Customer Reviews

The Moviegoer

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

The Moviegoer strikes the perfect balance between ideas and people. He succeeds in writing a book about loneliness and isolation without ever seeming sappy or sentimental; he creates a whole cast of fully developed characters who are deeply flawed but always sympathetic. And one is always struck by the strangeness of the characters. They are absolute originals. I haven't met anyone like Kate in the pages of a novel before or since, but one still somehow relates to every one of them, and can feel connections with their longing for . . . in any case, all of that is irrelevant. It is a great book, I encourage everyone to read it. Also try Jackson McCrae's "Children's Corner" or his "Bark of the Dogwood" for equally great southern reads-intricate and haunting all of these.

Walker Percy wrote the Moviegoer, a Southern novel with William Faulkner and Truman Capote in mind. The latter writers were certainly more famous though Percy won the National Book Award in 1960. Percy is a Post-Modern, so understand, life or its meaning are lost somewhere on Bourbon Street. Redemption, it's on the silver screen if only it could be captured and held. Binx Dixon is a young man with a good job and a need to believe in something. His cousin by marriage is beautiful but suicidal. If he tells her how to live, then she may bloom again. If only he could figure out what is a moral way to live in the 1950's existential ether. Brilliantly written, the Post-Modern train of thought is forgivable. We want to know if Binx and company can find peace during Mardi Gras.

Subtle, well-crafted, and entertaining, certainly this multifaceted and edifying story is well worth the reading. The fuel that propels this story is Percy's unique narrative style in using both present and past tenses. Perhaps his medical training or his three years spent in psychoanalysis during his residency had had an influence. At any rate, as the first-person narrator, Binx Bolling's present tense narration draws the reader close in "real time" and be intimate with the former in thought and action. When Bolling finds it necessary to digress or to fill-in the reader on the particulars of the past, he tells it in past tense. But Percy's writing is so good, the two tenses blurred as one. Aspiring writers who struggle with writing in present or past tense should take note. Would also recommend another stellar read, full of psychological and emotional intrigue, that is suspenseful yet well-written---THE BARK OF THE DOGWOOD--A Tour of Southern Homes and Gardens. Enjoy!

If a novelist, any novelist, could put down on paper an exact representation of human thought, he or she would automatically be elevated to the very pinnacle of the literary world. But because language has limitations, this very desirable circumstance is, unfortunately, not possible. Walker Percy has nonetheless tried valiantly to do this very thing. In The Moviegoer, the reader is made privy to the articulated thoughts of Binx Bolling, a young New Orleans stockbroker. Binx explicitly tells us he is on a search. A search for something outside the everyday things that make up his life. Something that will ultimately give his life meaning and thereby fill the emptiness in his heart.
Of course, there really isn't anything outside everyday existence that can measure up to what he is seeking. The meaning of life, if indeed there is any, can only be found in the everyday things Binx regards as completely unfulfilling. This existentialist outlook is the underlying theme of The Moviegoer.
The plot (if that's even the right word) is a minimalistic one that very much suits this novel of the mind. Binx himself provides the narration. In doing so he affects a very formal, unnatural manner of speech, in which words like "thenceforward" and "eschatological" can and do appear.
The Moviegoer is a challenging work of fiction which gives the reader an authentic, nuanced description of life among New Orlean's upper class. Many readers, if not most, are likely to be turned off by its slow pace and seeming wordiness. A thoughtful, thought filled novel, not for everyone.

The Moviegoer, ranked the #60 book of the 20th Century by the Modern Library, is definitely worth reading -- yet not as profound or intense as I had hoped it would be. It is, without a doubt, not on the same incomparable level of supremacy as A Confederacy of Dunces. It is, however, entertaining and provocative. You follow a New Orleans stockbroker, Binx Bolling, as he lives his life vicariously through movies and their stars.

Binx finds himself at a veritable crossroads at the age of 30 as he has become incredibly disillusioned in a mundane world replete with phoniness and mediocrity. As he attempts to escape from this banality via movies and women, he finds that he is, along with his neurotic cousin Kate, searching for meaning in an otherwise fruitless life. As he duly states, "I have discovered that most people have no one to talk to, no one, that is, who really wants to listen." I recommend this book...just don't expect A Confederacy of Dunces, though.

"Where Happiness Costs So Little"
- The marquee's message at the theater in Gentilly

Percy's book is astonishingly brilliant! This book is the purest and best example of American Existentialism I have ever read. Not only is the conceptual basis of the book and the mental processes of the protagonist incredibly articulated, but the author's ability to use metaphor is one of the most poignant and accomplished abilities that Percy displays in this book.

The true essence of the book is the journey through life that the protagonist takes, in search of avoiding the worst possible state, the "malaise of Everydayness." And even more so, the fight to not become "Anyone" exhibits the basic tenets of the characters focus and philosophy of life. He seeks to find newness that does not exist in the regular day to day vicissitudes of life, but something transcendent. And to fill the time in between, he searches constantly for pleasure, usually in the form of sex with his secretaries.

But as the book proceeds, it gets more and more personal, as well as, more and more complex. Examples of life experiences that the author often calls "rotations" or "duplications" are given. The concept of the "genie-soul" of each location in the world is explored. And the fight against the ordinary goes on.

As in life and existentialism, many of the questions posed are unanswerable, and the author does not really answer them, as any good existentialist writer would not answer them, because they are unanswerable. But it is the way the author portrays these unanswerable questions, that is so elegant and incisive. The reader understands the nebulous state the author is describing and asks himself these questions, but of course, does not have answers either, because, there are no answers, no definitive answers, to those questions.

The interplay of ennui and distinctiveness define the book. The search for distinctiveness is usually overshadowed by the ordinary, thus inducing the feeling of ennui or worse, "Everydayness." And the author carries the concept right to the last line. This book is really a must read for those readers who enjoy existentialism. And the beauty of Mr. Percy's articulation cannot be overlooked.

The moviegoer is the story of a man who manages to put off questioning his life decisions until his 30th birthday, when they all come into question. After a life time of attempting to distinguish himself through mediocrity in a family of over acheivers, he embarks on an internal search for spirituality, while simultaneously denying this spirituality exists. While searching for some meaning in his life, he categorically dismisses any meaning others have found in their own lives. Some readers have noted that the references to popular movies in the book date it, but I think the themes are relevant in any snapshot of time, and this overwhelms any pop culture dating. This book will capture your attention quickly, and leave you sad at having come to it's end.

This book came out quite a while back and it's still around. The reason for this probably has more to do with the wonderful character of Binx Bolling that it does with the over-all effect of the book itself.

Binx is a sort of "Babbitt" although in an entirely different setting and with a different job. He's a wonderful character study of what happens to men (whether or not they want to admit it) and I doubt some of the younger generation will be able to relate to him or sympathize.

Still, the book as a whole is great and you should enjoy it even if you're not lusting after your secretary in hot and sultry New Orleans.

This book should be read, along with CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES and McCrae's BARK OF THE DOGWOOD

This novel is good but I never got into it. It has too many references to movies and pop culture from that time that went over my head since I haven't seen any of them. I can see why this novel is probably great for a certain age group - whereas Nick Hornby's novels are great for my age group.

Last June (under a year ago), I read this novel for the first time. I just finished reading it for the fifth time. I have never read a novel with which I related more. It is truly brilliant and truly beautiful. I've always been a big reader, and so, I have always had trouble choosing my favorite novel. That is, until I read The Moviegoer.

The novel is about the character of Binx Bolling, a businessman living in New Orleans. A week before his thirtieth birthday, Binx becomes aware of the Search, his existential quest for meaning and happiness amidst the chaos and peculiar unreality of the world. Binx is joined on his Search by Kate, with whom he shares a complex and somewhat sweet relationship.

Percy's invocation of postmodern humanity's despair is so striking and powerful. I know that it is a feeling which everyone has felt as some point, but The Moviegoer isn't just about the alienation and sadness of man; Percy offers hope as Binx achieves redemption. His leap to love, his embrace of the "mundane" world and of humanity (and God), is subtle and profound. It is impossible to express the greatness of this powerful, beautiful novel, and I don't know how to convey how much this novel means to me. I can only recommend Walker Percy's wonderful novel.