Love in the Ruins
Encyclopedia
Love in the Ruins is a novel of speculative
or science fiction
by author Walker Percy
from 1971. It follows its main character, Dr Thomas More, namesake and descendant of Sir Thomas More author of Utopia
, a psychiatrist in a small town in Louisiana
called Paradise. Over time, the US has become progressively more fragmented, between left and right, black and white as social trends of the 1960s run to illogical extremes. Society begins to come apart at the seams and no one except More seems to notice and no one, including him, seems particularly to care. More, a lapsed Catholic
, alcoholic, and womanizer, invents a device that he names the Ontological Lapsometer, which can diagnose and treat the harmful mental states at the root of society's slow disintegration. However, in the wrong hands, the device can also exacerbate the problems and a government representative, intent on getting More a Nobel Prize, seeks to put it to his own uses while More attempts to prevent a disaster.
, The Second Coming, and The Last Gentleman, the novel's protagonist represents a societal alienation, a malaise of existential questioning. But the protagonists detachment from themselves allows for a lighter tone and often a comic distance from the world. Dr More's hyper-fragmented community allows for comic caricatures while still reflecting on the roots of society's problems.
Speculative fiction
Speculative fiction is an umbrella term encompassing the more fantastical fiction genres, specifically science fiction, fantasy, horror, supernatural fiction, superhero fiction, utopian and dystopian fiction, apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, and alternate history in literature as well as...
or science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
by author Walker Percy
Walker Percy
Walker Percy was an American Southern author whose interests included philosophy and semiotics. Percy is best known for his philosophical novels set in and around New Orleans, Louisiana, the first of which, The Moviegoer, won the National Book Award for Fiction in 1962...
from 1971. It follows its main character, Dr Thomas More, namesake and descendant of Sir Thomas More author of Utopia
Utopia (book)
Utopia is a work of fiction by Thomas More published in 1516...
, a psychiatrist in a small town in Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
called Paradise. Over time, the US has become progressively more fragmented, between left and right, black and white as social trends of the 1960s run to illogical extremes. Society begins to come apart at the seams and no one except More seems to notice and no one, including him, seems particularly to care. More, a lapsed Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
, alcoholic, and womanizer, invents a device that he names the Ontological Lapsometer, which can diagnose and treat the harmful mental states at the root of society's slow disintegration. However, in the wrong hands, the device can also exacerbate the problems and a government representative, intent on getting More a Nobel Prize, seeks to put it to his own uses while More attempts to prevent a disaster.
Themes
The novel investigates and satirizes a variety of facets of American society, including religion, sexuality, medical and scientific ethics, and race relations. Like many of Percy's other works, among them The MoviegoerThe Moviegoer
The Moviegoer is the debut novel by Walker Percy published in 1961. It won a National Book Award in 1962. Time magazine included the novel in its "Time 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005"....
, The Second Coming, and The Last Gentleman, the novel's protagonist represents a societal alienation, a malaise of existential questioning. But the protagonists detachment from themselves allows for a lighter tone and often a comic distance from the world. Dr More's hyper-fragmented community allows for comic caricatures while still reflecting on the roots of society's problems.