[percy-l] The Moviegoer
RHONDA MCDONNELL
rhonda_mcdonnell at msn.com
Tue May 16 01:19:47 EDT 2006
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" <jdp at scn.org>
>Reply-To: "Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion"
><percy-l at lists.ibiblio.org>
>To: "Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion"
><percy-l at lists.ibiblio.org>
>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 <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
>>--
>>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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