[percy-l] LITR Slow Read- July 4th
Henry Mills
wppdirector at gmail.com
Fri Jul 4 08:05:01 EDT 2014
Dear Percy-L,
Ralph C. Wood -- author of /The Comedy of Redemption: Christian Faith
and Comic Vision in Four American Novelists /(Flannery O'Connor, Walker
Percy, John Updike and Peter De Vries) and a University Professor of
Theology and Literature at Baylor University -- prepared the following
annotations for LITR that may be useful to our current slow read of the
book. It's entitled,
"Annotations for Walker Percy's /Love in the Ruins/"
Keyed to the Picador USA edition, 1999
First version by Thomas F. Gossett, 1973; second by Ralph C. Wood,
revised 1996-2005
The well-structured document contains over 400 entries that comment on
textual references that may not be clear to modern readers of the book.
See https://bearspace.baylor.edu/Ralph_Wood/www/percy/AnnotLoveInRuins.pdf
Best,
Henry Mills
* Percy-L Discussion Archives: http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/
* Manage Your Membership: http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/percy-l
* Contact the Moderator: percy-l-owner (at) lists.ibiblio.org
* Visit The Walker Percy Project: http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy
On 7/3/14, 11:09 AM, RHONDA MCDONNELL wrote:
> What was interesting for me in the "contradictory Judaism" passage was Tom's follow-up: he too gets the same reading . . . And then the lapsometer gets tossed!
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
>> On Jul 3, 2014, at 8:23 AM, "Charles Cowherd" <charlescowherd at hotmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> All,
>> So excited to be involved in this "Slow Read" and to benefit from the
>> group's reading of the book.
>> Marked passages for me include the "contradictory Judaism" diagnosis on page
>> 54 along with the masterful take on American exceptionalism/ Manifest
>> Destiny/ 'City on a Hill' narrative on page 57.
>> Those more than made up for the limitations that I saw in the 1st chapter,
>> which included Percy's usage of the interrogative to advance both plot and
>> theme.
>> Cannot wait for the next section.
>> ` Charles R. Cowherd
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Percy-L [mailto:percy-l-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of
>> percy-l-request at lists.ibiblio.org
>> Sent: Tuesday, July 01, 2014 9:21 AM
>> To: percy-l at lists.ibiblio.org
>> Subject: Percy-L Digest, Vol 108, Issue 2
>>
>> Send Percy-L mailing list submissions to
>> percy-l at lists.ibiblio.org
>>
>> To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
>> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/percy-l
>> or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
>> percy-l-request at lists.ibiblio.org
>>
>> You can reach the person managing the list at
>> percy-l-owner at lists.ibiblio.org
>>
>> When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than
>> "Re: Contents of Percy-L digest..."
>>
>>
>> Today's Topics:
>>
>> 1. Re: LITR Slow Read - Chapter 1 - "July Fourth" (RHONDA MCDONNELL)
>> 2. Re: LITR Slow Read - Chapter 1 - "July Fourth" (RHONDA MCDONNELL)
>> 3. Re: LITR Slow Read - Chapter 1 - "July Fourth" (Karl M. Terrell)
>>
>>
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> Message: 1
>> Date: Tue, 1 Jul 2014 00:25:31 -0500
>> From: RHONDA MCDONNELL <rhonda_mcdonnell at msn.com>
>> To: "Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion"
>> <percy-l at lists.ibiblio.org>
>> Subject: Re: [percy-l] LITR Slow Read - Chapter 1 - "July Fourth"
>> Message-ID: <BAY407-EAS22050015C16891A0B964481E4070 at phx.gbl>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>>
>>
>>
>>>> On Jun 30, 2014, at 7:31 AM, "Karl M. Terrell" <kterrell at stokeswagner.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>> while conservative Christian housewives have their maids ride in the back
>> seat, in the ?old style? ? ?Liberal housewives make their maids ride on the
>> front seat?
>>
>> I have the same passage highlighted in my book. I wonder, what is the
>> difference between the verbs "have" and "make"? In either case, none of the
>> housewives "let" the maids ride where the will.
>>
>> Interesting also that Tom's women have jobs in the midst of this housewife
>> dotted paradise he describes.
>>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> Message: 2
>> Date: Tue, 1 Jul 2014 00:26:52 -0500
>> From: RHONDA MCDONNELL <rhonda_mcdonnell at msn.com>
>> To: "Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion"
>> <percy-l at lists.ibiblio.org>
>> Subject: Re: [percy-l] LITR Slow Read - Chapter 1 - "July Fourth"
>> Message-ID: <BAY407-EAS209A704911FBFE53404370EE4070 at phx.gbl>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>>
>> I read that essay on Sunday, too. It's a fitting companion piece to LITR.
>>
>> Sent from my iPad
>>
>>> On Jun 30, 2014, at 10:30 AM, "Jim Forest" <jhforest at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> A brief quote from Walker Percy that sheds a little light about what is is
>> up to in LITR (and in his fiction as a whole):
>>> "The novelist writes about the coming end in order to warn about present
>> ills and so avert the end.... [but he] is less like a prophet than he is
>> like the canary that coal miners used to take down into the shaft to test
>> the air. When the canary gets unhappy, utters plaintive cries, and
>> collapses, it may be time for the miners to surface and think things
>> over..." -- from "Notes for a Novel About the End of the World"
>>>
>>>
>>> Jim
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>> On Sun, Jun 29, 2014 at 11:40 PM, RHONDA MCDONNELL
>> <rhonda_mcdonnell at msn.com> wrote:
>>>> I?d like to start be referring to Lauren?s most recent post. In it she
>> makes a great point: Percy is calling for ?ALL OF US to look our own
>> selves.? In the same post, though, she also seems to urge us to not examine
>> his work communally. That, however, is contrary to Percy?s anthropology.
>> The intersubjectivity of the communal experience is what he was after. So if
>> we read the novel together, no matter how far apart we may be
>> geographically, and discuss what in it speaks to us, what we each think he?s
>> getting at, we can have that affirming moment, where we say, ?Yes, yes, that
>> is how it is with me, too!? That co-celebration was Percy?s main goal.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> In his essay, ?Notes for a Novel about the End of the World,? Percy
>> explains the novelists role: ?The wounded man has a better view of the
>> battle than those still shooting. The novelist is less like a prophet than
>> he is like the canary that coal miners used to take down into the shaft to
>> test the air. When the canary gets unhappy, utters plaintive cries, and
>> collapses, it may be time for the miners to surface and think things over.?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> So I turn my thoughts to the opening chapter, partly in light of our
>> previous discussions:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> The novel opens with Tom More above the battle, so to speak, and watching
>> and waiting, like many of Percy?s protagonists. Tom More is a beautifully
>> flawed narrator, and I can?t help but see him in the mold of St. Augustine
>> who prayed, ?Lord, grant me chastity and continence, but not yet.? Tom
>> admits, ?My life is a longing, longings for women, for the Nobel Prize, for
>> the hot bosky bite of bourbon whiskey, and other great heart-wrenching
>> longings that have no name.? In fact, he dwells quite a bit on longing in
>> this novel (and his others). What is this longing all about? Is it the
>> sensual longings he identifies or is more hiding behind it so that women,
>> bourbon, the Nobel Prize can?t fill it?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Tom is unique in his society, being neither Left nor Knothead. Instead,
>> he is the odd man out?the true believer who is also a scientist. He may not
>> be a ?good? Catholic, yet, as he asserts, he believes. And his belief is not
>> the watered down belief of Catholicism steeped in scientific humanism. No,
>> he makes the point that he believes the mystery and miracle of it. Tom
>> remembers, ?The best of times were after mass on summer evenings when
>> Samantha and I would walk home in the violet dusk, we having received
>> Communion and I rejoicing afterwards, caring nought for my fellow Catholics
>> but only for myself and Samantha and Christ swallowed, remembering what he
>> promised me for eating him, that I would have life in me . . .? At his
>> present time, though, Tom is no longer taking Communion, which leads to the
>> question: Despite his avowed belief, is Christ in him? Certainly, God
>> doesn?t rank particularly high on his priority list, coming after women,
>> music, science, and whiskey.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On the list, a lot of discussion has been focused on Knotheads vis-a-vis
>> the Tea Party. But in this novel, it?s pretty clear that Tom More doesn?t
>> belong to the liberals any more than he belongs to the conservatives. I
>> imagine that overall, the list leans liberal, so the tendency is to focus on
>> the criticisms of the Knotheads. But the liberals don?t fare any better in
>> this novel, not from an objective (above the fighting) perspective. The
>> liberal entertainment?Homo Hijinks?is a pretty good prediction of the
>> direction of contemporary entertainment (e.g., Shades of Gray and the rest
>> of the mommy porn). And, in truth, everyone in the novel is racist. The
>> liberals? racism might be more subtle, but it is still present. Is it
>> better in its subtlety?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Most folks who have been commenting lately, whether liberal or
>> conservative, want to claim Percy as being in their camp (if he were still
>> with us). I?m not so sure, in either case. If Percy was anything like his
>> character, Tom, he was somewhere in the middle, liberal on some issues and
>> conservative on others. Perhaps he was more concerned with the individual.
>> If the sundered selves of modern people could be mended, the rest of it
>> might sort itself out.
>>>> I?ll come to a close, though much more remains to be discussed?what about
>> all of the dropouts in the swamp? What about Tom being the only doctor that
>> will treat the dropouts? What about the vines? What about Charley Parker
>> watching the news?
>>>>
>>>> --Rhonda
>>>>
>>>> "You live in a deranged age, more deranged than usual, because in spite
>> of great scientific and technological advances, man has not the faintest
>> idea of who he is or what he is doing."
>>>> Walker Percy
>>>>
>>>> * Percy-L Discussion Archives:
>>>> http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/
>>>>
>>>> * Manage Your Membership:
>>>> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/percy-l
>>>>
>>>> * Contact the Moderator: percy-l-owner (at) lists.ibiblio.org
>>>>
>>>> * Visit The Walker Percy Project: http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Jim & Nancy Forest
>>> Kanisstraat 5 / 1811 GJ Alkmaar / The Netherlands
>>>
>>> Jim's books: www.jimandnancyforest.com/books/ Jim & Nancy web site:
>>> www.jimandnancyforest.com Photo albums:
>>> http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimforest/sets/
>>> Photo collections: www.flickr.com/photos/jimforest/collections/
>>> On Pilgrimage blog: http://jimandnancyonpilgrimage.blogspot.com/
>>> A Tale of Two Kidneys blog: http://ataleof2kidneys.blogspot.com/
>>> In Communion site: www.incommunion.org Forest-Flier Editorial
>>> Services: http://forestflier.com/
>>>
>>> * * *
>>> * Percy-L Discussion Archives:
>>> http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/
>>>
>>> * Manage Your Membership:
>>> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/percy-l
>>>
>>> * Contact the Moderator: percy-l-owner (at) lists.ibiblio.org
>>>
>>> * Visit The Walker Percy Project: http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy
>> -------------- next part --------------
>> An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
>> URL:
>> <http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/attachments/20140701/0cc72f45/at
>> tachment-0001.html>
>> -------------- next part --------------
>> * Percy-L Discussion Archives: http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/
>>
>> * Manage Your Membership: http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/percy-l
>>
>> * Contact the Moderator: percy-l-owner (at) lists.ibiblio.org
>>
>> * Visit The Walker Percy Project: http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy
>>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> Message: 3
>> Date: Tue, 1 Jul 2014 14:20:52 +0000
>> From: "Karl M. Terrell" <kterrell at stokeswagner.com>
>> To: "Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion"
>> <percy-l at lists.ibiblio.org>
>> Subject: Re: [percy-l] LITR Slow Read - Chapter 1 - "July Fourth"
>> Message-ID:
>>
>> <a0b483a3a4044b739655bbb8ed7ade0b at BN1PR04MB552.namprd04.prod.outlook.com>
>>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>>
>> "Have" is more passive than "make." A more forceful action (and verb) was
>> unnecessary. It was the "old style," backed by unspoken custom. If the
>> maid were to violate the rule and drop into the front seat, the conservative
>> housewife would have frowned uncomfortably. Some would have been quick to
>> redirect the maid to the back seat, and would have done so with an icy
>> sweetness -- "Annie Mae, no; you'll be much more comfortable in the back
>> seat."
>>
>> The liberal housewife, therefore, must "make" the maid sit up front with
>> her.
>>
>> Such as it was, it in the 'go fetch the maid' days of the Jim Crow world
>> Percy knew.
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Percy-L [mailto:percy-l-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of RHONDA
>> MCDONNELL
>> Sent: Tuesday, July 01, 2014 1:26 AM
>> To: Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion
>> Subject: Re: [percy-l] LITR Slow Read - Chapter 1 - "July Fourth"
>>
>>
>>
>>>> On Jun 30, 2014, at 7:31 AM, "Karl M. Terrell" <kterrell at stokeswagner.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>> while conservative Christian housewives have their maids ride in the back
>> seat, in the ?old style? ? ?Liberal housewives make their maids ride on the
>> front seat?
>>
>> I have the same passage highlighted in my book. I wonder, what is the
>> difference between the verbs "have" and "make"? In either case, none of the
>> housewives "let" the maids ride where the will.
>>
>> Interesting also that Tom's women have jobs in the midst of this housewife
>> dotted paradise he describes.
>> * Percy-L Discussion Archives: http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/
>>
>> * Manage Your Membership: http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/percy-l
>>
>> * Contact the Moderator: percy-l-owner (at) lists.ibiblio.org
>>
>> * Visit The Walker Percy Project: http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy
>>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> Subject: Digest Footer
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Percy-L mailing list
>> Percy-L at lists.ibiblio.org
>> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/percy-l
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> End of Percy-L Digest, Vol 108, Issue 2
>> ***************************************
>>
>> * Percy-L Discussion Archives: http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/
>>
>> * Manage Your Membership: http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/percy-l
>>
>> * Contact the Moderator: percy-l-owner (at) lists.ibiblio.org
>>
>> * Visit The Walker Percy Project: http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/attachments/20140704/165278fd/attachment-0001.html>
More information about the Percy-L
mailing list