It's the story of Will Barrett--an emotionally wounded, rich, late middle aged Wall Street lawyer who has retired to North Carolina. He has a mental breakdown after the death of his wife and is rescued by Allison, a loopy gal who escaped from the mental asylum herself.
Beneath the story is the struggle for faith and meaning, a contemplation on the madness of miserable Americans pretending to be happy, a meditation on wealth and emptiness, musing on sanity and insanity, faith and experience, forgiveness and being born again.
It's a powerful and compelling novel, and one which bears reading and re-reading because Percy understands the complexity of human nature and communicates it with all the subtlety and skill that his own main character exhibits. The interwoven complexities of the person and his relationships are shown, not told and the reader is drawn into the emotional struggle through the outwardly dull, but inwardly tumultuous life of the hero.
Turn off the TV, tear yourself away from the computer and read this great book.
Geesh, I wish I could write a book like that!
I've read through most of his books and would agree. I also recently read Second Coming when Amazon had many of his works available at $2.99. I quite enjoyed Second Coming and the book that came before it "The Last Gentleman". Though his book which blew me away was "Love in the Ruins" which has the best subtitle in history "The Adventures of a Bad Catholic at a Time Near the End of the World"
ReplyDeleteOur Lady of the Rosary appeared at Fatima wearing the Star of Esther. That makes 2/13/13 look pretty good, not for the Second Coming, but for the coming chastisement. That might take out 2/3 to 3/4's of the world's population. That will be followed by a period of peace. Anne Catherine Emmerich predicted a 25 year period of peace.
ReplyDeletefr :
ReplyDeleteYou want to write that that!
I want to write like you, snakes alive, your entertaining alteregos, your......
And your bowlingover spiritual experiences, above all.