Sunday, June 14, 2009
Blog on The Moviegoer
Let me start off by saying that I am new at this. I have never posted a blog before, so bare with me. The Moviegoer started out promising. I was actually into the book, up until page 50. It was on page 50 or so that I began to repeatedly ask the question, "does this make sense?", to myself. It was a difficult book for me to get through in such a short amount of time. This doesn't mean that I detested the book. I think if I went back and read it again, and then again, that I would find it amazing. I think I got lost in his rambling descriptions of objects/ people. For a moment I would feel like I was reading part of the storyline, and following it well. Then, it was like the author jumped deeply into the description of a man's pants or the fine description of a city. That threw me off. I'd find my mind wandering, and then feel my eyelids get heavier with every word I read. So, that's why I struggled through this reading. The book is based mostly on Binx's search. The search for what, we don't really ever know. Does Binx even know? In the Epilogue when he says, " I have not the inclination to say much on the subject.", I think he says this because he doesn't quite know if he found it or not. I think it depends on each reader to decide for themselves if in fact he's found what the search was for. In my opinion, I'm not sure if he finished his search, because he never exactly knew what he was searching for in the first place. How can you find something you didn't know you were searching for? You can, right? So it was after I asked myself this question that I decided that the book is a romance. No, not your classic romance, but a different kind. His search was for Kate, but he did not know it. That is how love is, you don't know that's what your heart desires until you're inlove.(By the way, it took my awhile to shake off the fact that somehow they were "cousins".) I give it the romance title because the book is about two, possibly insane, people lost and trying to find a way. In the crazy mix of their insanity, they find peace in each other. Now I feel like I'm rambling on like Percy so I'll end it with my favorite line from the book. " I watch her walk toward St. Charles, cape jasmine held against her cheek..." That is such a pretty line, I love it.
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I agree with you that the book was difficult to get through. Percy dwells so much on descriptions of places and people that I kind of get emmersed in this culture that I personally know nothing about, as I am not orignally from the deep south and have never been to either New O'rleans or Chicago.
ReplyDeleteAs for Binx's search, I see what you're saying about him not really knowing what he's searching for. If you don't know where you're going, how can you get there? Maybe he's not searching for something specific, but more or less looking for a general direction to take that will eventually lead him somewhere. He uses movies and women to sort of guide this search and along the way gets caught up in them, and they start to define him without his knowledge. Eventually, perhaps with the influences of Kate and his Aunt Emily, he comes to a kind of realization. Maybe he doesn't necessarily abandon his "search", but perhaps he just changes his direction by deciding to settle down with Kate. (It is totally wierd that they are cousins, even if not by blood.) But I agree with you completely about Binx and Kate finding peace with eachother. I feel like they are the only people who could make eachother happy, even if their version of happiness comes across as uncomfortably content.