THE MOVIEGOER - WALKER PERCY

Reading this was a strange experience. Partially because I read it during the 4 flights that made up my trip to and from Puerto Rico and reading on a plane is always strange (some of the best reading though, it’s possible to really lock-in at 35,000 feet and tear through a book totally absorbed. I did this with Pinocchio once as a kid). But mostly because this is the first book I’ve read by Walker Percy, the person I’m partially named after. I’ve avoid reading things by him as a general policy to protect myself in the off-chance that he’s bad. And I say “off-chance” and “general policy” because I have read 2 things by him, one, an essay about photography that’s really good as well as the intro to A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES. I love COD, it is one of my favorite books full-stop and knowing Percy’s role in it’s publication was enough for me to feel good about being named after him. Didn’t seem worth the risk to actually read one of his novels. But, for whatever reason, it decided to rectify that this spring-break and tore through this old-ass, 1980 copy of THE MOVIEGOER. 

First the good news: it’s good, no need to worry about changing my name. It’s very Southern (“Nobody but a Southern knows the wrenching rinsing sadness of the cities of the North…he knows a ghost when he sees one, and no sooner does he step off the train in New York or Chicago or San Francisco, then he feels the genie-soul perched on his shoulder.” as a Southerner who’s lived in Chicago and Frisco, can confirm.)  , there’s lots of New Orleans stuff, it takes place during Mardi Gras, there’s lots of swamp talk, all good stuff. At it’s most basic level, the book is about a sad man who eventually fucks his cousin, who is also very sad. The way in which he’s sad, the way he floats through his life and sleeps with secretaries and goes to the movies seems much more relevant now. If you replaced “going to the movies” with “staring at his phone” the book could be published tomorrow. I’m glad I waited until now to read this book, I’m now the age of the main character, Binx Bolling, and it’s easy for me not glamorize or idealize this character at all. I’m guessing this happened with younger readers, the way I missed the sorrow and bullshit in Ignatius the first couple of times I, as a teen and early 20 whatever. Binx comes off as pretty bad guy from my vantage point now. He basically just has his job to fuck a series of secretaries, talked about how he only loves money, he feels disconnected and alienated, his cousin tries to kill herself and, while she’s recovering he goes with her to Chicago and fucks her. There’s an interesting passage about how they almost don’t fuck because of their mutual ennui. He’s sort of like the main character in THE STRANGER, where he’s worried about being so alienated and disconnected all while not coming to turns with how garbage he is. I think the books knows this, although it is easy to read the ending as a happy one. I’m not sure this sort of character is still interesting and relevant. But I enjoyed it. I’ll need to read the rest of the Percy I guess. 1 Holy Week.