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Title: The Moviegoer by Walker Percy ISBN: 0-375-70196-6 Publisher: Vintage Books USA Pub. Date: 01 May, 1998 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (67 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Excellent American Existentialism
Comment: Percy's book is astonishingly brilliant! This book is the purest and best example of American Existentialism I have ever read. Not only is the conceptual basis of the book and the mental processes of the protagonist incredibly articulated, but the author's ability to use metaphor is one of the most poignant and accomplished abilities that Percy displays in this book.
The true essence of the book is the journey through life that the protagonist takes, in search of avoiding the worst possible state, the "malaise of Everydayness." And even more so, the fight to not become "Anyone" exhibits the basic tenets of the characters focus and philosophy of life. He seeks to find newness that does not exist in the regular day to day vicissitudes of life, but something transcendent. And to fill the time in between, he searches constantly for pleasure, usually in the form of sex with his secretaries.
But as the book proceeds, it gets more and more personal, as well as, more and more complex. Examples of life experiences that the author often calls "rotations" or "duplications" are given. The concept of the "genie-soul" of each location in the world is explored. And the fight against the ordinary goes on.
As in life and existentialism, many of the questions posed are unanswerable, and the author does not really answer them, as any good existentialist writer would not answer them, because they are unanswerable. But it is the way the author portrays these unanswerable questions, that is so elegant and incisive. The reader understands the nebulous state the author is describing and asks himself these questions, but of course, does not have answers either, because, there are no answers, no definitive answers, to those questions.
The interplay of ennui and distinctiveness define the book. The search for distinctiveness is usually overshadowed by the ordinary, thus inducing the feeling of ennui or worse, "Everydayness." And the author carries the concept right to the last line. This book is really a must read for those readers who enjoy existentialism. And the beauty of Mr. Percy's articulation cannot be overlooked.
Rating: 5
Summary: catcher in the rye for grownups
Comment: Walker Percy's the Moviegoer combines a searing dry wit with a true sorrowful lament of contemporary culture as it follows investment banker Jack "Binx" Bolling as he muddles through an identity crisis. Raised to be a polite southern gentleman, an "upstanding citizen," Binx finds himself deep in an impenetrable malaise of everday existence which can only be broken by moviegoing. Suffering as well is his cousin Kate, whose own malaise leads her to the brink of suicide. Suddenly, the memory of an experience in the Korean War awakes Binx to the "search" which promises to lead him to his true self, if he can only break through the mundane.
The book is masterfully written on many levels, and Percy seems equally comfortable commiseraating with and laughing at the metaphysical struggles of his characters. His prose is sparse and clear, yet he adroitly plays with the meaning and sound of words. I believe this is one of the most underappreciated books of the 20th century, and one which very well may hold the answer of how we can all save ourselves from Percy's "elysian" hell.
Rating: 3
Summary: Challenging and complex.
Comment: If a novelist, any novelist, could put down on paper an exact representation of human thought, he or she would automatically be elevated to the very pinnacle of the literary world. But because language has limitations, this very desirable circumstance is, unfortunately, not possible. Walker Percy has nonetheless tried valiantly to do this very thing. In The Moviegoer, the reader is made privy to the articulated thoughts of Binx Bolling, a young New Orleans stockbroker. Binx explicitly tells us he is on a search. A search for something outside the everyday things that make up his life. Something that will ultimately give his life meaning and thereby fill the emptiness in his heart.
Of course, there really isn't anything outside everyday existence that can measure up to what he is seeking. The meaning of life, if indeed there is any, can only be found in the everyday things Binx regards as completely unfulfilling. This existentialist outlook is the underlying theme of The Moviegoer.
The plot (if that's even the right word) is a minimalistic one that very much suits this novel of the mind. Binx himself provides the narration. In doing so he affects a very formal, unnatural manner of speech, in which words like "thenceforward" and "eschatological" can and do appear.
The Moviegoer is a challenging work of fiction which gives the reader an authentic, nuanced description of life among New Orlean's upper class. Many readers, if not most, are likely to be turned off by its slow pace and seeming wordiness. A thoughtful, thought filled novel, not for everyone.
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Title: Lost in the Cosmos: The Last Self-Help Book by Walker Percy ISBN: 0312253990 Publisher: Picador USA Pub. Date: 01 April, 2000 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Love in the Ruins by Walker Percy ISBN: 0312243111 Publisher: Picador USA Pub. Date: 01 September, 1999 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: A Confederacy of Dunces (Evergreen Book) by John Kennedy Toole ISBN: 0802130208 Publisher: Grove Press Pub. Date: 01 September, 1987 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: The Last Gentleman by Walker Percy ISBN: 0312243081 Publisher: Picador USA Pub. Date: 01 July, 1999 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: The Second Coming by Walker Percy ISBN: 0312243243 Publisher: Picador USA Pub. Date: 01 September, 1999 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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