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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
adventurous
reflective
I felt like lying down by the side of the trail and remembering it all. The woods do that to you, they always look familiar, long lost, like the face of a long-dead relative, like an old dream, like a piece of forgotten song drifting across the water, most of all like golden eternities of past childhood or past manhood and all the living and dying and the heartbreak that went on a million years ago and the clouds as they pass overhead seem to testify (by their own lonesome familiarity) to this feeling. - 50
“It was all completely serious, all completely hallucinated, all completely happy”-59
Really lovely writing about hiking/climbing. I would revisit the descriptions of desolation peak at the end of the book happily. Reminded me of mt. Rainier. I think there is a lot of worth to being in the mountains and nature for such extended periods of time and getting distance from strict societal structures. I just don’t think that I necessarily see jack kerouac’s telling of it as anything that particularly inspiring. I got turned off by his ego at points— seeing himself as a god/buddha and that the world would benefit so much from his teachings, yet is quite hypocritical in then thinking he has no ego at all. He also thinks nothing matters/should matter, but then still gets so angry if someone has a different viewpoint than him. And there is also a lot of misogyny in the book- women being treated as entertainment and being put in very sexually exploitative positions (eg. Yabyum ritual where Japhy tells a 20 y/o girl that it’s Buddhist practice for her to sleep with all of them). But, I think a very interesting look into the beat generation and san francisco/Berkeley. I’m excited to see the city with this new glimpse into its past. the book also gives a lovely telling of male friendship and I love seeing the evolution and experimentation with counter-culture ideas. Reminded me of Patti smith’s autobiography in some ways with showing how artistic/societal movements were made up of individuals with rich relationships with one another, challenging one another’s ideas and pushing forward a new shared way of thinking.
I haven't read all of Kerouac, but of the four I have read this is by far the best. All the beat rambling of on the road without the sometimes boring sides of his writing. His interpretation of Buddhism is interesting and strong on this book. Some very excellent prose moment on stillness.
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I’m opposed to the idea that living in isolation is how you encounter the divine.
fast-paced
adventurous
reflective
slow-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Fought the DNF on this one so hard.
The whole thing reads like stepping into someone’s inside joke - obviously written only for Kerouac to entertain himself and his friends. WHY in god’s name this book is such a cornerstone for the 20-something granola chic…beats me. I have a lot to say. Only found myself entertained by the last section on Desolation. Then we find out it’s only a 60 DAY POSITION? Ok.
The whole thing reads like stepping into someone’s inside joke - obviously written only for Kerouac to entertain himself and his friends. WHY in god’s name this book is such a cornerstone for the 20-something granola chic…beats me. I have a lot to say. Only found myself entertained by the last section on Desolation. Then we find out it’s only a 60 DAY POSITION? Ok.
adventurous
funny
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
really odd book by Kerouac, but interesting. a call to leave society and go climb mountains, live among wilderness, and praise Buddha on a cold winter day - it falls a bit flat considering that Kerouac was basically a trust fund kid fetishizing frugal living. frequently calling himself a Bodhisattva with absolutely no shame is also interesting.
don’t get me wrong; the sentiment still rings well enough. i DO want to reconnect with nature as a direct result of this book. but i also think Kerouac was a pretty pretentious dude. and i also don’t have a trust fund that enables me to quit working to rediscover Buddha.
beyond that - beautiful imagery and poetry that sometimes teeters on forced (especially in the last chapter), and very honest and oddly inviting descriptions of Japhy and the rest of the people Kerouac spent his time with.
don’t get me wrong; the sentiment still rings well enough. i DO want to reconnect with nature as a direct result of this book. but i also think Kerouac was a pretty pretentious dude. and i also don’t have a trust fund that enables me to quit working to rediscover Buddha.
beyond that - beautiful imagery and poetry that sometimes teeters on forced (especially in the last chapter), and very honest and oddly inviting descriptions of Japhy and the rest of the people Kerouac spent his time with.
Truly cultural appropriation: a novel. When I was a child, I always was fascinated with Jack Kerouac as an abstract concept of eschewing the American narrative to find something more fulfilling out of life. As an adult actually reading the book, I wish I had kept this novel abstract. The hypocrisy of the characters in the novel, especially the way they treat women and those who's culture they are taking from never ceased to surprise me, and the rather self absorbed protagonist absolutely gets under my skin. The time he spends with Rosie before her suicide is spent doling out spiritual advice, when this women clearly needs some mental help, and after her suicide his only thought is how she should have listened to him instead of him listening to her. Regardless of how insufferable the characters in the novel may be, I think the novel itself is an interesting glimpse into the rather idealistic and disenfranchised nature of the American public at this time, and how crass consumerism was already failing the American population. It also shows the concept of "Eat, Pray, Love"-ing as it were, is an American tradition as old as time.
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes