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3.59 AVERAGE
3.59 AVERAGE
This collection of stories was ok, I liked some of the stories, but Kerouac's 'spontaneous prose' style of writing can be a bit much at times - You have to read slow to absorb what is being said, otherwise you just run through pages without processing anything because it's just a continuous flow of words that sometimes don't mean anything and other times he is trying to put across some lofty ideal to the reader and if you're not careful about how you read, you'll be done before you know it and nothing of it will have meant anything at all.
I rather enjoyed it, but 3 stars is a warning that you should DEFINITELY read other Kerouac first (the book is essentially a reflection on the travels he immortalized in other books). Read On The Road, Town and City and Dharma Bums... then come back.
Kerouac describes it as less of a novel, and more of a prose poem. In his jazzy run-ons and descriptive beats, he takes us from Northern California to Mexico to the Pacific and eventually to Paris. In addition to his life as a sailor and traveler, he most notably works as a brakeman off the shores of San Jose, an occupation that parallels his restless cycles of travel writing. There are about eight chapters, and each could be deemed an individual poem or tribute to the place he visits. The plot, if any, is minimalist, and the lifestyle led is one of solitude, observation, and reflection. There are friends along the way, but this book is not about Neil Cassady or Allen Ginsberg; it's a work not to be distracted by other beings, but to embrace the land of the country and the bumdom that exists upon it. Like Thoreau, Kerouac craves to experience the land without outsider intervention. Kerouac lives to live and when he writes about it, you feel the love he has for the America he describes. It ends on a note of remorse, a sort of obituary for the bumdom he helped create in On The Road. It's Kerouac refined and reflective on his years of traveling the country, and for a transition from Kerouac's novels to poetry, this is a must-read.
“Everything is perfect on the street again, the world is permeated with roses of happiness all the time, but none of us know it. The happiness consists in realizing that it is all a great strange dream.”
adventurous
fast-paced
adventurous
slow-paced
adventurous
challenging
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
adventurous
challenging
reflective
adventurous
fast-paced
Kerouac’s musings on the ornaments of his surroundings can be a bit arduous at times and it “slumps” on occasion but the second half of the book describing his New York-Morocco-France travels are incredible.
adventurous
funny
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
I need to go back to Tangiers