Tags
graduation, literature, Lost in the Cosmos, Signpostings, Signposts in a Strange Land, Walker Percy
A great scientist once said that genius consists not in making great discoveries but in seeing the connection between small discoveries.
Walker Percy (May 28, 1916 – May 10, 1990)
The final weeks at university were marked by one thing in common: Walker Percy’s Lost in the Cosmos. After I spent weeks pouring over it as my muse for a theory of literature I was writing (the final paper in my literary criticism class) I came to the following conclusion. I am thoroughly convinced that university presidents should take up the practice of handing a book of Walker Percy’s essays to every college graduate when they get their degree, with a smile of compassion, a pat on the back, and a “You might need this- it’s a strange world out there.”
So I’m very happy to share the launch of “Signnpostings” on this day, the 23rd anniversary of his death. Colin Brown writes: “The point of this blog is rather simple: taking a cue from Percy’s collection of essays Signposts in a Strange Land, this blog will attempt to bring notice to those “signposts” that dot the cultural, intellectual, moral, and physical landscape of this “strange land” that is our home.”
Check out the inaugural post as well as the post “On Walker Percy’s “Why I Live Where I Live” Part I: Place and Nonplace“.
Consider this an invitation to read, comment, argue, angrily or happily share with your friends, equally angrily or happily submit an article, and to prepare to be surprised at where the signposts lead.
