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A review by harrietannreads
The Town and the City by Jack Kerouac
4.0
I was browsing a lovely second hand bookshop in Edinburgh (Armchair Books if you have the pleasure) and I came across this book. I haven't read Kerouac since my mid teens so it's been around 7 or 8 years since I last read something by him. I ummed and ahhed over buying it because I thought my Kerouac days are behind me and they were merely a product of my teenage angst but I'm so glad that I decided to just give it a go. Turns out I love Kerouac just as much at 23, if not more, than I did at 15/16.
Kerouac is sad and his books often reflect this sadness, particularly a sort of melancholia. However, what resonated with me most as a teen and clearly still resonates with me now is his ability to situate this sadness in his love of the minutae in the world and his ability to find beauty or awe in everything.
It's odd to me that this is one of Kerouac's less popular books because it has become my favourity. I stood boiling the kettle one morning annoyed about it being the morning before being filled with an immense joy at the thought of being able to step into Kerouac's Galloway, Massachussetts again, living among the Martin family and other townsfolk. It's rare that a book can take me so violently out of my morning grump and give me a sense of joy at the day to come but this book achieved it.
Jack has put a little bit of himself in all the characters even though he's supposed to be Peter. This is something I don't want to know the answer to. It could just be that Kerouac had all these siblings that behaved like this or it could be that these characters are designed to show the multifaceted nature of Kerouac's personality. I think a lot of the characterisation unearthed the darkness that lingers within us all.
All in all, I've left this review for a while which I try not to do but I've been trying to come up with something, anything, that does this book justice. However, all I find is that there are no words that can do this job. A combination of Kerouac's writing style and subject matter hits home so deeply. To a greater extent than most books, I'm aware that the high star rating I'm giving is very much to do with personal taste especially since I acknowledge that Kerouac is not to everyone's taste. His work is just something I connect with, just something that words what I see in the world perfectly and makes me feel understood. I think this is why I struggle to find the words for why this book is good, because it's just something I inately like and was bound to like from the get-go.
After this raving review, it's particularly important to note why 4 stars rather than 5 . That's simply because the book was repetitive at times. I was not surprised that Kerouac was trying to write the 'Great American Novel' because he did stretch it out a bit without that adding to the general vibe of the book.
Kerouac is sad and his books often reflect this sadness, particularly a sort of melancholia. However, what resonated with me most as a teen and clearly still resonates with me now is his ability to situate this sadness in his love of the minutae in the world and his ability to find beauty or awe in everything.
It's odd to me that this is one of Kerouac's less popular books because it has become my favourity. I stood boiling the kettle one morning annoyed about it being the morning before being filled with an immense joy at the thought of being able to step into Kerouac's Galloway, Massachussetts again, living among the Martin family and other townsfolk. It's rare that a book can take me so violently out of my morning grump and give me a sense of joy at the day to come but this book achieved it.
Jack has put a little bit of himself in all the characters even though he's supposed to be Peter. This is something I don't want to know the answer to. It could just be that Kerouac had all these siblings that behaved like this or it could be that these characters are designed to show the multifaceted nature of Kerouac's personality. I think a lot of the characterisation unearthed the darkness that lingers within us all.
All in all, I've left this review for a while which I try not to do but I've been trying to come up with something, anything, that does this book justice. However, all I find is that there are no words that can do this job. A combination of Kerouac's writing style and subject matter hits home so deeply. To a greater extent than most books, I'm aware that the high star rating I'm giving is very much to do with personal taste especially since I acknowledge that Kerouac is not to everyone's taste. His work is just something I connect with, just something that words what I see in the world perfectly and makes me feel understood. I think this is why I struggle to find the words for why this book is good, because it's just something I inately like and was bound to like from the get-go.
After this raving review, it's particularly important to note why 4 stars rather than 5 . That's simply because the book was repetitive at times. I was not surprised that Kerouac was trying to write the 'Great American Novel' because he did stretch it out a bit without that adding to the general vibe of the book.