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GEORGIA BULLETIN
THURSDAY, MARCH 21, 1963
Creative Artist
Walker
BY CHARLES ENGLISH
Walker Percy’s THE MOVIE
GOER has had a curious history.
When it was first published in
a Knopf hardcover the critics
almost by agreement ignored it.
Certainly there were few en
thusiastic reviews. Last year it
was awarded the National Book
Award and reprinted in paper
back by the Popular Library.
The publications who had been
caught short the previous year
hastened to call the prizewin
ner to their readers attention.
And to a man they all read
the book as a novel of despair.
Three readings of TTie Movie
goer have convinced me of a
number of things. Percy's books
deals with despair (the Kier
kegaard quotation on the fly
leaf: "...the specific charac
ter of despair is precisely
this; it is unaware of being
despair" cannot be ignored in
any critical look at the book)
but no novel can be charged
with humor as this one is and
be claimed as the product of
despair. Humor is one of Per
cy's long suits and this is a
happy, a joyful book.
THE FACT is that Mr. Percy
is a genuine creative artist and
the role of such men in society
is to help us look into the
times, to interpet them, to es
tablish living relationships for
us. The man who is creating a
work of art does not follow the
style of the times, he creates
that style. Such a writer care
fully works within a tradition
(and The Moviegoer finds it
self within a two-fold tradi
tion, one that is Southern and
Catholic), but somehow breath
ing into it freshness and life.
"Freshness" is a word which
most easily applies to this book.
Because of a certain casualness
in attitude and because of the
device of the symbolism of
everydayness Percy has hit up
on to convey reality to us (Binx
Bolling is an incessant movie
goer and thinks in terms of
movie personalities) we are apt
to discount the depth of his in
sight into our society.
Percy's novel, very slight in
plot but tightly - almost too
tightly - constructed centers
on a young New Orleans busi
nessman’s efforts to breach
through the ordinaryness of his
life. Percy has a sense of won
der absolutely necessary for
the topdrawer writer and which
few of our present day writers
possess. There is a puzzlement
in the outlook of his hero which
is in great measure the puzzle
ment of our times. Percy’s style
is sparse, pointed and clean,
exactly suited to the characters
he creates.
He values the English sen
tence and so his are always
bear a thought, smoothly and
clearly. The whole tone of the
book is one of assurance. Per
cy is writing about people and
a locale he knows and loves,
and yet does not identify him
self with it or them complete
ly. His dialogue is not dialect.
There is a detachment in the
telling of this book which places
the reader in the position of
an onlooker, which allows for
a certain cool enjoyment even
on a re-reading.
WHY IS the Percy novel im
portant? Aside from his pro
fessional competance, and as
a storyteller he has enormous
competance, Percy is caught up
by one of the fundamental urges
of man, and as an artist he
tries to relate this urge to the
reader. Binx Bolling (the book
is written in the first person)
tells us that he has been en
gaged on The Search for over
ten years. The Search is never
clearly stated, but we do come
to the understanding that what
Binx is looking for is the gen-
uiness which must be behind
the facade covering modern life.
Carefully, gently, Percy strips
away the facade, pokes fun at
the most widely practiced (and
so revered) of our manners. It
is no surprise when the hero
falls in love with his emotionally
disturbed cousin and finally in
the strangest of love affairs
marries her.
There are no magnolias or
azaleas in this noveL Certainly
it is not a sacristy plot. Yet
the book could only be written
by a Southerner with the even,
purposeful viewpoint of a Ca
tholic. Here is a book about the
South which doesn’t root itself
back a hundred years and which
nevertheless does manage to
"convey a certain quality of
spirit, a gaiety, a sense of
duty, a nobility worn lightly, a
sweetness, a gentleness with
women - the only good things
the South ever had and the only
things, that really matter in
this life.” Here is a book which
is essentially religious and
which deserves a wider au
dience than it has had to date.
Walker Percy is the best of
our new novelists and The Mo
viegoer a superb first novel.
Books
WASHINGTON (NC) —This
list of Catholic books released
within the past week was pre
pared by the Library of the Ca
tholic University of America.
ADAMS, HENRY. Mont-Saint
Michel And Chartres. (Collier
Books. 95 cents. Paper). Re
print with a new introduction by
Lewis Mumford.
BOASE, LEONARD. The
Prayer of Faith. (B. Herder.
$3.25). An introductory manual.
BOETHIUS. The Consolation
Of Philosophy. (Bobbs-Merrill.
$1.25. Paper). A new transla
tion with introduction and notes
by Richard Green.
CASTELOT, JOHN J. Meet
The Bible: New Testament. (He
licon. $4.95). Third and final
volume of his Introduction To
The Bible.
CATHOLIC STUDENTS MIS
SION CRUSADE. Christians Of
The East. (SCMC. 90 cents).
A volume in the Five Hour
series dealing with the Eas
tern Rite Catholics.
^04 qou/i tieciAi+Ut
YOUR HOUR
By M. Raymond, O.C.S.O.
Father Raymond’s latest and
fastest selling — reveals the
mystery of suffering — “sound
spirituality ... expressed with
grace and erudition ... a very
consoling book.”—Ave Maria
$4.50
THE ART OF
BEING HUMAN
By Fathor
William McNamara, O.C.D.
An important book on dy
namic Christian living in con
temporary America... “dem
onstrates that it is loving
knowledge of God . . . that
makes a saint... highly rec
ommended." — The Sign
$3.50
THE MISSION
OF MARY
By Sfotof Mary Annlco, C.S.C.
Preface by
Sistor M. Madoltva, C.S.C.
A well reasoned portrait of
the Mother of God which ex
plains with power and con
viction the role Mary is to
play in men’s lives today.
It will be welcomed by all
those who have longed for a
clear, unemotional approach
to understanding Mary.
$3.25
MY OTHER SELF
By Clarence J. Enzler
This modern spiritual classic
is “written with a discerning
simplicity that cuts through
the esoteric ideas which often
clothe the simplest of truths
... peculiarly adapted to our
modern world.” — St. Louis
Review $2.50
THE NEW
TESTAMENT
By James A. Kleist, S.J., and
Joseph L. Lilly, C.M.
“Something very special... it
is couched in language that is
not only American but mod
ern American.” — The Sign
$6.00
At your bookstore.
Send for your free copy of
BETWEEN THE LINES.
THE BRUCE PUBLISHING CO.
1603 Bruce Building
Milwaukee 1, Wis.
rr ... to dwell in the house
of the Lord all the days
of my life.
A
Sister says,
"Use the
Maryknoll
Missal”
Available at your book
store in bindings from $3.50
to $22.50.
THE MARYKNOLL
DAILY MISSAL
P. J. KENEDY & SONS
Publishers to the Holy Apostolic See
Extract From
The Moviegoer
"Life in Gentilly is very peaceful. I manage a small branch
office of my uncle’s brokerage firm. My home is the basement
apartment of a raised bungalow belonging to Mrs. Schexnaydre,
the widow of a fireman. I am a model tenant and a model citizen
and take pleasure in doing all that it expected of me. My wallet
is full of identity cards, library cards, credit cards.
LAST YEAR I purchased a flat olive-drab strongbox, very
smooth and heavily built with double walls for fire protection,
in which I placed my birth certificate, college diploma, honor
able discharge, G.L insurance, a few stock certificates, and my
inheritance: a deed to ten acres of a defunct duck club down in St.
Bernard Parish, the only relic of my father’s many enthusiasms.
It is a pleasure to carry out the duties of a citizen and to receive
in return a receipt or neat styrene card with one's name on it
certifying, so to speak, ones's right to exist.
What satisfaction I take in appearing the first day to get my
auto tag brake sticker! I subscribe to Consumer Reports and as
a consequence I own a first-class television set, an all but silent
air conditioner and a very long lasting deodorant. My armpits
never stink. I pay attention to all spot announcement on the radio
about mental health, the seven signs of cancer, and safe driving -
though, as I say I prefer to ride the bus. Yesterday a favorite of
mine, William Holden, delivered a radio announcement on litter-
bugs. "Let’s face it," said Holden. "Nobodycando anything about
it - but you and me." This is true. I have been careful ever
since.’’
PATRONIZE YOUR CATHOLIC BOOK SHOP
and LENDING LIBRARY
Now available....
In the Eyes of Others s 3.95
Robert W. Gleason, S.J.
Life and Holiness s 3.50
Thomas Merton
The National Catholic Almanac s 2.95
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