From jopomojo at gmail.com Mon Nov 1 23:21:51 2021 From: jopomojo at gmail.com (Jonathan Potter) Date: Mon, 1 Nov 2021 20:21:51 -0700 Subject: [percy-l] Shelby Foote and Walker Percy In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Marvelous. Makes me want to sit down and reread all six books again. And maybe even your book too! Thanks, Jonathan Potter On Sun, Oct 31, 2021 at 6:28 PM RHONDA MCDONNELL wrote: > You?ve outlined an interested essay, Doug. One of these years you ought to > write it up and submit to one of the SAMLA sessions on Percy (there?s > usually one or two sessions). I?d love to hear more extended thoughts on > it. > > Sent from my iPhone > > On Oct 31, 2021, at 5:15 PM, Doug Brown wrote: > > ? > > Hi Rhonda and other Percyites, > > First, I'm sorry for being so absurdly slow responding. I'm not sure how > much I can add to the idea of the Foote/Percy Iliad & Odyssey, since my > thought was little more than that - a thought. Here goes. > > My one big insight into Percy's writing is that all six novels form a > single progression of a state of mind. What I mean is, the novels trace out > a "quality of consciousness" (a Flannery O'Connor phrase) from book to book > that shows a sort of trajectory of mental breakdown and return to health. > > - Binx Bolling - free floating anxiety > - Will Barrett - dislocation and fugue states > - Tom More - deepening mental health issues > - Lance Lamar - homicidal breakdown and imprisonment > - Will and Allie - split personality (using the terms of the time, or > dissociative identity disorder, if you prefer) eventually reintegrated and > reconciled. Think of the alternating perspectives in alternating chapters > with the two characters ultimately coming together. > - Tom More again - a relatively healthy-minded character, for a Percy > novel at least. > > What does this have to do with Foote's Civil War or an American Odyssey? > Maybe not much, to be honest. But just as Homer's Iliad was epic in scope > and his Odyssey was the mythic journey home of one person, so too, I think, > an American Odyssey is likely to be rooted in the individual's efforts to > come to terms with the insanity of our time, emerge from the violence and > violations of our past, and find some kind of substantial healing. (I'm not > discounting the hard work of moving our entire country and culture forward, > I'm just locating the American Odyssey in the individual.) > > Does this make any sense at all? I'm totally fine with anyone here telling > me that I've missed the point or gone off the deep end. > > I just know that Percy's writing has helped me find substantial healing > through the sacraments of the ordinary that I receive in my own life here > in my beloved Asheville with my beloved dog and beloved friends. That seems > like an American Odyssey to me. > > Thank you for your indulgence for this long post. > > Doug Brown > Walker Percy Loves You and Has a Wonderful Plan for Your Life > > > On Sun, Oct 10, 2021 at 7:59 PM RHONDA MCDONNELL > wrote: > >> Nice observation, Doug. Foote even uses the Iliad (I think) as a >> structuring model. I remember him writing to Percy about that. I?d love for >> you to expand on your thoughts if you have time!! >> >> Rhonda >> >> Sent from my iPhone >> >> On Oct 10, 2021, at 7:25 PM, Doug Brown wrote: >> >> ? >> Hi Rhonda and all y'all, >> >> I've often thought (not uniquely, I'm sure) that Foote's writings and >> Percy's writings form a sort of American Iliad and Odyssey, especially if >> by odyssey we mean a spiritual journey in response to the long tail of the >> war. Sounds a bit cliched when I write it out plainly like that, but the >> idea has emotional resonance for me. >> >> Doug >> Walker Percy Loves You >> >> On Sat, Oct 9, 2021 at 2:24 PM RHONDA MCDONNELL >> wrote: >> >>> Wow Greg, that must have been something to hear them reminisce. Can you >>> image Foote?s voice raised in that sort of parental frustration that Huger >>> described!? The Walker Percy Weekend is a Percy event I haven?t attended. >>> Maybe someday ? after the current apocalypse. I can?t help but wonder what >>> the two of them (Percy and Foote) would make of our current social and >>> cultural woes? It?s both the future Percy imagined and the past Foote >>> illuminated. >>> >>> There?s an interesting thought ? if I ever get a minute it?d be >>> interesting to read Foote?s Civil War and Love in the Ruins as being in >>> conversation. How might each inform the other? Hmmmm?anyone looking for a >>> dissertation topic? >>> >>> Happy Saturday all! >>> >>> Rhonda >>> >>> >>> Sent from my iPhone >>> >>> On Oct 8, 2021, at 5:18 PM, Plemmons, Gregory >>> wrote: >>> >>> ? >>> >>> Thanks for posting. I really enjoyed reading the collection a years ago. >>> Not only did I gain a richer chronological understanding of Percy?s >>> evolution as a writer and what life events were occurring with each of his >>> novels, the esteem, humor, and friendship between these two was enviable. >>> Lifelong male friendships particularly seem uncommon?rarer, still, it >>> seems to be documented in such a wonderful collection of letters. >>> >>> >>> >>> p.s. a few years ago, at the Walker Percy Festival in St. Francisville, >>> both Percy?s daughter Mary Pratt and Foote?s son Huger spoke on a panel >>> about growing up with their fathers. I don?t remember much now, but do >>> recall that Huger said that Shelby got annoyed with Huger?s constant >>> practice on the drums in their house in Memphis, when he was growing up. At >>> one point, Shelby reached his breaking point and stormed into the room, >>> enraged, declaring ?Goddammit, stop that noise! I?m trying to finish the >>> Battle of Vicksburg up here!??or something to that effect. >>> >>> >>> >>> Greg Plemmons >>> >>> Nashville, TN >>> >>> >>> >>> *From:* Percy-L >> vumc.org at lists.ibiblio.org> *On Behalf Of *RHONDA MCDONNELL >>> *Sent:* Friday, October 8, 2021 2:49 PM >>> *To:* Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion < >>> percy-l at lists.ibiblio.org> >>> *Subject:* [percy-l] Shelby Foote and Walker Percy >>> >>> >>> >>> Hello fellow Percy folks, >>> >>> >>> >>> There is a fascinating hour-long CSPAN interview of Shelby Foote on >>> YouTube that was conducted not long after the publication of *The >>> Correspondence of Shelby Foote and Walker Percy*, edited by Jay Tolson, >>> in 1997. Below is a brief description of the book. >>> >>> >>> >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5ToRmgT-R4 >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> How I love that lovely Southern accent Shelby Foote has! The documentary >>> reminds me of the first experience of reading their letters. Reading their >>> responses to each other through the years, the mix of topics they engaged >>> in, the love and respect they had for each other, was such a privilege. >>> >>> >>> >>> I think of how Will Barrett wandered to Civil War battlegrounds while in >>> his fugues, and later how he used a cave previously used by the Confederate >>> army for his grand experiment in The Second Coming. Certainly all >>> Southerners of their time were haunted by that war, but I wonder to >>> what degree Percy?s references to the Civil War in his novels and essays >>> reflect discussions they had together. >>> >>> >>> >>> Now that I live in Virginia, I?m surrounded by the vestiges of that war, >>> though of course many statues have come down. I?ve traveled often to >>> Gettysburg, and after my first trip there, I read Foote?s section on >>> Gettysburg aloud to my family. Of all the Civil War history I?ve read, >>> Foote is my go to, perhaps a bit out of affection but more out of respect >>> for the stellar scholarship he did. >>> >>> >>> >>> I wonder if anyone else has any comments about their letters in the >>> collection or about Foote?s Civil War masterpiece or even about the Ken >>> Burns series on the Civil War, which features Foote. >>> >>> >>> >>> Best wishes, >>> >>> Rhonda >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> ? >>> >>> *The Correspondence of Shelby Foote and Walker Percy* (W.W. Norton, >>> 1997) >>> >>> In the late 1940s, Walker Percy and Shelby Foote, friends since their >>> teenage years in Greenville, Mississippi, began a correspondence that would >>> last until Percy?s death in 1990. Their letters provide a rich record of an >>> enduring literary and personal friendship. Walker Percy, winner of the >>> National Book Award, wrote six novels and two volumes of philosophical >>> writing. Shelby Foote?s reputation rests less on his five works of fiction >>> than his massive three-volume narrative history of the Civil War that he >>> started in the early 1950s and completed in 1974. In their letters Percy >>> and Foote openly discuss their ambitions, artistic doubts, and personal >>> problems with intelligence, good-natured ribbing, and a large dose of >>> self-mockery. >>> https://documentarystudies.duke.edu/books/correspondence-shelby-foote-and-walker-percy >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> [ WARNING : This email came from an external source. Please treat this >>> message with additional caution.] >>> >>> >>> >>> ---------------------------------- >>> USING PERCY-L >>> * Read Percy-L Charter and Policies: >>> https://ibiblio.org/wpercy/listserv/charter-policies.html >>> * Manage Your Membership: >>> https://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/percy-l >>> * Submit a Post to Percy-L: percy-l at lists.ibiblio.org >>> * Contact the Listserv Manager: percy.listserv.manager at gmail.com >>> >>> LISTSERV ARCHIVES >>> * View Percy-L Discussion Archives: >>> https://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ >>> * Search Percy-L Discussion Archives: >>> https://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy/listserv/how-to-search-archives.html >>> >>> THE WALKER PERCY PROJECT >>> * Visit The Walker Percy Project website: https://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> ---------------------------------- >>> USING PERCY-L >>> * Read Percy-L Charter and Policies: >>> https://ibiblio.org/wpercy/listserv/charter-policies.html >>> * Manage Your Membership: >>> https://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/percy-l >>> * Submit a Post to Percy-L: percy-l at lists.ibiblio.org >>> * Contact the Listserv Manager: percy.listserv.manager at gmail.com >>> >>> LISTSERV ARCHIVES >>> * View Percy-L Discussion Archives: >>> https://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ >>> * Search Percy-L Discussion Archives: >>> https://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy/listserv/how-to-search-archives.html >>> >>> THE WALKER PERCY PROJECT >>> * Visit The Walker Percy Project website: https://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy >>> >> >> >> >> ---------------------------------- >> USING PERCY-L >> * Read Percy-L Charter and Policies: >> https://ibiblio.org/wpercy/listserv/charter-policies.html >> * Manage Your Membership: >> https://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/percy-l >> * Submit a Post to Percy-L: percy-l at lists.ibiblio.org >> * Contact the Listserv Manager: percy.listserv.manager at gmail.com >> >> LISTSERV ARCHIVES >> * View Percy-L Discussion Archives: >> https://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ >> * Search Percy-L Discussion Archives: >> https://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy/listserv/how-to-search-archives.html >> >> THE WALKER PERCY PROJECT >> * Visit The Walker Percy Project website: https://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy >> >> >> >> >> ---------------------------------- >> USING PERCY-L >> * Read Percy-L Charter and Policies: >> https://ibiblio.org/wpercy/listserv/charter-policies.html >> * Manage Your Membership: >> https://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/percy-l >> * Submit a Post to Percy-L: percy-l at lists.ibiblio.org >> * Contact the Listserv Manager: percy.listserv.manager at gmail.com >> >> LISTSERV ARCHIVES >> * View Percy-L Discussion Archives: >> https://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ >> * Search Percy-L Discussion Archives: >> https://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy/listserv/how-to-search-archives.html >> >> THE WALKER PERCY PROJECT >> * Visit The Walker Percy Project website: https://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy >> > > > > ---------------------------------- > USING PERCY-L > * Read Percy-L Charter and Policies: > https://ibiblio.org/wpercy/listserv/charter-policies.html > * Manage Your Membership: > https://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/percy-l > * Submit a Post to Percy-L: percy-l at lists.ibiblio.org > * Contact the Listserv Manager: percy.listserv.manager at gmail.com > > LISTSERV ARCHIVES > * View Percy-L Discussion Archives: > https://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ > * Search Percy-L Discussion Archives: > https://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy/listserv/how-to-search-archives.html > > THE WALKER PERCY PROJECT > * Visit The Walker Percy Project website: https://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy > > > > > ---------------------------------- > USING PERCY-L > * Read Percy-L Charter and Policies: > https://ibiblio.org/wpercy/listserv/charter-policies.html > * Manage Your Membership: > https://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/percy-l > * Submit a Post to Percy-L: percy-l at lists.ibiblio.org > * Contact the Listserv Manager: percy.listserv.manager at gmail.com > > LISTSERV ARCHIVES > * View Percy-L Discussion Archives: > https://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ > * Search Percy-L Discussion Archives: > https://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy/listserv/how-to-search-archives.html > > THE WALKER PERCY PROJECT > * Visit The Walker Percy Project website: https://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From janetcantor37 at yahoo.com Mon Nov 1 23:31:06 2021 From: janetcantor37 at yahoo.com (janetcantor37 at yahoo.com) Date: Tue, 2 Nov 2021 03:31:06 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [percy-l] Fw: Shelby Foote and Walker Percy In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <1284546576.2967402.1635823866290@mail.yahoo.com> When I read a letter like Doug Brown's here, my perennial complaint is that I wish I was smarter.?I read the Percy novels with interest and knew there was important stuff in them. But I also knew I was missing more than I was getting.Thank you for your one liners for each novel. They made my heart sing.Wish I was smarter. Janet Cantor Marvelous. Makes me want to sit down and reread all six books again. And maybe even your book too! Thanks,Jonathan Potter On Sun, Oct 31, 2021 at 6:28 PM RHONDA MCDONNELL wrote: You?ve outlined an interested essay, Doug. One of these years you ought to write it up and submit to one of the SAMLA sessions on Percy (there?s usually one or two sessions). I?d love to hear more extended thoughts on it.? Sent from my iPhone On Oct 31, 2021, at 5:15 PM, Doug Brown wrote: ? Hi Rhonda and other Percyites, First, I'm sorry for being so absurdly slow responding. I'm not sure how much I can add to the idea of the Foote/Percy Iliad & Odyssey, since my thought was little more than that - a thought. Here goes. My one big insight into Percy's writing is that all six novels form a single progression of a state of mind. What I mean is, the novels trace out a "quality of consciousness" (a Flannery O'Connor phrase) from book to book that shows a sort of trajectory of mental breakdown and return to health. - Binx Bolling - free floating?anxiety - Will Barrett - dislocation and fugue states - Tom More - deepening mental health issues - Lance Lamar - homicidal breakdown and imprisonment? - Will and Allie - split personality (using the terms of the time, or dissociative identity disorder, if you prefer) eventually reintegrated and reconciled. Think of the alternating perspectives?in alternating chapters with the two characters ultimately coming together. - Tom More again - a relatively healthy-minded character, for a Percy novel at least. What does this have to do with Foote's Civil War or an American Odyssey? Maybe not much, to be honest. But just as Homer's Iliad was epic in scope and his Odyssey was the mythic journey home of one person, so too, I think, an American Odyssey is likely to be rooted in the individual's efforts to come to terms with the insanity of our time, emerge from the violence and violations of our past, and find some kind of substantial healing. (I'm not discounting the hard work of moving our entire country and culture forward, I'm just locating the American Odyssey in the individual.) Does this make any sense at all? I'm totally fine with anyone here telling me that I've missed the point or gone off the deep end. I just know that Percy's writing has helped me find substantial healing through the sacraments of the ordinary that I receive in my own life here in my beloved Asheville with my beloved dog and beloved friends. That seems like an American Odyssey to me. Thank you for your indulgence for this long post. Doug BrownWalker Percy Loves You and Has a Wonderful Plan for Your Life On Sun, Oct 10, 2021 at 7:59 PM RHONDA MCDONNELL wrote: Nice observation, Doug. Foote even uses the Iliad (I think) as a structuring model. I remember him writing to Percy about that. I?d love for you to expand on your thoughts if you have time!! Rhonda Sent from my iPhone On Oct 10, 2021, at 7:25 PM, Doug Brown wrote: ?Hi Rhonda and?all y'all, I've often thought (not uniquely, I'm sure) that Foote's writings and Percy's writings form a sort of American Iliad and Odyssey, especially if by odyssey we mean a spiritual journey in response to the long tail of the war. Sounds a bit cliched when I write it out plainly like that, but the idea has emotional resonance for me. DougWalker Percy Loves You? ? On Sat, Oct 9, 2021 at 2:24 PM RHONDA MCDONNELL wrote: Wow Greg, that must have been something to hear them reminisce. Can you image Foote?s voice raised in that sort of parental frustration that Huger described!? The Walker Percy Weekend is a Percy event I haven?t attended. Maybe someday ? after the current apocalypse. I can?t help but wonder what the two of them (Percy and Foote) would make of our current social and cultural woes? It?s both the future Percy imagined and the past Foote illuminated.? There?s an interesting thought ? if I ever get a minute it?d be interesting to read Foote?s Civil War and Love in the Ruins as being in conversation. How might each inform the other? Hmmmm?anyone looking for a dissertation topic? Happy Saturday all! Rhonda Sent from my iPhone On Oct 8, 2021, at 5:18 PM, Plemmons, Gregory wrote: ? Thanks for posting. I really enjoyed reading the collection a years ago. Not only did I gain a richer chronological understanding of Percy?s evolution as a writer and what life events were occurring with each of his novels, the esteem, humor, and friendship between these two was enviable. Lifelong male friendships particularly seem uncommon?rarer, ?still, it seems to be documented in such a wonderful collection of letters. ? p.s. a few years ago, at the Walker Percy Festival in St. Francisville, both Percy?s daughter Mary Pratt and Foote?s son Huger spoke on a panel about growing up with their fathers. I don?t remember much now, but do recall that Huger said that Shelby got annoyed with Huger?s constant practice on the drums in their house in Memphis, when he was growing up. At one point, ?Shelby reached his breaking point and stormed into the room, enraged, declaring ?Goddammit, stop that noise! I?m trying to finish the Battle of Vicksburg up here!??or something to that effect. ? Greg Plemmons Nashville, TN ? From: Percy-L On Behalf Of RHONDA MCDONNELL Sent: Friday, October 8, 2021 2:49 PM To: Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion Subject: [percy-l] Shelby Foote and Walker Percy ? Hello fellow Percy folks, ? There is a fascinating hour-long CSPAN interview of Shelby Foote on YouTube that was conducted not long after the publication of?The Correspondence of Shelby Foote and Walker Percy, edited by Jay Tolson, in 1997.?Below is a brief description of the book.? ? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5ToRmgT-R4 ? How I love that lovely Southern accent Shelby Foote has! The documentary reminds me of the first experience of reading their letters. Reading their responses to each other through the years, the mix of topics they engaged in, the love and respect they had for each other, was such a privilege.? ? I think of how Will Barrett wandered to Civil War battlegrounds while in his fugues, and later how he used a cave previously used by the Confederate army for his grand experiment in The Second Coming. Certainly all Southerners of their time were haunted by that war, but?I wonder to what degree Percy?s references to the Civil War in his novels and essays reflect discussions they had together. ? Now that I live in Virginia, I?m surrounded by the vestiges of that war, though of course many statues have come down. I?ve traveled often to Gettysburg, and after my first trip there, I read Foote?s section on Gettysburg aloud to my family. Of all the Civil War history I?ve read, Foote is my go to, perhaps a bit out of affection but more out of respect for the stellar scholarship he did.? ? I wonder if anyone else has any comments about their letters in the collection or about Foote?s Civil War masterpiece or even about the Ken Burns series on the Civil War, which features Foote. ? Best wishes, Rhonda ? ? ? The Correspondence of Shelby Foote and Walker Percy?(W.W. Norton, 1997) In the late 1940s, Walker Percy and Shelby Foote, friends since their teenage years in Greenville, Mississippi, began a correspondence that would last until Percy?s death in 1990. Their letters provide a rich record of an enduring literary and personal friendship. Walker Percy, winner of the National Book Award, wrote six novels and two volumes of philosophical writing. Shelby Foote?s reputation rests less on his five works of fiction than his massive three-volume narrative history of the Civil War that he started in the early 1950s and completed in 1974. In their letters Percy and Foote openly discuss their ambitions, artistic doubts, and personal problems with intelligence, good-natured ribbing, and a large dose of self-mockery.?https://documentarystudies.duke.edu/books/correspondence-shelby-foote-and-walker-percy [ WARNING: This email came from an external source. Please treat this message with additional caution.] ---------------------------------- USING PERCY-L * Read Percy-L Charter and Policies: https://ibiblio.org/wpercy/listserv/charter-policies.html * Manage Your Membership: https://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/percy-l * Submit a Post to Percy-L: percy-l at lists.ibiblio.org * Contact the Listserv Manager: percy.listserv.manager at gmail.com LISTSERV ARCHIVES * View Percy-L Discussion Archives: https://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ * Search Percy-L Discussion Archives: https://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy/listserv/how-to-search-archives.html THE WALKER PERCY PROJECT * Visit The Walker Percy Project website: https://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy ---------------------------------- USING PERCY-L * Read Percy-L Charter and Policies: https://ibiblio.org/wpercy/listserv/charter-policies.html * Manage Your Membership: https://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/percy-l * Submit a Post to Percy-L: percy-l at lists.ibiblio.org * Contact the Listserv Manager: percy.listserv.manager at gmail.com LISTSERV ARCHIVES * View Percy-L Discussion Archives: https://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ * Search Percy-L Discussion Archives: https://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy/listserv/how-to-search-archives.html THE WALKER PERCY PROJECT * Visit The Walker Percy Project website: https://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy ---------------------------------- USING PERCY-L * Read Percy-L Charter and Policies: https://ibiblio.org/wpercy/listserv/charter-policies.html * Manage Your Membership: https://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/percy-l * Submit a Post to Percy-L: percy-l at lists.ibiblio.org * Contact the Listserv Manager: percy.listserv.manager at gmail.com LISTSERV ARCHIVES * View Percy-L Discussion Archives: https://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ * Search Percy-L Discussion Archives: https://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy/listserv/how-to-search-archives.html THE WALKER PERCY PROJECT * Visit The Walker Percy Project website: https://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy ---------------------------------- USING PERCY-L * Read Percy-L Charter and Policies: https://ibiblio.org/wpercy/listserv/charter-policies.html * Manage Your Membership: https://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/percy-l * Submit a Post to Percy-L: percy-l at lists.ibiblio.org * Contact the Listserv Manager: percy.listserv.manager at gmail.com LISTSERV ARCHIVES * View Percy-L Discussion Archives: https://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ * Search Percy-L Discussion Archives: https://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy/listserv/how-to-search-archives.html THE WALKER PERCY PROJECT * Visit The Walker Percy Project website: https://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy ---------------------------------- USING PERCY-L * Read Percy-L Charter and Policies: https://ibiblio.org/wpercy/listserv/charter-policies.html * Manage Your Membership: https://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/percy-l * Submit a Post to Percy-L: percy-l at lists.ibiblio.org * Contact the Listserv Manager: percy.listserv.manager at gmail.com LISTSERV ARCHIVES * View Percy-L Discussion Archives: https://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ * Search Percy-L Discussion Archives: https://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy/listserv/how-to-search-archives.html THE WALKER PERCY PROJECT * Visit The Walker Percy Project website: https://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy ---------------------------------- USING PERCY-L * Read Percy-L Charter and Policies: https://ibiblio.org/wpercy/listserv/charter-policies.html * Manage Your Membership: https://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/percy-l * Submit a Post to Percy-L: percy-l at lists.ibiblio.org * Contact the Listserv Manager: percy.listserv.manager at gmail.com LISTSERV ARCHIVES * View Percy-L Discussion Archives: https://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ * Search Percy-L Discussion Archives: https://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy/listserv/how-to-search-archives.html THE WALKER PERCY PROJECT * Visit The Walker Percy Project website: https://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy ---------------------------------- USING PERCY-L * Read Percy-L Charter and Policies: https://ibiblio.org/wpercy/listserv/charter-policies.html * Manage Your Membership: https://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/percy-l * Submit a Post to Percy-L: percy-l at lists.ibiblio.org * Contact the Listserv Manager: percy.listserv.manager at gmail.com LISTSERV ARCHIVES * View Percy-L Discussion Archives: https://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ * Search Percy-L Discussion Archives: https://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy/listserv/how-to-search-archives.html THE WALKER PERCY PROJECT * Visit The Walker Percy Project website: https://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From stephenholmgren at me.com Mon Nov 1 23:34:01 2021 From: stephenholmgren at me.com (Stephen Holmgren) Date: Mon, 1 Nov 2021 22:34:01 -0500 Subject: [percy-l] Percy-L Digest, Vol 168, Issue 1 - Re Doug Brown In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <0233F2F2-8B10-4A80-9D7B-75689826FF3E@me.com> What a wonderful insight regarding a way of perceiving a sequence through WP?s novels. Two thoughts: 1) His essays must (always) also be considered 2) WP was surely half ?unconscious? in his own approach to shaping each ?next? note in his life?s work, even if each next novel was not in an obvious {developmental} sequence in relation to the prior one. Thanks for this list, and for the opportunity to contribute to it, Stephen Stephen Holmgren stephenholmgren at me.com blog: www.towardbeauty.org book: Ethics After Easter -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From wply1223 at gmail.com Tue Nov 2 10:40:44 2021 From: wply1223 at gmail.com (Doug Brown) Date: Tue, 2 Nov 2021 10:40:44 -0400 Subject: [percy-l] Percy-L Digest, Vol 168, Issue 1 - Re Doug Brown In-Reply-To: <0233F2F2-8B10-4A80-9D7B-75689826FF3E@me.com> References: <0233F2F2-8B10-4A80-9D7B-75689826FF3E@me.com> Message-ID: Hi Stephen, I appreciate the kind words from you and other people here at Percy-L (looking at you - Rhonda and Jonathan and Janet). I think the two thoughts you raise are important to consider. I've tried not to be too overt in promoting my book on this site. I'm just here to share in the community of Percy fans. That said, I do address both of your excellent questions/points in the middle section of my little book: 1. I think Percy's essays are not just supplemental to his novels, but provide a (slightly) more direct answer to the questions he raises in his novels - that is, how to live a soulful life in response to the crazy world we have. 2. I too wonder if Percy was aware of this sequence as I outline it. My only conclusion is that if he was not deliberate in this progression, he would probably at least be amused to have it pointed out to him. For anyone considering reading my book, I should point out that it is more memoir than academic analysis. I do write a fair amount about Percy in the book, but I don't want you to buy it thinking it deals primarily with Percy. Instead, it deals a lot with grief and storytelling, but I think it's also pretty funny. Thanks, Doug Walker Percy Loves You and Has a Wonderful Plan for Your Life On Mon, Nov 1, 2021 at 11:43 PM Stephen Holmgren via Percy-L < percy-l at lists.ibiblio.org> wrote: > What a wonderful insight regarding a way of perceiving a sequence through > WP?s novels. > > Two thoughts: > > 1) His essays must (always) *also* be considered > > 2) WP was surely half ?*unconscious*? in his own approach to shaping each > ?next? note in his life?s work, even if each next novel was not in an > obvious {developmental} sequence in relation to the prior one. > > Thanks for this list, and for the opportunity to contribute to it, > > Stephen > > > Stephen Holmgren > > stephenholmgren at me.com > blog: www.towardbeauty.org > book: Ethics After Easter > > > > > > > > ---------------------------------- > USING PERCY-L > * Read Percy-L Charter and Policies: > https://ibiblio.org/wpercy/listserv/charter-policies.html > * Manage Your Membership: > https://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/percy-l > * Submit a Post to Percy-L: percy-l at lists.ibiblio.org > * Contact the Listserv Manager: percy.listserv.manager at gmail.com > > LISTSERV ARCHIVES > * View Percy-L Discussion Archives: > https://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ > * Search Percy-L Discussion Archives: > https://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy/listserv/how-to-search-archives.html > > THE WALKER PERCY PROJECT > * Visit The Walker Percy Project website: https://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From lowry.charles at gmail.com Tue Nov 2 13:51:46 2021 From: lowry.charles at gmail.com (lowry.charles at gmail.com) Date: Tue, 2 Nov 2021 13:51:46 -0400 Subject: [percy-l] =?utf-8?q?Walker_Percy=2C_New_Orleans_and_a_Thought_fo?= =?utf-8?q?r_All_Souls=E2=80=99_Day?= Message-ID: <81401CD1-FF7A-4703-BB30-55F0680491DF@gmail.com> From ?The City of the Dead?: ?The cemeteries, true cities of the dead, seem at once livelier and more exotic to the visitor newly arrived, say, from the upper Protestant South where cemeteries are sedate ?memorial gardens,? or from New York City, where mile after mile of Queens is strewn with gray stone, a vast gloomy moraine. A New Orleans cemetery is a city in miniature, streets, curbs, iron fences, its tombs above ground?otherwise, the coffins would float out of the ground?little two-story dollhouses complete with doorstep and lintel. The older cemeteries are more haphazard, tiny lanes as crooked as old Jerusalem, meandering aimlessly between the cottages of the dead?. ?They, the little cities, are liveliest on All Saints? and All Souls? Day when families turn out to fix up the family tomb, polishing or whitewashing the stone, scrubbing the doorstep for all the world like Baltimore housewives scrubbing the white steps of row houses?. Even now, All Saints? and All Souls? have a more festive air than otherwise?should they not??startlingly different from the unctuous solemnity of Forest Lawn. Crowds throng the tiny streets, housekeeping for the dead, setting out flowers real and plastic, perhaps regilding the lettering, while vendors hawk candy and toys for the children, and on All Souls? saying a not noticeably sad prayer or two for the dead.? Et fidelium animae per misericordiam Dei requiescant in pace. Sent from my iPhone From lauren.stacy.berdy at gmail.com Fri Nov 19 09:38:11 2021 From: lauren.stacy.berdy at gmail.com (Lauren Berdy) Date: Fri, 19 Nov 2021 09:38:11 -0500 Subject: [percy-l] Shelby Foote Message-ID: <8A732006-1875-4522-9516-A56D165BB183@gmail.com> Good Morning A memorable mention of Mr. Foote and his Work is made by The author Clive James in his amazing ?Cultural Amnesia? Foote is mentioned along side of Other great long histories. It?s found in the Edward Gibbons Chapter. With the quote ? to resist was fatal and it was Impossible to fly? What could be written after that ? Thank you Lauren Stacy Berdy Sent from my iPhone From wppdirector at gmail.com Sat Nov 20 00:54:41 2021 From: wppdirector at gmail.com (Henry P. Mills) Date: Sat, 20 Nov 2021 00:54:41 -0500 Subject: [percy-l] Classical allusions in Percy's novels In-Reply-To: <8A732006-1875-4522-9516-A56D165BB183@gmail.com> References: <8A732006-1875-4522-9516-A56D165BB183@gmail.com> Message-ID: <0FF852EB-4AA4-4028-918A-F672F702AE92@gmail.com> Thanks for sharing Foote?s poetic phrasing in your quote below, Lauren. Foote's choice of words almost seems to have a Classical resonance to it as if Icarus and his flight toward the Sun were his inspiration, and in turn that the Lost Cause was indeed just that, a fatal, irresistible call to fight given the South's ideals of itself by the mid-19th century. Recalling Doug's recent comments on Percy?s novels as representing a potential American Odyssey, that too calls to mind Percy?s word choice in LG as reference to Classical literature: was not Sutter?s Travel-Aire named ?Ulysses" (?Ulysses" being the Latin translation of Homer?s protagonist ?Odysseus," from which the word ?odyssey" is derived)? Will certainly is a wanderer, like Odysseus/Ulysses, both physically and psychologically, as he seeks his mettle as a more integrated and authentic character through his journeys -- both by returning to confront his dark past involving his father?s suicide in Mississippi and his later travels into the land of ?pure possibility? that is New Mexico. Of course, both these themes in LG have literal parallels in Percy?s own personal history. I would think a critical book/dissertation/essay exploring Classical themes and allusions in Percy?s novels would be a valuable contribution to our insights into his writing. I?d be curious to know of any other Classical allusions in Percy?s fiction the list might identify... Onward to the land of pure possibility! Henry > On Nov 19, 2021, at 9:38 AM, Lauren Berdy cy.berdy at gmail.com> wrote: > > Good Morning > > A memorable mention of Mr. Foote and his > Work is made by > The author Clive James in his amazing > ?Cultural Amnesia? > Foote is mentioned along side of > Other great long histories. > It?s found in the Edward Gibbons > Chapter. > With the quote > > ? to resist was fatal and it was > Impossible to fly? > > What could be written after that ? > > Thank you > Lauren Stacy Berdy > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: