligible prose. Some of the blurbs on the cover, solicited by FUP, indicate a measure of success in this effort. They describe it as "eloquent and accessible," "rewarding and pleasurable to read, "a generous invitation" that "shows how the interests of an important philosopher are just like anybody else's." I hope that it is not merely self-promotion that moves me to make this contribution to the current discussion. Rather, the book contains pertinent matter for this listserv exchange and it puts my relevant views as well as I could when I was devoting my energy to that effort. Cordially, Larry Lawrence F. Rhu Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature University of South Carolina Columbia, SC 29208 Tel: 803 777 0144 Fax: 803 777 9064 Email: rhul at sc.edu From rhonda_mcdonnell at msn.com Tue May 16 20:09:29 2006 From: rhonda_mcdonnell at msn.com (RHONDA MCDONNELL) Date: Tue, 16 May 2006 17:09:29 -0700 Subject: [percy-l] moviegoer In-Reply-To: <20060515225909.shy40ahtq848cgs0@webmail.iu.edu> Message-ID: You've identified the thing that makes the novel worth teaching for me. Some of the students who were moved by MG really surprised me. It touched something within them and made them re-examine their lives and their plans. On the other hand, some of the students who seemed introspective--searchers like Binx--didn't connect with the novel at all. Go figure! --Rhonda . . . what people really fear is not that the bomb will fall but that the bomb will not fall . . . --Walker Percy >From: "Beck, David A" >Reply-To: "Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion" > >To: "Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion" > >Subject: [percy-l] moviegoer >Date: Mon, 15 May 2006 22:59:09 -0400 > >Robert, >I hope that the "existential salience of Binx's predicament" comes >across to my students. If not, the whole thing is a wash. But, at the >same time, Dostoevsky's underground man shares some of the same signs >of alienation (I don't consider Dostoevsky outdated). On the other >hand, you bring up a great point: America is a different world from the >world of TMG. That's why I think students appreciate Dostoevsky (and >most of mine like C&P) or any "period piece" better than something that >is somewhat contemporary. >One of my favorite passages in TMG is when Binx has a conversation with >Walter: > > "Oh Lord. What's wrong with the goddamn world, Binx?" > "I am not sure. But something occurred to me this morning. I >was sitting on the bus--" > "What do you do with yourself out there in Gentilly?" (39) > >To me this passage sums it up: either you get it (the search) or you >don't. Walter doesn't get it. Many people make statements, platitudes, >ask questions, but never really want to "search" for an answer. It's >easy to spit out a question, but quite another to look deeply into our >own existence, our place in this world. That aspect of the novel is >probably more real today than it was when Percy wrote the book. We have >more ways to hide from the search. Or perhaps we have more ways to >disguise what we are doing and call it a search >(does that make sense?). > We have more tv channels to distract us, more obligations (taking >kids here and there--when did sports begin at age five?), more >technology (he says as he writes this email), etc. For me, the >challenge is to show students that something "ain't right" with our >day-to-day existence (or at least it's not right for most of us). So, >to show students that there is more to life than what is on the >surface, to encourage them to dig deeper and see the mystery that lies >beneath our day-to-day existence (to notice the dung >beetle)--that is what I hope this novel can do to them (as it did for >me). And, of course, I hope to inspire myself to continue the search. >Like Binx after reflecting on dung beetle, I get home and "forget all >about it." > Whew! Sorry for the long email. But the more we correspond, the more >I see the importance of this book (and am glad that I decided to try it >again). It is a novel that, according to some of us, changed lives >(that's why it beat out Catch 22 for the National Book Award--of >course, there probably is a Heller listserve....) >Thanks for all of the feedback. >-David > > > >-- >An archive of all list discussion is available at >http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ > >Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy _________________________________________________________________ Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger! Download today - it's FREE! http://messenger.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200471ave/direct/01/ From Robert_Pauley at oxy.com Tue May 16 21:08:39 2006 From: Robert_Pauley at oxy.com (Robert_Pauley at oxy.com) Date: Tue, 16 May 2006 18:08:39 -0700 Subject: [percy-l] moviegoer Message-ID: <7706697134D5C94781B111C8C298D6740B703B36@olawexc8.naoxy.com> Thanks, David. I can see why you're the professor and I am not. Unexpectedly you led me to think that maybe I've always felt proprietary about Percy, seen him more as a personal, satisfying "find" than a larger artist along the lines of a Dostoevsky. Well, I guess I always recognized the latter possibility, just avoided thinking about it. I was enjoying myself so much, I didn't want to start interpreting him as an "artist." Yes -- we have "more ways (than ever) to disguise what we are doing and call it a search." And that seems to be the game everybody is playing these days, or the conceit they are indulging. Percy had this pegged way back when. I live in LA, where the pursuit of the "transformative" cause, belief, experience is common, feverish and yet, despite all its energy, seemingly lacking the important authenticity and humility of Binx's simple search. The searches are in fact inverted. Perhaps they could even be called search and anti-search. By merely serving as evidence of this contrast, the book could be valuable to young people today. And thanks, Rhonda. I read the essay by Ketner. It was good. I may have been rash in dismissing all critiques. It was a way of better understanding the etiology of the "shock of recognition". That's good. But one feels it or one doesn't. Or can one feel it more fully by understanding it better? Perhaps. This is all new to me. I have never approached Percy from a scientific or scholarly angle. I am not a scholar. And Percy did not lead me to reexamine my life. Rather he reassured me I wasn't crazy. Or if I was, that I had good company. It was literature as kinship. Beyond that, he was a splendid writer with a gift for spotting and speaking the odd and unspoken paradoxes of human relations. I enjoyed Ketner's thoughts on "vigorous truthful dialogue." I once took the reliable possibility of such dialogue for granted. But I do not anymore. This may be the greatest difference from Percy's time to our own. I believe we are less likely than ever to find places and opportunities for "VTD." Rgards, R. -----Original Message----- From: percy-l-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:percy-l-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Beck, David A Sent: Monday, May 15, 2006 7:59 PM To: Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion Subject: [percy-l] moviegoer Robert, I hope that the "existential salience of Binx's predicament" comes across to my students. If not, the whole thing is a wash. But, at the same time, Dostoevsky's underground man shares some of the same signs of alienation (I don't consider Dostoevsky outdated). On the other hand, you bring up a great point: America is a different world from the world of TMG. That's why I think students appreciate Dostoevsky (and most of mine like C&P) or any "period piece" better than something that is somewhat contemporary. One of my favorite passages in TMG is when Binx has a conversation with Walter: "Oh Lord. What's wrong with the goddamn world, Binx?" "I am not sure. But something occurred to me this morning. I was sitting on the bus--" "What do you do with yourself out there in Gentilly?" (39) To me this passage sums it up: either you get it (the search) or you don't. Walter doesn't get it. Many people make statements, platitudes, ask questions, but never really want to "search" for an answer. It's easy to spit out a question, but quite another to look deeply into our own existence, our place in this world. That aspect of the novel is probably more real today than it was when Percy wrote the book. We have more ways to hide from the search. Or perhaps we have more ways to disguise what we are doing and call it a search (does that make sense?). We have more tv channels to distract us, more obligations (taking kids here and there--when did sports begin at age five?), more technology (he says as he writes this email), etc. For me, the challenge is to show students that something "ain't right" with our day-to-day existence (or at least it's not right for most of us). So, to show students that there is more to life than what is on the surface, to encourage them to dig deeper and see the mystery that lies beneath our day-to-day existence (to notice the dung beetle)--that is what I hope this novel can do to them (as it did for me). And, of course, I hope to inspire myself to continue the search. Like Binx after reflecting on dung beetle, I get home and "forget all about it." Whew! Sorry for the long email. But the more we correspond, the more I see the importance of this book (and am glad that I decided to try it again). It is a novel that, according to some of us, changed lives (that's why it beat out Catch 22 for the National Book Award--of course, there probably is a Heller listserve....) Thanks for all of the feedback. -David -- An archive of all list discussion is available at http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy From RobtSchaefer at aol.com Tue May 16 21:16:25 2006 From: RobtSchaefer at aol.com (RobtSchaefer at aol.com) Date: Tue, 16 May 2006 21:16:25 EDT Subject: [percy-l] moviegoer Message-ID: <1bd.46f2163.319bd369@aol.com> In a message dated 5/16/2006 7:09:52 PM Central Standard Time, rhonda_mcdonnell at msn.com writes: On the other hand, some of the students who seemed introspective--searchers like Binx--didn't connect with the novel at all. I can't help but wonder: Is this an anomaly? Can you possibly give an account for the introspective students who did not connect with the novel? -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tfa at brickengraver.com Tue May 16 21:33:55 2006 From: tfa at brickengraver.com (Tommy Armstrong) Date: Tue, 16 May 2006 21:33:55 -0400 Subject: [percy-l] Tom Wolfe's Jefferson Lecture In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <000701c67951$f7400e40$1cf6fea9@compaqupstairs> Sounds to me that Mr. Wolfe, whom I greatly admire, and still have a copy of Kandy Kolored Tangerine Flake Streamline Baby on my favourites shelf, has come around to Percy's theories on the nature of man. Isn't there somewhere in Percy something to the effect of "homo sapiens loquacious" or something of the sort. I may of course be wrong. Anyway I was listening to NPR Saturday on the way to check my sewer plant and almost had to pull over. Here was someone actually espousing the Percy theory of evolution, at least my interpretation of Percy's theory of evolution. Not less than a week ago my operator and I had had one of those "philosophical" conversations about the origin of man--and I had pointed out to him that phrase "In the beginning was the Word... As explaining what I thought Percy was saying about the importance of language. After giving him 'Lost in the Cosmos' and 'Signposts in a Strange Land' and TMG, my operator now thinks Percy a genius--a fact that I have been trying to impart to my squeakers for 2 decades. Percy of course makes the case that it was perhaps divine intervention that empowered us with language--but Tom Wolfe otherwise makes many of the familiar Percy arguments. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5402198 Excerpt from Jefferson Lecture: " Evolution came to an end when the human beast developed speech! As soon as he became not Homo sapiens, "man reasoning," but Homo loquax, "man talking"! Speech gave the human beast far more than an ingenious tool. Speech was a veritable nuclear weapon! It gave the human beast the powers of reason, complex memory, and long-term planning, eventually in the form of print and engineering plans. Speech gave him the power to enlarge his food supply at will through an artifice called farming. Speech ended not only the evolution of man, by making it no longer necessary, but also the evolution of animals! Our animal friends--we're very sentimental about predators these days, aren't we--the lions, the tigers, the wolves, the rhinoceroses, the great apes, kangaroos, leopards, cheetahs, grizzly bears, polar bears, cougars--they're "endangered," meaning hanging on for dear life. Today the so-called animal kingdom exists only at the human beast's sufferance. " If yall have never read 'Kandy Kolored Tangerine Flake Streamline Baby' you should check it out--especially the essay on the origins of Stock Car Racing--which is a "biography" of Junior Johnson. Tommy Armstrong PO Box 484 Lillington, NC 27546 http://www.brickengraver.com "Science is extraordinarily stupid about people as people and the consequence of this stupidity is going to do us all in if we don't do something about it" Walker Percy From jp at jlarsp.com Tue May 16 21:39:55 2006 From: jp at jlarsp.com (John Pearson) Date: Tue, 16 May 2006 20:39:55 -0500 Subject: [percy-l] moviegoer In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <6f63e918397ee0affe7d2fbbce23f8d7@jlarsp.com> It's interesting that the introspective students didn't connect with the Moviegoer. I was about as introspective as a college student gets, and I connected with it mightily as an undergrad. However, it wasn't as part of a class. It was extra-curricular reading; a recommendation of a friend of a friend. I sometimes wonder if I'd have connected with it as much as I did if I read it for a class. Certainly there were novels I read for class that had an impact on me, and a lot obviously depends on the professor. But there is something about making a discovery while at university, but not from the official classes. John Pearson Chicago, IL 60657 jp at jlarsp.com "A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government." Edward Abbey "News is what powerful people want to keep hidden. Everything else is just publicity." Bill Moyers "The World is Divided into People Who Think They are Right." Peggy Seeger On May 16, 2006, at 7:09 PM, RHONDA MCDONNELL wrote: > You've identified the thing that makes the novel worth teaching for > me. Some > of the students who were moved by MG really surprised me. It touched > something within them and made them re-examine their lives and their > plans. > On the other hand, some of the students who seemed > introspective--searchers > like Binx--didn't connect with the novel at all. Go figure! > > > > --Rhonda > . . . what people really fear is not that the bomb will fall but that > the > bomb will not fall . . . > --Walker Percy > > > > > >> From: "Beck, David A" >> Reply-To: "Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion" >> >> To: "Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion" >> >> Subject: [percy-l] moviegoer >> Date: Mon, 15 May 2006 22:59:09 -0400 >> >> Robert, >> I hope that the "existential salience of Binx's predicament" comes >> across to my students. If not, the whole thing is a wash. But, at the >> same time, Dostoevsky's underground man shares some of the same signs >> of alienation (I don't consider Dostoevsky outdated). On the other >> hand, you bring up a great point: America is a different world from >> the >> world of TMG. That's why I think students appreciate Dostoevsky (and >> most of mine like C&P) or any "period piece" better than something >> that >> is somewhat contemporary. >> One of my favorite passages in TMG is when Binx has a conversation >> with >> Walter: >> >> "Oh Lord. What's wrong with the goddamn world, Binx?" >> "I am not sure. But something occurred to me this morning. I >> was sitting on the bus--" >> "What do you do with yourself out there in Gentilly?" (39) >> >> To me this passage sums it up: either you get it (the search) or you >> don't. Walter doesn't get it. Many people make statements, platitudes, >> ask questions, but never really want to "search" for an answer. It's >> easy to spit out a question, but quite another to look deeply into our >> own existence, our place in this world. That aspect of the novel is >> probably more real today than it was when Percy wrote the book. We >> have >> more ways to hide from the search. Or perhaps we have more ways to >> disguise what we are doing and call it a search >> (does that make sense?). >> We have more tv channels to distract us, more obligations (taking >> kids here and there--when did sports begin at age five?), more >> technology (he says as he writes this email), etc. For me, the >> challenge is to show students that something "ain't right" with our >> day-to-day existence (or at least it's not right for most of us). So, >> to show students that there is more to life than what is on the >> surface, to encourage them to dig deeper and see the mystery that lies >> beneath our day-to-day existence (to notice the dung >> beetle)--that is what I hope this novel can do to them (as it did for >> me). And, of course, I hope to inspire myself to continue the search. >> Like Binx after reflecting on dung beetle, I get home and "forget all >> about it." >> Whew! Sorry for the long email. But the more we correspond, the more >> I see the importance of this book (and am glad that I decided to try >> it >> again). It is a novel that, according to some of us, changed lives >> (that's why it beat out Catch 22 for the National Book Award--of >> course, there probably is a Heller listserve....) >> Thanks for all of the feedback. >> -David >> >> >> >> -- >> An archive of all list discussion is available at >> http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ >> >> Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy > > _________________________________________________________________ > Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger! Download today - it's > FREE! > http://messenger.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200471ave/direct/01/ > > -- > An archive of all list discussion is available at > http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ > > Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy > From rhonda_mcdonnell at msn.com Wed May 17 22:12:34 2006 From: rhonda_mcdonnell at msn.com (RHONDA MCDONNELL) Date: Wed, 17 May 2006 19:12:34 -0700 Subject: [percy-l] moviegoer In-Reply-To: <7706697134D5C94781B111C8C298D6740B703B36@olawexc8.naoxy.com> Message-ID: Robert-- I imagine Percy would be far more pleased by your identification with and understanding of his work than with loads of "scholars" papers. I think what he was after was the personal shock of recognition that you describe. I'm reminded of his essay "The Man on the Train" -- he writes that the man on the train who feels alienated but is reading a novel about an alienated man is rescued from that alienation. In other words, that shock of recognition creates a sort of community. Suddenly, instead of feeling as though he is spinning, adrift in the distractions of everyday life, he is onto something. And that makes all the difference. It seems to me that that is the experience you describe. and for that man on the train, or you, or me, it is by its nature an intensely personal experience. For me, the scholarship came much later. I first read Percy (MG) in my first grad school class, but I waited until my dissertation to tackle him. And even then, I was swimming out of my depth most of the time. How do you communicate that ineffable experience? --Rhonda . . . what people really fear is not that the bomb will fall but that the bomb will not fall . . . --Walker Percy >From: >Reply-To: "Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion" > >To: >Subject: Re: [percy-l] moviegoer >Date: Tue, 16 May 2006 18:08:39 -0700 > >Thanks, David. I can see why you're the professor and I am not. >Unexpectedly you led me to think that maybe I've always felt proprietary >about Percy, seen him more as a personal, satisfying "find" than a >larger artist along the lines of a Dostoevsky. Well, I guess I always >recognized the latter possibility, just avoided thinking about it. I was >enjoying myself so much, I didn't want to start interpreting him as an >"artist." > >Yes -- we have "more ways (than ever) to disguise what we are doing and >call it a search." And that seems to be the game everybody is playing >these days, or the conceit they are indulging. Percy had this pegged way >back when. I live in LA, where the pursuit of the "transformative" >cause, belief, experience is common, feverish and yet, despite all its >energy, seemingly lacking the important authenticity and humility of >Binx's simple search. The searches are in fact inverted. Perhaps they >could even be called search and anti-search. > >By merely serving as evidence of this contrast, the book could be >valuable to young people today. > >And thanks, Rhonda. I read the essay by Ketner. It was good. I may have >been rash in dismissing all critiques. It was a way of better >understanding the etiology of the "shock of recognition". That's good. >But one feels it or one doesn't. Or can one feel it more fully by >understanding it better? Perhaps. This is all new to me. I have never >approached Percy from a scientific or scholarly angle. I am not a >scholar. And Percy did not lead me to reexamine my life. Rather he >reassured me I wasn't crazy. Or if I was, that I had good company. It >was literature as kinship. Beyond that, he was a splendid writer with a >gift for spotting and speaking the odd and unspoken paradoxes of human >relations. > >I enjoyed Ketner's thoughts on "vigorous truthful dialogue." I once took >the reliable possibility of such dialogue for granted. But I do not >anymore. This may be the greatest difference from Percy's time to our >own. I believe we are less likely than ever to find places and >opportunities for "VTD." > >Rgards, R. > >-----Original Message----- >From: percy-l-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org >[mailto:percy-l-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Beck, David A >Sent: Monday, May 15, 2006 7:59 PM >To: Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion >Subject: [percy-l] moviegoer > >Robert, >I hope that the "existential salience of Binx's predicament" comes >across to my students. If not, the whole thing is a wash. But, at the >same time, Dostoevsky's underground man shares some of the same signs >of alienation (I don't consider Dostoevsky outdated). On the other >hand, you bring up a great point: America is a different world from the >world of TMG. That's why I think students appreciate Dostoevsky (and >most of mine like C&P) or any "period piece" better than something that >is somewhat contemporary. >One of my favorite passages in TMG is when Binx has a conversation with >Walter: > > "Oh Lord. What's wrong with the goddamn world, Binx?" > "I am not sure. But something occurred to me this morning. I >was sitting on the bus--" > "What do you do with yourself out there in Gentilly?" (39) > >To me this passage sums it up: either you get it (the search) or you >don't. Walter doesn't get it. Many people make statements, platitudes, >ask questions, but never really want to "search" for an answer. It's >easy to spit out a question, but quite another to look deeply into our >own existence, our place in this world. That aspect of the novel is >probably more real today than it was when Percy wrote the book. We have >more ways to hide from the search. Or perhaps we have more ways to >disguise what we are doing and call it a search >(does that make sense?). > We have more tv channels to distract us, more obligations (taking >kids here and there--when did sports begin at age five?), more >technology (he says as he writes this email), etc. For me, the >challenge is to show students that something "ain't right" with our >day-to-day existence (or at least it's not right for most of us). So, >to show students that there is more to life than what is on the >surface, to encourage them to dig deeper and see the mystery that lies >beneath our day-to-day existence (to notice the dung >beetle)--that is what I hope this novel can do to them (as it did for >me). And, of course, I hope to inspire myself to continue the search. >Like Binx after reflecting on dung beetle, I get home and "forget all >about it." > Whew! Sorry for the long email. But the more we correspond, the more >I see the importance of this book (and am glad that I decided to try it >again). It is a novel that, according to some of us, changed lives >(that's why it beat out Catch 22 for the National Book Award--of >course, there probably is a Heller listserve....) >Thanks for all of the feedback. >-David > > > >-- >An archive of all list discussion is available at >http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ > >Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy >-- >An archive of all list discussion is available at >http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ > >Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy _________________________________________________________________ Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger! Download today - it's FREE! http://messenger.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200471ave/direct/01/ From rhonda_mcdonnell at msn.com Wed May 17 22:19:16 2006 From: rhonda_mcdonnell at msn.com (RHONDA MCDONNELL) Date: Wed, 17 May 2006 19:19:16 -0700 Subject: [percy-l] moviegoer In-Reply-To: <1bd.46f2163.319bd369@aol.com> Message-ID: Great question. I wonder if the fault wasn't with my perception of them. For 17 and 18 year olds, being introspective might be a role that they play. A sort of posture that they take in a self-conscious fashion. Sort of like Kate in MG, who likes to do things because its the sort of things that a person of the type she sees herself as does. So, these kids play the part of the deep thinker and write poetry (mostly bad) and engage in self-consciously "deep" conversations. Whereas, the student who doesen't come across as introspective is probably keeping his self-examination to himself. Like Binx does. And so Binx resonates for that student because he sees himself in Binx, whereas the self-consciously introspective student is too busy playing the role to connect with Binx--and they seemed to suspect Binx's motives and authenticity because they suspect their own. An interesting side note: I expected my young feminists to take umbrage at Percy's women--Kate particularly. Instead, they liked her a great deal and found her much easier to connect to than Binx. All the angst with the parents, I guess. --Rhonda . . . what people really fear is not that the bomb will fall but that the bomb will not fall . . . --Walker Percy >From: RobtSchaefer at aol.com >Reply-To: "Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion" > >To: percy-l at lists.ibiblio.org >Subject: Re: [percy-l] moviegoer >Date: Tue, 16 May 2006 21:16:25 EDT > > >In a message dated 5/16/2006 7:09:52 PM Central Standard Time, >rhonda_mcdonnell at msn.com writes: > >On the other hand, some of the students who seemed >introspective--searchers >like Binx--didn't connect with the novel at all. > > > >I can't help but wonder: Is this an anomaly? Can you possibly give an >account for the introspective students who did not connect with the novel? >-- >An archive of all list discussion is available at >http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ > >Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy _________________________________________________________________ Don?t just search. Find. Check out the new MSN Search! http://search.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200636ave/direct/01/ From Nikkibar at aol.com Thu May 18 00:58:08 2006 From: Nikkibar at aol.com (Nikkibar at aol.com) Date: Thu, 18 May 2006 00:58:08 EDT Subject: [percy-l] moviegoer Message-ID: <366.47650bd.319d58e0@aol.com> On the contrary, it is the introspective who read books with lots of action. The movers and the shakers like the literary equivalen of Pilates Classes done at home on a bearskin rug. Nikki -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: