unequaled southern literary tradition

the epic saga and radiant beauty of the American south continues transcendent in Walker’s lyrical craft and aloft in the imbued perspective of his character’s odyssey. A wild, enchanted untamable realm wherein a genealogy, and conditions inspire all art; in particular musicians, poets, playwrights and authors to world eminence, unvanquished and ever resonant.

This book is a book of characters in every sense of the word "character." An amnesiac that wanders the Civil War battlefields of my country looking for his identity. A mad scientist that plays with guns. A dying teenager. The book has to do with the end of a life and the saving of a soul but above all it is a love letter to the South. For that reason alone I recommend it. It is to be enjoyed.

Quotes:
"Thereafter he came to see that he was not destined to do everything buy only one or two things"
"Often nowadays people do not know what to do and so live out their lives as if they were waiting for some sign or another"
"I am half dead...She said how would like to be alive. I said I'd like that. She said all right, come with me. That was it."


This book felt as if I were reading my own conversion—ambling listlessly, attempting to transcend the circumstances of my time and place, acting like most, as a placeless new-man. But I'm not from everyplace and I'm not afflicted by every demon and every future is not open to me. In fact, I came to realize, like Will, that really only or two. The warp and weft of life bends and twirls and bounds me to places and people and things in the real world.

Essentially, I had to delete twitter and touch grass. But learning to be a Christian is to learn that values exist, that some things are better than other things, and that you should say that and not be afraid. But I, for a long time, was afraid—longing to transcend and immanize and having the tools for neither. I wanted to live in the real world and enjoy real goods and be one with The Real Good.

That's the journey of this book. To learn that wisdom is not inaction and irony but a post-ironic commitment.

Walker Percy, a much-honored novelist, might be best known in some circles for his noble effort to get the great "Confederacy of Dunces" published after its author, John Kennedy O'Toole, committed suicide. Percy knows great writing when he sees it, and his 1966 novel,"The Last Gentleman," features some great writing.

Like other Percy novels ("The Second Coming" and "The Thanatos Syndrome" come to mind), "The Last Gentleman" is not easy stuff. It features a cast of largely unlikable characters, including its protagonist. It doesn't follow traditional narrative. It suffers from the usual dated references of 60s novels concerning race and the South. But it's a great, often quite funny and moving, ride nevertheless.

Briefly, the story revolves around a very confused transplanted Southerner who stumbles upon the girl of his dreams through a telescope while she is reading a cryptic note on a park bench. Then it gets weird. Key characters include the bizarre members of a Gothic Southern clan, the world's worst psychiatrist and a white filmmaker driving around the South pretending to be black. It makes a little more sense than that, but only a little. You sense Percy is playing games with the reader and you don't really mind.

Percy is an often profound philosopher. His insights on the importance of place and the universal need for acceptance are brilliant and often profound. Some of his characters reach remarkable understandings via the title character, but not all of them. The journey is what counts -- and, with just a little patience, you'll enjoy the trip.

The Last Gentleman is difficult to review and I kind of think that I should reread it to really get a grasp of many of the ideas presented within. The book follows a young man who somewhat lacks an identity and constantly suffers from bouts of amnesia. Through him the author explores themes of identity, society, and religion. The book often feels as aimless as its protagonist and can be somewhat difficult to follow but about halfway through I thought it became easier to follow (or perhaps I became more interested and therefore tried harder to follow it). I related to the protagonist's confusion, lack of ambition, and lack of definite identity. I found the other characters odd yet fascinating. Its an odd book that I am glad I read and will probably read again.

Just went back through this a third time in prep to lead our book club through it at our next meeting. It just gets better and better with age. All of Percy's work feels more or less prophetic, as humanity has still not fully come to terms with the dislocation of the individualized, technological society birthed by WWII. The "New South", the old South, the sexual revolution, cultural Christianity, and so much more comes under his withering eye.

This seems like a stranger version of Evelyn Waugh’s ‘Brideshead Revisited’. I didn’t enjoy this reading most of the time but the last 20 pages seemed to be what the whole book was about, hence the 3 stars

So weird. I loved Percy when I was in high school. I don't have the same appreciation for his pseudo philosophical characters anymore. As much as I think it's possible to see oneself in the protagonist struggling with the unmoored feeling of modernity, I no longer see myself in his cynicism for the present and worship of the past, especially not the worship of the old South.

All of Walker Percy's books are excellent and the Last Gentleman is no exception. However, it is probably my least favorite of Percy’s books. Percy is known for ambiguity (some might say over subtlety) and this is especially true in The Last Gentleman. The novel’s pacing is also slower than his other novels. Additionally, in the spectrum of Percy protagonists, Will Barrett is definitely more alienated and dislocated (and I would say damaged) than the typical Percy protagonist. This can make the experience of Barrett more taxing on the reader; you feel more discomfort and less identification with Barrett than other protagonists. A strong point of the book is Percy use of wry humor; this might be Percy’s most humorous novel. There are certainly quite a few observations and situations that are amusing and prompt the reader to laugh. For anyone that is seeking to do more extensive reading of Percy, I would recommend putting The Last Gentleman at the back of the queue and start with other books, such as the Moviegoer or the Second Coming (which features an older Will Barrett). Walker Percy is definitely an acquired taste, so it is best to start with books that are more accessible and thus get used to his style of writing and of thinking before reading a more subtle, ambiguous, and harsher novel.

My first Percy but definitely not my last. His words are addictive. Very much interested in how much of the main character is autobiographical, just curious.

This is an incredibly disappointing followup to THE MOVIEGOER that quickly goes off the rails after the first two chapters with awful racist stereotypes and even an ignoble and completely pointless appropriation of George Schuyler's satirical classic BLACK NO MORE that greatly enraged me. It starts off very well, with a fresh-out-of-water young man who buys a telescope and moves to New York. This is a perfect setup for Walker Percy's usual mix of philosophy and character study. And with the Vaught family, there's an opportunity here to show the extension of national identity from the South -- particularly since Percy delivers some excellent dialogue momentum in these chapters. But once the young engineer's innocence is replaced by incredibly dated "meditations" into race, this novel quickly turns into a dog of its time, a time capsule best left unexhumed.

Very strange, very different kind of writing. I am very interested in Walker Percy, and so I plugged away reading this book and I did start properly enjoying the reading--the last fifth or so.

Poor Jamie, but poor engineer.