The House that Jack Kerouac Built

best book - visions of cody
best scripture for living - some of the dharma.

Keep starting Dr.Sax.

I think Martin S puts it v. nicely, and I agree w/ jel abt Dharma Bums, which is a sort've a great boy's own adventure yarn for hippy dippy mystics and other teenagers of the mind.

"First thoughts best thoughts"

I never much liked Kerouac. As always it was my (cough cough) feminist stance

For what it's worth, he *does* at least feel guilty about his own machismo and acknowedleges male/female relationships are fucked in On The Road...

(To answer da question: On The Road and Big Sur are both excelent, the first because of its sheer enthusiasm for highway hijinks- especially fun if you live on an island I might add- and for showing some love to Wynonie Harris, the second for being a creepy book about insanity. I certainly prefer Kerouac over Buroughs and Ginsberg)

I don't think he had as many as one plot idea. I think the way to enjoy JK is to sort of immerse yourself in loads of his work and just enjoy the flow without thinking about it. I don't think he has anything interesting to tell us, but I love listening to him anyway.

ahh Kerouac is beautiful mayn. I just read through Desolation Angels, his best work I've read to date (before that Dharma Bums). This book shows his reasoning behind everything and he definitely doesn't come off as pompouas at all. In fact, he says Buddha is #2 to Jesus in this book. Also, he sorta condemns his early self in all the previous books. As for a plot, it's there, it's definitely there. But what do you expect from an autobiographys from a guy who doesn't believe in editing! And even though he likes the purity of stream of conscious like writing, his words come out flawless anyways. You have to be a genius to write like that (perfect descriptions everytime) and somehow incorporate a theme - in Desolation Angels its about the futility of human life, the here and now, and how there is no haven for the living lamb but plenty haven for the dead lamb. In this book we see Jack slowly seperated from the world and his decisions for doing so. We also see how sad he really is. (Jack isn't a jerk by the way. Just as often he talks down about women he talks up about them. His ode to his mother or certain girls he sees on the street and somehow reads their eyes and sou is quite beautiful. If you think all that face reading is pretentious, then maybe you should understand that another theme of the book is beyond what Jack was trying to say. That theme being his sadness and bleakness which may have tampered with is perceptions and thoughts. The whole time I read the book I was hoping he would find faith or re-establish his faith to see hope in the world or maybe just learn to be happy again.

best book I ever read.

I read On The Road over a period of about two years. I liked it a lot, but it's not meant to be read the way other novels are; either read it in one long quick burst (the way he wrote it) or pick it up whenever you feel the urge. <-----OTM

Does Kerouac = Backstreet Boys? He has his cult of popism, his single overused plot and his writing contains an energy but appears weak and ill formed next to more classical works? <--------OFF the mark

overused plot? its autobiographical! His themes are how he treats and accepts life and his view on life. If you don't like philosophical stuff then his books are probably not for you. I enjoy his self-discovery because that and interpreting life is jsut as important in my life. And I love his seize the day attitude. And his treatment towards others is with a buddha-like kindness. Also all his quotes and references are bombtastic.

Want to re read desolation angels

https://i.imgur.com/BCgM3Qb.png

Kerouac contributed to me quitting reading books (well I suppose I never read much to begin with). What I liked about him was that I could read his stuff slowly and get caught up in the elaborate descriptions to the point where I just started daydreaming. Now I only read comics and graphic novels.