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schwarmgiven's review against another edition
5.0
Holy cow! Who is Walker Percy? This book is fantastic--there is literary play at work here that I assume would have been presented to me earlier--I am not even sure how I stumbled into this excellent book--I will read the rest of his work & some biographical stuff pretty quickly--a tremendous American writer.
There are racist and sexist, and maybe even mental health trigger warnings & likely not excellent representation, but the overall structure and play found in this book is plan excellent. I strongly recommend it, mostly because I want to learn what you think.
There are racist and sexist, and maybe even mental health trigger warnings & likely not excellent representation, but the overall structure and play found in this book is plan excellent. I strongly recommend it, mostly because I want to learn what you think.
adamrshields's review against another edition
3.0
Short review: I am trying to read more 20th century literary fiction. Walker Percy seems like someone I should like to read. I knew nothing about the book when I started. It is actually a sequel to the Last Gentleman, but I don't think I miss anything (or at least not much) but not having read that first.
Will is a middle aged, recent widower. He is retired, rich and wandering. He meets Allison, a recently escaped patient from a mental institution that just happens to be the daughter of an old flame of his. Will is both trying to prove the existence of God and to prove his own value and worth as a person.
I liked the book, but I was frustrated that Allison was relegated to side kick status (she seemed more interesting than that) and that the book ended where it did. I wanted it to keep telling the story, but it just stopped.
My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/the-second-coming/
Will is a middle aged, recent widower. He is retired, rich and wandering. He meets Allison, a recently escaped patient from a mental institution that just happens to be the daughter of an old flame of his. Will is both trying to prove the existence of God and to prove his own value and worth as a person.
I liked the book, but I was frustrated that Allison was relegated to side kick status (she seemed more interesting than that) and that the book ended where it did. I wanted it to keep telling the story, but it just stopped.
My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/the-second-coming/
davygibbs's review against another edition
5.0
It's gotten to the point where I worry every time I start a new Walker Percy book. What if it's not as good? What if it ruins his perfect record?! I should quit worrying. If I was a little apprehensive at the start of The Second Coming -- Percy's first book of the 80s! -- those apprehensions were dispensed with in a hurry. And by the end, I was saying what I nearly always say upon finishing a new Percy novel -- "It might even be my favorite!" This time, though, the impulse was even stronger than usual -- and it may in fact be true: The Second Coming might well be my favorite Walker Percy novel. I have a sneaky suspicion that it was awfully special to Walker Percy, too. All through it, one gets the feeling that the author is facing demons and writing them to death. He wrestles them down, and they return, again and again and again. We struggle along with him.
The origins of this story are dark, no question, so it's a wonder that the finished novel is such a pure delight -- truly heartbreaking at times, but also laugh-out-loud hilarious, and achingly beautiful, and unpredictable, and ultimately redemptive, and it communicates Percy's trademark belief in the goodness of mankind, even in the face of hard evidence to the contrary. It's a pity that this book isn't read as often as his others, because it contains not only his most shocking and tragic revelations, but also his greatest love story -- the saga of Will & Allie. Two half-insane characters who find sanity in one another in spite of everything. It is a lovely story, and an encouraging one. It's one of Percy's greatest works, and as such, it's an essential American novel. Don't let it be forgotten!
The origins of this story are dark, no question, so it's a wonder that the finished novel is such a pure delight -- truly heartbreaking at times, but also laugh-out-loud hilarious, and achingly beautiful, and unpredictable, and ultimately redemptive, and it communicates Percy's trademark belief in the goodness of mankind, even in the face of hard evidence to the contrary. It's a pity that this book isn't read as often as his others, because it contains not only his most shocking and tragic revelations, but also his greatest love story -- the saga of Will & Allie. Two half-insane characters who find sanity in one another in spite of everything. It is a lovely story, and an encouraging one. It's one of Percy's greatest works, and as such, it's an essential American novel. Don't let it be forgotten!
lindseyas's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Another read for my "Southern Literature" class, and certainly an unpopular one! Filled with pretty confusing allegories, intensely unreliable narrators and a sometimes discombobulated thematic structure, "The Second Coming" is no easy read. Yet, despite these "flaws," they sort of make the novel what it is: you aren't meant to really, truly, fully understand what the hell is going on and probably shouldn't. The book is confusing, the characters are confusing, the journey is confusing, but isn't isn't organized religion? Isn't the human brain? Isn't family, love, wealth, whatever else, confusing, too? The unorganized thoughts and unbecoming behaviors of the characters make the novel what it is, building off of one another in a dangerously unhealthy way that results in a conclusion that defeats the purpose of both of their personal journeys. True healing doesn't really exist: you learn to live with what makes you an outcast from society, probably with the other outcasts.
mickeymole's review against another edition
5.0
My favorite Walker Percy novel. Been through it three times. It's deep, moving, funny, and short. Everything I need. I mostly loved the characters. Wanted to give both of them a big hug.
rants_n_reads's review against another edition
1.0
Oh wow....this was recommended to me by a family member, and I might have to avoid my family now. This was a hard read for me. I had to skim a LOT of the Will parts. I found him unbearable. Partly, he reminded me of a Faulkner novel (which comes off as WAY too racist and dated for something written and based in 1980), specifically Quentin's pedantic voice in Sound and the Fury. Partly, he also embodied this stage of post-modernist literature when white men were writing about WASP men going through mid-life crises and having young women throw themselves at him. The way Will's mental decent and Allie's mental rebuilding met each other was well done, but their father-daughter romance (something referenced to often) was disturbing at best. This is due, in part, to how poorly Percy wrote women in this book. He seems to rely on Allie's mental health issues as an excuse for not actually giving her a distinct character while Will, going through similar mental confusion, remains a clear, three-dimensional character.
greenblack's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
vanjr's review against another edition
1.0
If this was the first Walker Percy book I ever read it would have also been the last...
davenash's review against another edition
4.0
Why do people seek to imprison those near them? There is a subtext of confinement and the issues that are generated from it in this book.
Will's - the male protagonist - recently deceased wife was confined to a wheelchair, did she confine him to an early retirement and others to an old folks home to put them in the same position?
Allie - the female protagonist - escapes from a mental home and avoids her parents trying to re-institutionalize her. Allie's confinement is less subtle than Will's.
In the novel they help each other break out.
Another open question here is whether there is a God and love or feelings of such are chemical products that can be manipulated by science.
Good stuff. However, I didn't love this book. It dawdles. It could be more balanced between Allie and Will. Will gets boring.
Percy has a style where he tells you a big dramatic happening and then goes back for 10 pages to explain how that happening came to be. It should be used more selectively. Also Will makes a literary joke about AE Housman, which I felt was totally out of character. Other authors have written mentally abnormal characters better than Percy does Allie.
This book was recommended because I liked Flannery O'Conner. I understand because they both write about the South. However, Percy doesn't have her force, drive, or exceptionalism.
Will's - the male protagonist - recently deceased wife was confined to a wheelchair, did she confine him to an early retirement and others to an old folks home to put them in the same position?
Allie - the female protagonist - escapes from a mental home and avoids her parents trying to re-institutionalize her. Allie's confinement is less subtle than Will's.
In the novel they help each other break out.
Another open question here is whether there is a God and love or feelings of such are chemical products that can be manipulated by science.
Good stuff. However, I didn't love this book. It dawdles. It could be more balanced between Allie and Will. Will gets boring.
Percy has a style where he tells you a big dramatic happening and then goes back for 10 pages to explain how that happening came to be. It should be used more selectively. Also Will makes a literary joke about AE Housman, which I felt was totally out of character. Other authors have written mentally abnormal characters better than Percy does Allie.
This book was recommended because I liked Flannery O'Conner. I understand because they both write about the South. However, Percy doesn't have her force, drive, or exceptionalism.