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The Thanatos Syndrome: A Novel Paperback – September 4, 1999

by Walker Percy (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 112 ratings
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Returning home to the small Louisiana parish where he had praticed psychiatry, Dr. Tom More quickly notices something strange occuring with the townfolk, a loss of inhibitions. Behind this mystery is a dangerous plot drug the local water supply, and a discovery that takes More into the underside of the American search for happiness.

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Previous page
  1. Part of series
    Dr. Tom More
  2. Print length
    384 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Picador
  5. Publication date
    September 4, 1999
  6. Dimensions
    5.5 x 0.85 x 8.5 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    9780312243326
  8. ISBN-13
    978-0312243326
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“There is ample evidence of Percy's brilliance in The Thanatos Syndrome - the droll Dixie anthropology, the pitch-perfect dialogue, the sheer intelligence everywhere on the page.... It is splendidly, uproariously catholic, as well.” ―Douglas Bauer, Atlantic Monthly

From the Publisher

"What a pleasure it is to read a real novel.... THE THANATOS SYNDROME has the ambition and purposefulness to take on the world, to wrestle with its shortcomings, and to celebrate its glories." -Washington Post Book World

"He is a dazzlingly gifted novelist.... Percy stages a lively medical mystery...that no serious reader will want to miss." -USA Today

"There is ample evidence of Percy's brilliance in THE THANATOS SYNDROME - the droll Dixie anthropology, the pitch-perfect dialogue, the sheer intelligence everywhere on the page.... It is splendidly, uproariously catholic, as well." --Douglas Bauer, Atlantic Monthly

"Shimmers with intelligence and verve...THE THANATOS SYNDROME is highbrow hilarity all the more discerning for distinguishing its tears behind lots of laughs." --Newsday

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0312243324
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Picador; 1st edition (September 4, 1999)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 384 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780312243326
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0312243326
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.85 x 8.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 112 ratings

About the author

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Walker Percy

Walker Percy

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Walker Percy (1916–1990) was one of the most prominent American writers of the twentieth century. Born in Birmingham, Alabama, he was the oldest of three brothers in an established Southern family that contained both a Civil War hero and a U.S. senator. Acclaimed for his poetic style and moving depictions of the alienation of modern American culture, Percy was the bestselling author of six fiction titles—including the classic novel The Moviegoer (1961), winner of the National Book Award—and fifteen works of nonfiction. In 2005, Time magazine named The Moviegoer one of the best English-language books published since 1923.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
112 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Claudia Gennari Lacerda
5.0 out of 5 stars excellent and very relevant book
Reviewed in the United States on January 13, 2024
Verified Purchase
I didn’t know this author and read about him in another book. I am very glad I gave it at try. He is a brilliant and engaging storyteller. The topics covered in this book are very relevant today (it was written in the 80s!)
Looking forward reading more of his novels. He is a mix of Dostoyevsky and Steinbeck, but with a southern accent. Excellent book.
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Joseph OConnor
4.0 out of 5 stars He is on to something
Reviewed in the United States on June 14, 2014
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Read this book. The author is definitely on to something. What that something is is hard to say but it shows how the most noble human sentiments can leave the rails and become monsterous.
One person found this helpful
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iamalive
5.0 out of 5 stars Is It Me or Everyone Else?
Reviewed in the United States on September 20, 2018
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This is a book about morality.

In a way it is vertigo-inducing in its complex navigation of moral belief systems and groups forming around them, against them, or against those that are against them.

In a way, it's not complex at all. It's just people trying to make meaning and feel that time is worthwhile in the face of a terrifying sea of vast information and vast freedom.

SPOILERS:

An eccentric ideologue tries using the threat of prison versus the prospect of a vast fortune as a consultant to keep our protagonist quiet about a certain conspiracy to drug the public water supply.

The ideologue believes in earnest that the drugging does good for society, and for good reason, and that the financial safety is better than prison. Our protagonist believes that the drugging is not good, and for good reason, and that prison can be a better option than the lucrative consulting gig along with its dread.

The protagonist is actually quite happy in prison, with no ability to choose what he'd rather do. He's happy to escape prison and come back, happy to navigate the shifting morality of the guard, the sheriff, Comeaux, the depressed priest in the watch tower, and to get by. He's even happy to take action in the rare instance that he has that option.
5 people found this helpful
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Professor
5.0 out of 5 stars An unforgettable book
Reviewed in the United States on July 7, 2012
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I just read this book for the third time in 20 years. It gets better every time I read it. It's so multi-layered, and there is so much going on underneath the story line: existentialism, Catholicism, psychology, societal behavior control. This book is deep as an abyss: You just keep going down into it, and you discover more and more (no pun intended).

My favorite line in the book is an observation by the protagonist and narrator, Dr. Tom More. He has been caught writing prescriptions for amphetamines to help long-distance truck drivers stay awake on their long hauls. Since it's a minor crime and he is well-respected in his community, he is jailed for only a few days. Dr. More finds that he kind of likes jail because his daily activities are scheduled and pre-determined. He says, "There is something to be said for having no choice in what one does." I can't think of a more perfect commentary on the great struggle of existentialism.

After my third reading of this book, I have decided that Walker Percy is my favorite writer of all time. That's no small statement. This man is a genius, but he's more that just that: He's a gifted storyteller and an insightful social commentator. And don't forget his other books, including the non-fiction. They're all incredible.

(Sigh). I was at my local neighborhood pool the other day, and people were lying around in their beach chairs reading James Patterson, et al. I wanted to scream at them: OPEN YOUR MINDS AND READ PERCY. But I didn't. Walker Percy is for the minority who appreciate great literature that makes our lives richer.
24 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in the United States on March 18, 2016
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Still pondering this most unusual book.
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Frederick A. Costello
3.0 out of 5 stars Is Utilitarianism good?
Reviewed in the United States on January 20, 2003
Verified Purchase
Dr. Tom More, a psychiatrist named after St. Thomas More, is a non-practicing Catholic who has just been released from two years in prison, having been convicted of prescribing drugs wholesale to mental institutions. His partners, Dr. Bob Comeaux and Dr. Max Gottlieb, welcome him back, taking responsibility for his parole.

In his hospital rounds, Tom notices unusual sexual behavior among patients. His friend, Dr. Lucy Lipscomb, a public-health official, finds a correlation between the behavior and the unusual heavy-sodium (Na24) concentrations in their blood. Her computer searches reveal that the entire town has been drinking water with high Na24 concentrations. Tom, Lucy and her uncle trace the source of the Na24 to a line from an old sodium-cooled nuclear plant.
Dr. Comeaux and Dr. Van Dorn, another psychiatrist, are conducting the unauthorized, clandestine Na24 experiment on the community. The results show that the Na24 has almost eliminated crime and sexual deviancy while greatly increasing intellectual and athletic performance throughout the community. One side effect is the more gorilla-like behavior of the people, exhibited primarily in their sexual behavior and observed by Dr. More. How Tom and Lucy discover and expose the Na24 experiment is a good mystery story. Although Tom and Lucy never articulate the moral difficulties of the experiment, the difficulties are revealed through the character of Fr. Smith, a Catholic priest whose bizarre behavior marks him as insane.
The plot reveals the fallacy of Utilitarianism, pitting Tom and Lucy against a small group of influential and highly respected people whose experiment has done much to improve the quality of life in the community. The theme is similar to that in Brave New World, wherein Utilitarianism is to be judged false by the instinctive moral values of the reader. The author never criticizes Utilitarianism nor does he propose a substitute for it. He implies that the bad side effect, rather than Utilitarianism's inherent depersonalization of human beings, justifies its condemnation. He does imply Utilitarianism also justifies abortion, infanticide, and euthanasia (good thanatos), but does not explain why these should be considered evil. He also warns that the U.S. Supreme Court judges by Utilitarianism.
The fate of each of the characters, described near the end of the book (Pp 340 ff), is a realistic and entertaining commentary on society today. The Utilitarians remain unrepentant but escape prison sentences; however, they are given jobs that use their good characteristics while preventing the use of their bad.
A sex episode (Part 3, Pp 158-166) seems unnecessary, except perhaps to help show that everyone in the book is guilty of mortal sin except Virgil, a homespun Black. Later examples of pornography are so generally described that envisioning them is not a problem.
The author is noted as a great Catholic philosophical novelist, but there is little that is Catholic in the book.
8 people found this helpful
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