Scan barcode
annepw's review against another edition
3.0
What an oddball book. As always with Percy, the voice is smart and engaging, but this one veers off in a weird direction and never quite recovers. Lancelot's endless harping on the condition of modern humanity is tiresome. I don't know where Lancelot ends and Percy begins.
wmmcmanlypants's review against another edition
3.0
Listened to the audiobook. Interesting writing style, could've been a little shorter I think.
theciz's review against another edition
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
smuds2's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I liked The Moviegoer significantly more than this one, and at least Lover in the Ruins had a certain sci-fi-esque vibe going for it as an interesting setting for intrigue.
I liked the framing scenes of the inner story. I thought that as a device was, at least, gripping. Referring to Percival as "you" as if talking to us, the reader, seems a simple trick for engagement but it worked.
Maybe it's the Ace in me, but Walker Percy using sex relations as the basis of depravity just feels so... old-man-book to me. It's just so un-interesting of a point IMO to use sexual ambiguity as a way of saying "the 60's left us with no black and white, and only gray! It's horrible and leads to mans loss of meaning!" or something. Like ugh.
Also, the categorization of Anna as "pure by way of being broken" is screwed on so many levels.
I think it's a bit difficult framing Lancelot - is he a soap box for Percy? Almost certainly not. But it doesn't quite feel right to say that Lancelot is the unfortunate inevitable side project of the imperfect liberal gains of the 60's. Like, are we supposed to take it to say "It sure is sad that we are all going to be forced to look at the world the same way lance does"? I'm not sure.
I think the best way to view Lancelot is to see him as like, photo-jam Dipper. He's kind of this weird mutant creature created by the half-promises, stifled gains, and excesses of his time. I just find it so difficult to think that Lancelot is the inevitable end-goal, and if he's not inevitable, what lessons can we learn from him
Overall, I would not read this again.
gabby1234451's review against another edition
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
library_bookwyrm's review against another edition
5.0
Percy, Walker. Lancelot. New York : Farrar Straus and Giroux, 1977.
Walker Percy, a Southern writer with a particular interest in fiction as a conduit for philosophical and existentialist reflection, wrote a number of novels, the first of which - The Moviegoer - won the National Book Award in fiction.¹ In Lancelot, Percy relates the story of a liberal New Orleans lawyer, Lancelot Andrewes Lamar, who finds himself reluctantly remembering events that led him to his current incarceration in the Institute for Aberrant Behavior.
Lancelot is told in the title character's voice, as he explores the past and his own thoughts on life, love, lust, God, sin, and the future of modern society with his friend Percival, a psychiatrist and priest. Conversational, almost stream-of-consciousness in nature, the densely written and deliberately wandering story focuses on a small group of engaging, though often disturbing, characters. The plot twists and turns through highly detailed accounts of the past, and dreams of the future, intermingled with philosophical and religious discourses, with an end that leaves only more questions for the reader. The story includes a unique use of the pathetic fallacy, with real, artificial, and metaphorical hurricanes ripping through Lancelot's life, and includes several references to Arthurian legend. Particularly suited for readers interested in a literary approach to the problem of evil in modern society, the book - written in the late 70's - is still an intriguing, shocking, and pertinent work today.
¹Author information taken from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's exhibition website: http://www.lib.unc.edu/rbc/percy/percy.html
Walker Percy, a Southern writer with a particular interest in fiction as a conduit for philosophical and existentialist reflection, wrote a number of novels, the first of which - The Moviegoer - won the National Book Award in fiction.¹ In Lancelot, Percy relates the story of a liberal New Orleans lawyer, Lancelot Andrewes Lamar, who finds himself reluctantly remembering events that led him to his current incarceration in the Institute for Aberrant Behavior.
Lancelot is told in the title character's voice, as he explores the past and his own thoughts on life, love, lust, God, sin, and the future of modern society with his friend Percival, a psychiatrist and priest. Conversational, almost stream-of-consciousness in nature, the densely written and deliberately wandering story focuses on a small group of engaging, though often disturbing, characters. The plot twists and turns through highly detailed accounts of the past, and dreams of the future, intermingled with philosophical and religious discourses, with an end that leaves only more questions for the reader. The story includes a unique use of the pathetic fallacy, with real, artificial, and metaphorical hurricanes ripping through Lancelot's life, and includes several references to Arthurian legend. Particularly suited for readers interested in a literary approach to the problem of evil in modern society, the book - written in the late 70's - is still an intriguing, shocking, and pertinent work today.
¹Author information taken from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's exhibition website: http://www.lib.unc.edu/rbc/percy/percy.html
astrangerhere's review against another edition
3.0
"There is something worse than knowing the worst - not knowing."
"We all know in the South that the purpose of manners is to make keep life easier for everyone."
"We all know in the South that the purpose of manners is to make keep life easier for everyone."