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version seven. http://demongin.org |
The Thanatos Syndrome (1987)
Walker Percy
Impression published on Thursday, 2008-12-04 | Novel | 3 stars
I've described the affinity I feel for Walker Percy's hero (i.e. the one who recurs in his novels) elsewhere, so I leave that subject aside for now. Percy's last novel, The Thanatos Syndrome is not his best, but it'll definitely do in a pinch. Its weaknesses are a direct result in the fact that it is stuck on a rail: this novel reads like a bestseller, replete with a straightforward, linear plot and a reliable narrator and, finally, is the work of a guy who was playing it safe. Thanatos, while it is without a doubt a genuine page-turner and the work of a true writer's writer who is a master of his craft, lacks the authentic and obsessive sense of brooding and genuine hopelessness that animates Percy's best work. This one is just a little too snappy, a little too polished: a little too user-friendly. Percy prefers the message to the messenger and, in so doing, cuts himself off from his strong suit.
