diatribalArts

A voyeuristic look into my man-purse…

A journal to catch all the images and thoughts that dribble forth, sometimes uncontrollably.

How much more erudite one looks with a pipe no matter if in his hands is a graphic novel or “Critique of Pure Reason” (bring on the Longbottom leaf and wax eloquent with me).

Ethics by Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

The Christian does not live in a vacuum, says the author, but in a world of government, politics, labor, and marriage. Hence, Christian ethics cannot exist in a vacuum; what the Christian needs, claims Dietrich Bonhoeffer, is concrete instruction in a concrete situation. Although the author died before completing his work, this book is recognized as a major contribution to Christian ethics.

The root and ground of Christian ethics, the author says, is the reality of God as revealed in Jesus Christ. This reality is not manifest in the Church as distinct from the secular world; such a juxtaposition of two separate spheres, Bonhoeffer insists, is a denial of God’s having reconciled the whole world to himself in Christ. On the contrary, God’s commandment is to be found and known in the Church, the family, labor, and government. His commandment permits man to live as man before God, in a world God made, with responsibility for the institutions of that world.

The Moviegoer by Walker Percy.

The Moviegoer recounts the story of Binx Bolling, a young stockbroker in post-war New Orleans. The decline of southern traditions, the problems of his family and his traumatic experiences in the Korean War have left him alienated from his own life. He daydreams constantly, has trouble engaging in lasting relationships, and finds more meaning and immediacy in silly movies and books than in his own routine life. The loose plot of the novel follows Binx as he embarks on an undefined “search,” wandering around his home town of New Orleans reflecting philosophically on small episodes and interactions. He is challenged to define himself in relation to friends, family, lovers, and career when he would rather his life and character remain vague and open to possibility.

“What is the nature of the search? you ask. Really it is very simple; at least for a fellow like me. So simple that it is often overlooked. The search is what anyone would undertake if he were not sunk in the everydayness of his own life.”

The novel is heavily influenced by existentialist themes of authors like Soren Kierkegaard whom Percy read extensively. Unlike many dark didactic existentialist novels (including Percy’s later work), The Moviegoer has a light poetic tone. It was Percy’s first, most famous, and most widely praised novel.