The Moviegoer

I noticed that I have been posting a lot of book reviews recently, and it may seem overwhelming. But as it is now the end of the semester, we are finishing up on many of the "textbooks" that we have been using throughout the course of the semester. And many times my textbooks are just normal books that anyone might pick up and read. But as I have had two literature courses this semester, I have had a chance to read 7+ novels. This is number 6 or 7.

Walker Percy's The Moviegoer is an interesting read, and not quite what I expected. By the title, I expected it to be somewhat boring in that it would be about some character who enjoys the movies and would be recounting what he saw on screen. I thought that he might tie these movies into events in his life, but I wondered how much plot there would be in the story.

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I was half-way right on what to expect, but the story was much better than I expected. Binx Bollings, the main character, is a stock broker who lives outside of New Orleans. He has an Aunt Emily and step-cousin Kate. Aunt Emily plays an important role in his life, being one of the main influential figures. But he does have a mother, whom is introduced later in the novel. But she remains unnamed. The "Smiths" are his family, and they are almost polar opposites of Aunt Emily's family.

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Binx is a person who enjoys the movies and not books. There is only one novel that he claims to have read. He would rather spend his time watching the action take place rather than reading about it. So he visits the theatre quite frequently, tying scenes and actors from those movies into events in his life through the narration. But I was wrong in my initial judgment of the book in that there is a good plot line to the story.

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Some of the conflicts in the novel deal with his relationship with Aunt Emily, how he feels about Kate, his relationship with his employees (females), the role of the Smith's in his life, and the sickness of one of his half-brothers. Binx has a lot to deal with in life, and the story traces about a year of his life as he deals with these various trials, which makes for an interesting read.

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One last thing I want to point out is the use of cities in the novel. For those reading this that have gone to my church, you will be familiar with Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. That city is mentioned in the novel, which interested me. Then later on, Union City, Tennessee is mentioned as well. There is a salesman on the bus who talks about travelling from Murfreesboro to Union City. I clarified with my professor to make sure it was the Union City that I knew, and he assured me that it was. It was neat to read about places that I have either grown up near or visited in the past. All in all, I enjoyed this novel.

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Matt