The Moviegoer (was Rachel's hand jive)

[David Morris]

Thanks for bringing this up.  I haven't read The Moviegoer yet, but
now I'll put it at the top of my list.

BTW, Percy was the one John Kennedy Toole's mother showed the
manuscript for The Confedracy of Dunces, and he made sure it got
published.

On Mon, Jul 12, 2010 at 7:32 AM, Carvill, John <john.carvill at sap.com> wrote:
> Just got back from a 2 week holiday, where I actually managed to get some books read, including Walker Percy's 'The Moviegoer', which is one of those (many) books I've been meaning to get round to for years. Actually, 'The Moviegoer' has been quite hard to get hold of here - unavailable on Amazon for a long time, never seen in second-hand shops, etc.
>
> Anyway, I thought it was an enormously accomplished work, and would welcome p-listers' thoughts on it, as well as any pointers to worthwhile essays. A-and, it would be far from difficult to dig up a number of general Pynchon resonances, themes, etc. More specifcally, though, what particularly struck me as relevant - given the current p-list group read - was Percy's treatment of his protagonist's red MG, which in many instances is characterized as having animal (or maybe even human) aspects, with even a touch or eroticization here and there:
>
> "We leave the MG in a glade (a good hard-used creature of red metal and fragrant worn leather; I run a hand over its flank of stout British steel as if it were a mare)"
>
>
> I guess this is also as good a place as any to mention that I also finally got round to giving 'The Day of the Locust' a proper read. Now there's a book in which it would be difficult not to dig up a number of Pynchon resonances, themes, etc.
>
> Cheers
> J
>