The Moviegoer by Walker Percy

The reading of this novel was slow for me. Percy gives long elaborate descriptions of characters and settings and I think because of that, I had a hard time getting into the actual story being told. I think this is partly because I am not from the south originally, which is where the story takes place, and I have never been to New O'rleans, so apart what I've heard about Mardi Gras, I know nothing of the city or the culture. Percy seems to linger on details as if the readers already know what he's talking about, so I did find myself having to go back and reread passages of the book. I like the main character, Binx, even though I found him to be selfish, arrogant and slightly obnoxious at times. But by the end of the book, I saw him as more of a child than a thirty-year-old man and I think I'm sympathetic towards him. I don’t think Binx ever feels like he’s found what he’s looking for in his “search”. He thinks he’s settling because Aunt Emily wants him to do something. Maybe he wants to get Aunt Emily off his back without giving her exactly what she wants and going to medical school. So he marries Kate instead. I do think Binx gets tired of spending his life going to movies and juggling secretaries, but I think he settles with Kate. He knows he and Kate have something to offer one another that no one else can understand. Even if their relationship is romantically awkward, they can still help each other. In calling off “the search”, Binx opens a new door for a different life that isn’t what he expected when he originally began his search.