From wppdirector at gmail.com Tue Aug 4 10:03:34 2015 From: wppdirector at gmail.com (Henry Mills) Date: Tue, 4 Aug 2015 10:03:34 -0400 Subject: [percy-l] Walker Percy's Theory of Hurricanes Message-ID: <55C0C636.3040501@gmail.com> Dear Percy-L: An essay of interest with reflections on Katrina and New Orleans by Walter Isaacson, recent biographer of Steve Jobs. Best, Henry Mills Percy-L Administrator -- New York Times - Sunday Book Review Aug. 4, 2015 Walker Percy's Theory of Hurricanes by Walter Isaacson Walker Percy had a theory about hurricanes. "Though science taught that good environments were better than bad environments, it appeared to him that the opposite was the case," he wrote of Will Barrett, the semi-autobiographical title character of his second novel, "The Last Gentleman." "Take hurricanes, for example, certainly a bad environment if ever there was one. It was his impression that not just he but other people felt better in hurricanes." . . . Continued at: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/09/books/review/walker-percys-theory-of-hurricanes.html?_r=0 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From janetcantor37 at yahoo.com Tue Aug 4 15:19:20 2015 From: janetcantor37 at yahoo.com (janetcantor37 at yahoo.com) Date: Tue, 4 Aug 2015 19:19:20 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [percy-l] Walker Percy's Theory of Hurricanes In-Reply-To: <55C0C636.3040501@gmail.com> References: <55C0C636.3040501@gmail.com> Message-ID: <1684179631.628389.1438715960854.JavaMail.yahoo@mail.yahoo.com> Reading Jay Tolson's biography of Walker Percy, Pilgrim in the Ruins, in light of Percy's malaise, his dark moods, his drinking, it is unendingly astonishing that, rather than making Percy off-putting, he had countless friends all over the country and throughout his life. I have never known anybody whether cheerful or uncomplicated, or anything else, who made and kept as many friends as Walker Percy is known to have had. And they were from all walks of life. It was one of the things of so many in this excellent book, that struck me as I read it.And reading this piece about the irony of the effect of an impending Hurricane to lift spirits adds to this irony.Janet Walker Percy's Theory of Hurricanes by Walter Isaacson Walker Percy had a theory about hurricanes. "Though science taught that good environments were better than bad environments, it appeared to him that the opposite was the case," he wrote of Will Barrett, the semi-autobiographical title character of his second novel, "The Last Gentleman." "Take hurricanes, for example, certainly a bad environment if ever there was one. It was his impression that not just he but other people felt better in hurricanes." . . . Continued at: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/09/books/review/walker-percys-theory-of-hurricanes.html?_r=0 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From lowry.charles at gmail.com Fri Aug 7 16:44:35 2015 From: lowry.charles at gmail.com (Charles Lowry) Date: Fri, 7 Aug 2015 16:44:35 -0400 Subject: [percy-l] William Styron on Walker Percy Message-ID: I have been wandering through the recently published *My Generation*, a collection of non-fiction prose by William Styron. Styron was himself a Southern writer, though ultimately a Connecticut resident. He mentions Percy four times, and I thought that these citations may be of some interest to followers of this list. p. 132: While Styron objects to Percy's complaints about the *Connecticutization *of the South, he nevertheless refers to Percy as "a writer for whom my esteem is unsurpassed." p. 366: Styron talks about Faulkner's influence on *Lie Down in Darkness* and joins Percy and O'Connor as Southern writers who are apprehensive about working "in the shadow of such a colossus." p. 396: Styron was one of the judges who helped to compile the infamous Modern Library list of the one hundred greatest novels of the twentieth century. He notes with approval the competing list, composed some weeks later, by students at Radcliffe College, except that he complains about the omission of *The Moviegoer* from the Radcliffe list. p. 450: He discusses Fitzgerald's attitude. "with its implication that the men of his era produced achievements in prose writing that would cause those who followed after to feel like sacred epigones." In his list of writers of his generation aimed at proving Fitzgerald wrong, he includes Percy. This is a very rich book, but it comprises 585 pages of text. As interesting as much of it is, one is reminded of the dictum of the nineteenth century German classics scholar (be kind, I quote from memory, and my German was never that good even when I had to pretend to know it), Fuer mich, ein Buch ohne Index ist keine Buch." Chuck Lowry Brooklyn, NY -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From lowry.charles at gmail.com Fri Aug 7 16:47:56 2015 From: lowry.charles at gmail.com (Charles Lowry) Date: Fri, 7 Aug 2015 16:47:56 -0400 Subject: [percy-l] Fwd: William Styron on Walker Percy In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: And as a brief and clarifying follow-up, let me add that this book does indeed have what appears to be an excellent index. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Charles Lowry Date: Fri, Aug 7, 2015 at 4:44 PM Subject: William Styron on Walker Percy To: "Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion" < percy-l at lists.ibiblio.org> I have been wandering through the recently published *My Generation*, a collection of non-fiction prose by William Styron. Styron was himself a Southern writer, though ultimately a Connecticut resident. He mentions Percy four times, and I thought that these citations may be of some interest to followers of this list. p. 132: While Styron objects to Percy's complaints about the *Connecticutization *of the South, he nevertheless refers to Percy as "a writer for whom my esteem is unsurpassed." p. 366: Styron talks about Faulkner's influence on *Lie Down in Darkness* and joins Percy and O'Connor as Southern writers who are apprehensive about working "in the shadow of such a colossus." p. 396: Styron was one of the judges who helped to compile the infamous Modern Library list of the one hundred greatest novels of the twentieth century. He notes with approval the competing list, composed some weeks later, by students at Radcliffe College, except that he complains about the omission of *The Moviegoer* from the Radcliffe list. p. 450: He discusses Fitzgerald's attitude. "with its implication that the men of his era produced achievements in prose writing that would cause those who followed after to feel like sacred epigones." In his list of writers of his generation aimed at proving Fitzgerald wrong, he includes Percy. This is a very rich book, but it comprises 585 pages of text. As interesting as much of it is, one is reminded of the dictum of the nineteenth century German classics scholar (be kind, I quote from memory, and my German was never that good even when I had to pretend to know it), Fuer mich, ein Buch ohne Index ist keine Buch." Chuck Lowry Brooklyn, NY -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From kterrell at stokeswagner.com Sun Aug 9 19:41:57 2015 From: kterrell at stokeswagner.com (Karl M. Terrell) Date: Sun, 9 Aug 2015 23:41:57 +0000 Subject: [percy-l] Walker Percy's Theory of Hurricanes In-Reply-To: <55C0C636.3040501@gmail.com> References: <55C0C636.3040501@gmail.com> Message-ID: I believe it was Percy's "hurricane" observation that so captured me so many years ago. Isaacson ably presents this by his use of quotes from the tale of our hero and Midge, upon taking shelter in a Connecticut diner during a hurricane: "Midge and the counterman were very happy. The hurricane blew away the sad, noxious particles which befoul the sorrowful old Eastern sky and Midge no longer felt obligated to keep her face stiff. They were able to talk." What speaks to me in this, as a Southerner, is that the malaise Percy addressed, so common to us all, is nowhere more pronounced than it is, here, in benighted Dixie (and I speak not just of Percy's time in Dixie, or even the Dixie of W. J. Cash, or the Dixie of the 80 years preceding the both of them, but in the Dixie found even today in places like Spartanburg and the suburbs of Atlanta). It is the malaise of a society once defeated, of a society shamed, of a society which has yet to find its way -- even as it manages to sell Tea Party notions to folks in places like Kansas, San Diego, and the suburbs of Minneapolis. And so, when Percy presents the momentary joy of ironic escape, we know the joy of which he speaks. Sent from my iPhone On Aug 4, 2015, at 10:04 AM, Henry Mills > wrote: Dear Percy-L: An essay of interest with reflections on Katrina and New Orleans by Walter Isaacson, recent biographer of Steve Jobs. Best, Henry Mills Percy-L Administrator -- New York Times - Sunday Book Review Aug. 4, 2015 Walker Percy's Theory of Hurricanes by Walter Isaacson Walker Percy had a theory about hurricanes. "Though science taught that good environments were better than bad environments, it appeared to him that the opposite was the case," he wrote of Will Barrett, the semi-autobiographical title character of his second novel, "The Last Gentleman." "Take hurricanes, for example, certainly a bad environment if ever there was one. It was his impression that not just he but other people felt better in hurricanes." . . . Continued at: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/09/books/review/walker-percys-theory-of-hurricanes.html?_r=0 * 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: From janetcantor37 at yahoo.com Wed Aug 12 08:38:59 2015 From: janetcantor37 at yahoo.com (janetcantor37 at yahoo.com) Date: Wed, 12 Aug 2015 12:38:59 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [percy-l] William Styron on Walker Percy In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <1040837996.3462179.1439383139684.JavaMail.yahoo@mail.yahoo.com> Fascinating. Thanks. From: Charles Lowry I have been wandering through the recently published My Generation, a collection of non-fiction prose by William Styron.? Styron was himself a Southern writer, though ultimately a Connecticut resident.? He mentions Percy four times, and I thought that these citations may be of some interest to followers of this list. p. 132: While Styron objects to Percy's complaints about the Connecticutization of the South, he nevertheless refers to Percy as "a writer for whom my esteem is unsurpassed." p. 366: Styron talks about Faulkner's influence on Lie Down in Darkness?and?joins Percy and O'Connor as Southern writers who are apprehensive about working "in the shadow of such a colossus." p. 396: Styron was one of the judges who helped to compile the infamous Modern Library list of the one hundred greatest novels of the twentieth century.? He notes with approval the competing list, composed some weeks later, by students at Radcliffe College, except that he complains about the omission of The Moviegoer?from the Radcliffe list. p. 450: He discusses Fitzgerald's attitude. "with its implication that the men of his era produced achievements in prose writing that would cause those who followed after to feel like sacred epigones." ?In his list of writers of his generation aimed at proving Fitzgerald wrong, he includes Percy. This is a very rich book, but it comprises 585 pages of text.? As interesting as much of it is, one is reminded of the dictum of the nineteenth century German classics scholar (be kind, I quote from memory, and my German was never that good even when I had to pretend to know it), Fuer mich, ein Buch ohne Index ist keine Buch." Chuck LowryBrooklyn, NY -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From wppdirector at gmail.com Wed Aug 26 14:13:35 2015 From: wppdirector at gmail.com (Henry Mills) Date: Wed, 26 Aug 2015 14:13:35 -0400 Subject: [percy-l] New Orleans Before Katrina -- Walker Percy's "Moviegoer" and the Aesthetics of Adversity Message-ID: <55DE01CF.1040704@gmail.com> Dear Percy-L: For those interested in a close reading of images from /The Moviegoer/ and reflections on Katrina as its 10th anniversary approaches this week, the following short essay is available, which includes a brief foray into Faulkner's writings on New Orleans. Best regards, Henry Mills Percy-L Administrator ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *New Orleans Before Katrina -- Walker Percy's "Moviegoer" and the Aesthetics of Adversity* /Town Topics - Princeton's Weekly/ August 26, 2015 - Stuart Mitchner Ten years ago this week, August 29, Katrina savaged New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. Just under two thousand people died, with damages estimated at over a hundred billion dollars. Spike Lee in /When The Levees Broke/, David Simon in HBO's /Treme/, and Dave Eggers in his book /Zeitoun/ are among the artists who have done justice to the magnitude of the event and its troubled aftermath. You could say Walker Percy did justice to it before it happened. / //The Moviegoer,/ Percy's first and best-known novel, was published in 1961, four and a half decades before Katrina. Since New Orleans is geographically susceptible to devastating acts of nature, the fact that Percy intuits the possibility of a Katrina might seem a given, but what sets his book apart is its fortuitous all but prophetic awareness of something that did not take place until 15 years after his death. It's as if the book had been created in the shadow of imminent catastrophe by a philosopher/novelist exploring the aesthetics of adversity while posing questions such as why the same man who feels bad in a good environment is "apt to feel good in a very bad environment, say an old hotel on Key Largo during a hurricane." . . . http://www.towntopics.com/wordpress/2015/08/26/new-orleans-before-katrina-walker-percys-moviegoer-and-the-aesthetics-of-adversity/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From lesliemarsh at gmail.com Wed Aug 26 14:23:14 2015 From: lesliemarsh at gmail.com (Leslie Marsh) Date: Wed, 26 Aug 2015 11:23:14 -0700 Subject: [percy-l] Walker Percy's Theory of Hurricanes In-Reply-To: <55C0C636.3040501@gmail.com> References: <55C0C636.3040501@gmail.com> Message-ID: A follow up to Walter's piece: http://www.towntopics.com/wordpress/2015/08/26/new-orleans-before-katrina-walker-percys-moviegoer-and-the-aesthetics-of-adversity/ Cheers, Leslie. On Tue, Aug 4, 2015 at 7:03 AM, Henry Mills wrote: > Dear Percy-L: > > An essay of interest with reflections on Katrina and New Orleans by Walter > Isaacson, recent biographer of Steve Jobs. > > Best, > Henry Mills > Percy-L Administrator > > -- > New York Times - Sunday Book Review > Aug. 4, 2015 > > Walker Percy's Theory of Hurricanes > by Walter Isaacson > > Walker Percy had a theory about hurricanes. "Though science taught that > good environments were better than bad environments, it appeared to him > that the opposite was the case," he wrote of Will Barrett, the > semi-autobiographical title character of his second novel, "The Last > Gentleman." "Take hurricanes, for example, certainly a bad environment if > ever there was one. It was his impression that not just he but other people > felt better in hurricanes." . . . > > Continued at: > > http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/09/books/review/walker-percys-theory-of-hurricanes.html?_r=0 > > * 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: From janetcantor37 at yahoo.com Wed Aug 26 14:29:37 2015 From: janetcantor37 at yahoo.com (janetcantor37 at yahoo.com) Date: Wed, 26 Aug 2015 18:29:37 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [percy-l] New Orleans Before Katrina -- Walker Percy's "Moviegoer" and the Aesthetics of Adversity In-Reply-To: <55DE01CF.1040704@gmail.com> References: <55DE01CF.1040704@gmail.com> Message-ID: <1020166778.730666.1440613777528.JavaMail.yahoo@mail.yahoo.com> The Moviegoer?is the only work of literature to my knowledge where the jacket copy begins on the cover with an assignment question reminiscent of the ones in high school English textbooks. ?Why is the hero of this novel a moviegoer?? This is a mischievous?question on Percy's part because later in the book, there is a character whom Binx describes as also a moviegoer. Binx tells us that the guy never goes to the movies, though.Janet Cantor Dear Percy-L: For those interested in a close reading of images from The Moviegoer and reflections on Katrina as its 10th anniversary approaches this week, the following short essay is available, which includes a brief foray into Faulkner's writings on New Orleans. Best regards, Henry Mills Percy-L Administrator New Orleans Before Katrina -- Walker Percy's "Moviegoer" and the Aesthetics of Adversity Town Topics - Princeton's Weekly August 26, 2015 - Stuart Mitchner Ten years ago this week, August 29, Katrina savaged New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. Just under two thousand people died, with damages estimated at over a hundred billion dollars. Spike Lee in When The Levees Broke, David Simon in HBO's Treme, and Dave Eggers in his book Zeitoun are among the artists who have done justice to the magnitude of the event and its troubled aftermath. You could say Walker Percy did justice to it before it happened. The Moviegoer, Percy's first and best-known novel, was published in 1961, four and a half decades before Katrina. Since New Orleans is geographically susceptible to devastating acts of nature, the fact that Percy intuits the possibility of a Katrina? might seem a given, but what sets his book apart is its fortuitous all but prophetic awareness of something that did not take place until 15 years after his death. It's as if the book had been created in the shadow of imminent catastrophe by a philosopher/novelist exploring the aesthetics of adversity while posing questions such as why the same man who feels bad in a good environment is "apt to feel good in a very bad environment, say an old hotel on Key Largo during a hurricane." . . . http://www.towntopics.com/wordpress/2015/08/26/new-orleans-before-katrina-walker-percys-moviegoer-and-the-aesthetics-of-adversity/ * 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: From wppdirector at gmail.com Thu Aug 27 08:36:15 2015 From: wppdirector at gmail.com (Henry Mills) Date: Thu, 27 Aug 2015 08:36:15 -0400 Subject: [percy-l] PLEASE FORWARD: Walker Percy Centennial - Call for Essays - 2016 Southeast Conference on Christianity and Literature Message-ID: <55DF043F.4010106@gmail.com> Note: this post is a re-post of an announcement made to the list earlier this summer. Percy-L members are encouraged to forward this email to any individuals outside the list who might be interested. Please note that the Conference dates have been changed to April 28-30, 2016. Information about Montreat College and its beautiful academic setting in the mountains of Western North Carolina, including a "Meet Montreat" video found in the About section, is available at . For further information about the Conference, please contact Rich Gray . ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Walker Percy Centennial: Pilgrimage in Literature* 2016 SOUTHEAST CONFERENCE ON CHRISTIANITY AND LITERATURE April 28-30, 2016 Montreat College, Montreat, NC 28757 Keynoters: Farrell O?Gorman, Belmont Abbey College Jim Wildeman, Covenant College, emeritus Like Binx Bolling in Walker Percy?s first novel, /The Moviegoer,/ literary characters often seek relationship with the God of the Bible. They feel detached from affairs in the material world. Pilgrims sense a call from God to pursue him in spite of the unbelief surrounding them. Essays will be considered from a variety of authors. Topics should pursue the intersection of faith and literature. Creative writing presentations are welcome. Undergraduate Research essays are invited; the Thursday evening session is devoted to them. Please submit completed essays to Rich Gray by January 10, 2016 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: