Second Coming: Amazon.ca: Walker Percy: Books

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Will Barrett is a wealthy widower who finds himself questioning his faith in God. Allie Vaught has escaped from the sanitarium that has been her home for several years. Together they heal one another--physically and spiritually--finally returning to the "Christian" community that may reject them. Reissue. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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First Sentence
The first sign that something had gone wrong manifested itself while he was playing golf. Read the first page

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Customer Reviews

14 Reviews

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4 star:		(1)
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Average Customer Review

4.7 out of 5 stars (14 customer reviews)

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5.0 out of 5 stars Wise and Beautiful, Jun 22 2004

By

John (United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Second Coming: A Novel (Paperback)

When I read books, I mark up the text and write in the margins pretty thoroughly, and when I am finished with the book, I go back through and copy down my favorite passages. Usually there is only one or two quotes to write down, but The Second Coming was a different matter. Walker Percy has such extraordinary insights and power with words that passage after passage, with their humor, wisdom, and beauty, pierces straight through me. It took me two hours to copy all of the passages I wanted.

The Second Coming is one of the greatest novels that I have ever read, and that is partly because of the quirky story at its heart. Will Barrett, a rich and successful widower, is trapped in his life, a sort of living death. His big first step begins to happen in the first wonderful episode of the novel when he is playing golf and begins to realize it. "Knowing about what is going to happen is having a chance to escape it. If you don't know about it, it will certainly happen to you." From there, Will begins to try to find how to live his life. The other primary character is Allison, a girl escaped from a mental hospital now trying to find out how to live in a world totally new to her. Together, they embark on a quest to be born again into life.

The Second Coming is one of the greatest novels I have ever read. Percy was trained as a physician, and he took those skills to literature. In The Second Coming, he diagnoses American society and tries to find a cure. There is some real wisdom there and most importantly, some real hope. This is a novel that is vastly underrated and one that should not be missed (along with all of Percy's other novels).

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5.0 out of 5 stars If I Could Rate it Higher, I would!!!, Feb 2 2004

By

Hugh Pearson (Brooklyn, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Second Coming (Mass Market Paperback)

I've long been familiar with the name, Walker Percy, and of his well-known relative who helped settle the Mississippi Delta, and was one of the most powerful and wealthy planters in that region. But it wasn't until I finally picked up "The Moviegoer" to figure out why that book is so well-respected, that I finally understood why Percy was considered such a phenomonal writer by those in the know. His style is PERFECT. His themes -- PERFECT. I have never read a writer I am more enthralled with. And I like "The Second Coming," too. This guy, if anything, is UNDERRATED. He is as profound as Faulkner, but EASY TO UNDERSTAND (my 11th grade English teacher always taught that you can be as profound as you wish, as long as you make your writing understandable to EVERYONE, ranging from an educated king, to the lowliest peasant, which is a policy that I have personally tried to follow as a published author myself). The Second Coming is an excellent story that explores human depths that so many novelists don't even begin to reach. I now intend to read everything I can get my hands on that this outstanding writer ever wrote.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Patient Education..., July 25 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Second Coming: A Novel (Paperback)

Memorable book.

Recommended to many people, especially literate patients and family.

An education in the reality of psychosis, ... its cruelty and its wisdom.

-Psychiatrist

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