[percy-l] The Moviegoer
Jonathan Potter
jdp at scn.org
Mon May 15 19:24:48 EDT 2006
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 <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" <dabeck at iupui.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
> >
> >
> > --
> > 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
>
>
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> --
> 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
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