Lancelot: Amazon.ca: Walker Percy: Books

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"A funny and scarifying jeremiad . . . Easy to read and hard to forget."--Time

"Eloquent, reckless, hilarious . . . plunges forward through tawdry bedroom mysteries toward a final grand puzzle."--Washington Post Book World

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Book Description

"A modern knight-errant on a quest after evil . . . Convincing and chilling." The New York Times Book Review
Lancelot Andrewes Lamar, a disenchanted liberal lawyer, finds himself confined in a "nuthouse" with memories that don't seem worth remembering until a visit from an old friend and classmate gives him the opportunity to recount his journey of dark violence. It began the day he accidentally discovered he was not the father of his youngest daughter. That discovery touched off his obsession to reverse the degeneration of modern America and begin a new age of chivalry and romance. With ever-increasing fury, Lancelot would become a shining knight -- not of romance, but of revenge . . .

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Inside This Book (Learn More)
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First Sentence
Come into my cell. Read the first page

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Concordance

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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover

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Customer Reviews

17 Reviews

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
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Average Customer Review

4.4 out of 5 stars (17 customer reviews)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Not Percy's Best, But..., Dec 3 2004

By

Brent Wittmeier "bwittmeier" (Alberta, Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Lancelot (Mass Market Paperback)

Quite frankly, I found this the most difficult and least enjoyable of Percy's books.

Percy is at his usual cranky self, poking at the delusions of modern life and ridiculing our self-assurance in spite of the fact that we're all rather lost. Good questions are asked. What is love and is it real? Is secular liberalism or Christianity true? What does sex mean? How can we escape boredom? Is life just some cosmic joke?

What is missing in Lancelot, in my opinion, is the sly humour found in The Second Coming or Love in the Ruins. Lancelot is a departure from Percy's typical protagonist, not because he is some crazy, libidinal loner who concocts an apocalyptic scheme to prove some cosmic point (because all of Percy's protagonists fit that bill), but because he isn't particularly funny. Lancelot lacks the sense that the world is bigger than himself, and is so serious that he rarely cracks a joke. His soliloquies, therefore, end up as overly explicit narratives concerning other humourless characters. This is especially true of the play within the play --- the movie making subplot which gets a little self-referential (after all, isn't this the most cinematic of Percy's novels?).

Still, enjoy Percy's craftsmanship, for there are far too few of his novels to be too fussy. What else is a crazy, libidinal, apocalyptic loner to do?

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Modern Literature at its Best, Dec 10 2002

By

SmackusMaximus - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lancelot: A Novel (Paperback)

This novel is wonderfully written. Walker Percy has quite a unique way of expressing thought in the English language. Unfortunately, unique does not always mean well done. In the case of Walker Percy, however, this novel is a masterpiece of prose.

The first couple of pages take the reader into the mind of a man (Lancelot) at an insane asylum who is recollecting his crimes against his now dead wife. Percy uses Lancelot as a foil to pose many questions regarding our humanity and morality.

For example, what is the sexual act? Why should it mean anything other than a biological act between two humans? What is it that causes man to be so grievously injured by adultery if the act is nothing but biology? Lancelot ponders these questions throughout the novel as he talks to his childhood friend who has become a priest. Percy gives no answers except to demonstrate through Lancelot that Lancelot's answers are lacking. Lancelot's answers form no moral basis.

The story moves quickly as Lancelot recalls the events leading up to his crime. To that end, the clipped pace of the narrative suits the urgency of the action.

The reader will understand just what he/she is getting in this novel within the first 20 pages. I recommend it highly, but do issue a caution that there is some quite honest dialogue in the novel that includes a fair amount of profanity. Though probably necessary to develope the character, some may be offended.

Purchase the book and enjoy modern literature at its best.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Confidentially, It's Walker Percy's Best Book . . ., May 29 2002

By

Hunter Baker "Hunter Baker" (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Lancelot: A Novel (Paperback)

After I read this book I had no choice but to immediately consume Walker Percy's novels. Reading Lancelot was like having the top of my head blown off and surviving the experience more awake and alive than ever. In an era where no one is really sure what they believe anymore, Percy sets out an interesting test. If you discovered clear evidence of evil, what would that tell you about the existence of good and maybe even God? I strongly suggest you take this journey and pay very close attention to the parallel travels of the main character's confidant, a priest-psychologist who is himself in crisis. If you do so, the ending will make the hairs stand up on the back on your neck.

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Most recent customer reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars Sour taste, unpleasant purpose
A very unusual book. There are a number of stories that concern a main character whose personal troubles give him illumination into the larger troubles of society. Read more

Published on Dec 26 2001

5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning.
In Lancelot Walker Percy builds on the theme of awakening he plays with in The Moviegoer and queries exactly what choices an awakened man has in the face of a degenerate culture... Read more

Published on Sep 7 2001 by Loudon Is A Fool