Scan barcode
adamrshields's review against another edition
4.0
Short Review: I liked this about as much as I liked Second Coming. The main characters seemed pretty similar, although the settings were very different as was the style of the book. Percy can write and he brings sharp critique of culture and the world couched in humor. But there are also some meandering parts. The sex, language and racism, all part of the satire, can still be a bit draining, even while you appreciate what he is trying to do.
I really liked the main character Tom More, although I can see why some did not. This is a book I mostly listened to, but I think I want to read it again in print. Grover Gardner was a good narrator.
My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/love-in-the-ruins/
I really liked the main character Tom More, although I can see why some did not. This is a book I mostly listened to, but I think I want to read it again in print. Grover Gardner was a good narrator.
My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/love-in-the-ruins/
rebleejen's review
4.0
I spent much of the middle of this novel thinking, "Am I enjoying this three stars or am I enjoying it four stars?" It was a bit hard to follow, partly because of the non-linear structure, partly because it's just kind of a weird book. By the end of the novel, though, I decided I liked it very much. Percy's wit covers several demerits.
darwin8u's review
5.0
“Jews wait for the Lord, Protestants sing hymns to him, Catholics say mass and eat him.”
― Walker Percy, Love in the Ruins
Every time I read Walker Percy I fall in love. I seduce myself into thinking I'm actually just a bad Catholic and promise myself that next time I get a chance I will lose myself in the desert, the woods, or anywhere I can see the cold stars and the burning sand and live forever somewhere in between.
Reading another Percy novel is like discovering an unopened can of cashews in the cupboard. The amount of joy and delight I get from reading and laughing at Percy's absurd view of religion, life, love, the modern era, etc., is really only approached by a handful of lightly salted cashews and sex. 'Love in the Ruins' is messy and weird and probably could have been edited a bit, but it ALL still works perfectly for me. I laughed through every paragraph and each mark of punctuation. Percy's bad, crazy genius, almost polygamist, Catholic protagonists speak to me in ways that most philosophers (old and new), preachers (godly and godless), and politicians (left or right) fail to. He seems to occupy the ground of the fellow traveler who is just as lost and mistaken as you, but possesses a bit more whit and some extra whiskey.
So where does this novel stack up? It was like a friendly dystopian novel. It was like McCarthy decided to write a comic novel. The vines of his morality slide and creep through every page and his humor dances like a purple martin at dusk. The book might only be objectively a four star novel, but this is my review dammit and I own and carry my biases and I love Walker Percy because he makes me want to both believe AND misbehave.
― Walker Percy, Love in the Ruins
Every time I read Walker Percy I fall in love. I seduce myself into thinking I'm actually just a bad Catholic and promise myself that next time I get a chance I will lose myself in the desert, the woods, or anywhere I can see the cold stars and the burning sand and live forever somewhere in between.
Reading another Percy novel is like discovering an unopened can of cashews in the cupboard. The amount of joy and delight I get from reading and laughing at Percy's absurd view of religion, life, love, the modern era, etc., is really only approached by a handful of lightly salted cashews and sex. 'Love in the Ruins' is messy and weird and probably could have been edited a bit, but it ALL still works perfectly for me. I laughed through every paragraph and each mark of punctuation. Percy's bad, crazy genius, almost polygamist, Catholic protagonists speak to me in ways that most philosophers (old and new), preachers (godly and godless), and politicians (left or right) fail to. He seems to occupy the ground of the fellow traveler who is just as lost and mistaken as you, but possesses a bit more whit and some extra whiskey.
So where does this novel stack up? It was like a friendly dystopian novel. It was like McCarthy decided to write a comic novel. The vines of his morality slide and creep through every page and his humor dances like a purple martin at dusk. The book might only be objectively a four star novel, but this is my review dammit and I own and carry my biases and I love Walker Percy because he makes me want to both believe AND misbehave.
More...