I've written so many posts today-- why stop? I've finished Lost in the Cosmos and really liked it. It wasn't quite like anything I've read before and if I tried to describe it it'd take too long, so I'll just say that Walker Percy made me think in ways I hadn't thought before, and thinking in those ways actually helped me understand some of my own feelings (and possibly others' feelings) better than I had before.
I read it because I heard a talk by Peter Kreeft in which he said that Lost in the Cosmos tackles the same crisis that was addressed by Lewis' Abolition of Man-- but Lewis was writing mainly for a Christian audience and Percy writes for secular modern audience. He takes a much different angle and operates by asking questions rather than giving answers. Normally I'd be suspicious of that-- a guy who asks questions without answering them might be lazy, or muddle-headed, or he might not really believe in truth, or he might not want to know the truth-- but Percy's not like that; his questions are smart and really made me think. He's also very funny, especially in the Last Donahue Show scene.
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