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Lancelot

Lancelot

List Price: $39.95
Your Price: $39.95
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Sour taste, unpleasant purpose
Review: 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. This book is unusual in that:

-- the main character is a sour, depressed member of an old local aristocracy that has lost its power and prestige

-- in his opinion, the troubles with society are the lack of chivalrous values and a sense of mission.

The book takes on the pompous and self-pitying tone of its main character, and the points it makes about society seem so... well, conservative, even fuddy-duddy and irrelevant... that it makes you wonder if the author really means it or if he's trying to portray something. If the author really does mean it, then I wish he had drawn a character I had a little sympathy for. The personal problems just don't have must drama, and Lancelot Lamar himself is just not... that... exciting...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Confidentially, It's Walker Percy's Best Book . . .
Review: 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.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Confidentially, It's Walker Percy's Best Book . . .
Review: 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.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Easy to read, difficult to digest ...
Review: I can overlook that Percy basically stole Machado De Assis' "Don Casmurro," but only because the latter tackles such difficult issues, and is a VERY difficult read. And yet, Percy pulls it off. Just as we begin sympathizing with Lancelot, we're sprung forward again from our LAZ-E-BOY recliners and are reminded of the reality of his actions. I kinda wish Percy hadn't written the book in Second Person, as if WE were the therapist or something, but if THAT'S what it takes to reassure us that WE'RE not mad, so be it. A very uncomfortable, un-pretty, DISTURBING read -- worth the effort, but hard to recommend to anyone else.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Percys most underrated book
Review: I loved this book. It said it all. I am surprised it does not recieve more attention

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Redundant and plodding
Review: I would NEVER recommend this book to anyone. I threw away my copy when I was through reading it so that I wouldn't be responsible for anyone else wasting their time with it. I found the book to be tedious, mind-numbingly redundant, misogynistic & racist. The main character whines about the state of society oblivous to the fact he is one of the horribly twisted reasons why society is the way it is. There were no surprises to be found anywhere in the book since the author apparently mistook foreshadowing for plot AND character, thus focusing mainly on foreshadowing. In case we readers are too thick to miss any of it, repetition pounds it into our heads. I found nothing new or noteworthy in this book.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Redundant and plodding
Review: I would NEVER recommend this book to anyone. I threw away my copy when I was through reading it so that I wouldn't be responsible for anyone else wasting their time with it. I found the book to be tedious, mind-numbingly redundant, misogynistic & racist. The main character whines about the state of society oblivous to the fact he is one of the horribly twisted reasons why society is the way it is. There were no surprises to be found anywhere in the book since the author apparently mistook foreshadowing for plot AND character, thus focusing mainly on foreshadowing. In case we readers are too thick to miss any of it, repetition pounds it into our heads. I found nothing new or noteworthy in this book.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Sour taste, unpleasant purpose
Review: 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. For Percy there are only two, the path taken by the narrator, Lancelot, and the path taken by the friend to which he narrates his tale, Percival.

Lancelot is an excellent book. I highly recommend it to mature readers. Be aware that Percy's Lancelot colorfully describes the dirtiness around him. Consequently, the book is a bit vulgar in places.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Stunning.
Review: 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. For Percy there are only two, the path taken by the narrator, Lancelot, and the path taken by the friend to which he narrates his tale, Percival.

Lancelot is an excellent book. I highly recommend it to mature readers. Be aware that Percy's Lancelot colorfully describes the dirtiness around him. Consequently, the book is a bit vulgar in places.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Gripping read!
Review: It's been over 20 years since I've read this book, but I still consider it one of the most enjoyable reading experiences I've ever had. As another reader has pointed out, I'm amazed that Lancelot is not better known.


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