# Walker Percy's "The Moviegoer" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 29, 2019, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walker-percys-the-moviegoer/828623 "2019-01-29T14:53:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2019, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walker-percys-the-moviegoer/828623/1 "2019-01-29T14:53:16Z")
Any thoughts on this novel? I did enjoy it but found it too short and the plot undeveloped. And, after maybe the first 1/4 of the book, the protagonist rarely ever goes to the movies! ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2019, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walker-percys-the-moviegoer/828623/2 "2019-01-29T15:26:59Z")
I’ve long considered Percy one of my fave novelists, tho I must admit I haven’t read him for 20 yrs or so. Do recall that the 2d time I read Moviegoer, it seemed not much happened. Preferred Lancelot and Second Coming. Had no use for Love in the Ruins or Thanatos. I tend to enjoy southern gothic, and frustrated catholics like Percy and Graham Greene. I may need to re-read him - see how I like him at this stage of my life. I recently re-read Sense and Sensibility. 30 yrs agoi I would have said I LOVED everything Austen wrote. This time - not so much! ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2019, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walker-percys-the-moviegoer/828623/3 "2019-01-29T16:27:57Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > I’ve long considered Percy one of my fave novelists, tho I must admit I haven’t read him for 20 yrs or so. My gap is shorter, but Mr. Walker has long been a favorite of mine. I agree that _Moviegoer_ isn’t his best or most-focused work. It was a good idea, but it never really got fleshed out, IMO. _Love In The Ruins_ is an amazing novel, my favorite of his output. I re-read it every 5 or 6 years or so. I found _Thanatos_ very disappointing: it seemed it was written either for contractual reasons or because it was easy (and would pay money), not because Mr. Walker had anything in particular to say. I also thought _The Second Coming_ was particularly excellent. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2019, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walker-percys-the-moviegoer/828623/4 "2019-01-29T16:38:35Z")
He only wrote - what - 6 or so novels? Maybe I’ll make a point of re-reading as many as I can locate through my library system. I imagine I’ll likely run up against libraries’ deaccession policies. Really burns me when books I remember as “classics” will be gone, to be replaced by shelf upon shelf of Dean Koontz… I remember how pissed I was when my library got rid of all of its Harry Crews! :mad: Already decided to go through all of Austen. My daughter is a big fan, and I once liked Austen so much that my daughter’s middle name is Jane. Like Percy, only 5 or so novels to complete the opus. I find it interesting to see how differently I appreciate books at different stages of my life. In grade school, I read Moby Dick every year (well - probably 4th thru 8th grades). Then I re-read it on my honeymoon and couldn’t imagine why! Percy is the type of author whose name I so often see mentioned by authors/commentators I respect, or to whom I see authors I enjoy compared to. Wendell Berry is another. Those sorts of references reinforce my previous positive opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2019, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walker-percys-the-moviegoer/828623/5 "2019-01-29T23:02:54Z")
I don;t remember it very well; I read it twenty years ago, maybe. I don’t recall liking it especially, though I didn’t hate it or anything either. Mostly I remember that not much happened. I don’t mind it if a novel isn’t overly concerned with plot, but then it has to do other things really well, and unfortunately I don’t remember that this book made up for it with exceptional characterization, tremendously engaging setting, or the like. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2019, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walker-percys-the-moviegoer/828623/6 "2019-01-30T14:48:11Z")
> [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#): > > I don;t remember it very well; I read it twenty years ago, maybe. I don’t recall liking it especially, though I didn’t hate it or anything either. Mostly I remember that not much happened. > > I don’t mind it if a novel isn’t overly concerned with plot, but then it has to do other things really well, and unfortunately I don’t remember that this book made up for it with exceptional characterization, tremendously engaging setting, or the like. As I recall, there is more “plot” in other books of his. But I recall liking WP largely because I enjoyed the way he wrote. His style appeals to me similarly to Greene, Waugh, and others. Checked my library. Happily, they have all of WP’s novels, so I’ll give them a re-read. Not so good news on the Harry Crews front. My local library has NONE of his, and the linked system has only a few. None of them have The Gypsy’s Curse (my alltime fave novel) or The Gospel Singer - his debut. Both of those go for $100s on-line… ☹ ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2019, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walker-percys-the-moviegoer/828623/7 "2019-01-30T19:44:02Z")
Dinsdale, thanks for the tip, I will check out Crews next. My library network has at least 12 of his books. Meanwhile I’ve started Percy’s “Second Coming” and it seems promising. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2019, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walker-percys-the-moviegoer/828623/8 "2019-02-19T15:29:06Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > I’ve long considered Percy one of my fave novelists, tho I must admit I haven’t read him for 20 yrs or so. Do recall that the 2d time I read Moviegoer, it seemed not much happened. Preferred Lancelot and Second Coming. Had no use for Love in the Ruins or Thanatos. > … I may need to re-read him - see how I like him at this stage of my life. … Oh man - not good. Just finished Second Coming, and started Lancelot. Last Gentleman is on the nightstand. Definitely things to appreciate in both books, but hard for me to imagine that at a time I would have strongly maintained that WP was one of my favorite authors. Really makes me question the extent to which my reading tastes/practices have changed over time. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2019, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walker-percys-the-moviegoer/828623/9 "2019-02-19T16:10:32Z")
I loved loved loved _Love in the Ruins_ when I was in my 20s, but I’ve been afraid to go back and reread it…some fear that it hasn’t aged well, in particular his take on women. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2019, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walker-percys-the-moviegoer/828623/10 "2019-02-19T16:13:58Z")
Dinsdale, funny you should mention it, I just finished The Second Coming myself. Again, I was kind of underwhelmed and felt that the plot was underdeveloped. I think I’m done with Percy.