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Post by Techguy on Apr 2, 2006 23:43:09 GMT -5
Lately I've been so bogged down with technical books and journals to stay current at work, I almost forgot the pleasure I derive from recreational reading. So this weekend I decided to become re-acquainted with Jack Kerouac. I went down to the basement, browsed through my boxes of books, and resurrected "On the Road," "Desolation Angels," "Big Sur," and other titles, all still in great condition.
Then I ventured out to Borders just to check out the recent releases, and found "Book of Sketches" which I happily purchased with my 25% Members Rewards coupon. 
Now all I have to do is make the time to do the reading! ;D
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Post by wwwanderlust on Apr 4, 2006 23:34:46 GMT -5
Love Kerouac. Am reading "The Dharma Bums" right now! Great stuff.
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Post by Metella on Apr 11, 2006 10:25:11 GMT -5
Heard the name & never read anything by him... what flavor is he?  |
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Post by Techguy on Apr 11, 2006 14:06:32 GMT -5
Heard the name & never read anything by him... what flavor is he?
---Jack Kerouac to Mike WallaceAs Kerouac scholar Paul Maher Jr. observes in "Empty Phantoms": "Kerouac committed the social faux pas of simply being too honest...In a sense, Kerouac did himself in by being himself...."
But Kerouac's strength, what appeals to me, is his extremely poetic yet ultra-personal writing style--he writes as someone would speak in conversation, but also very descriptive and highly evocative. Kerouac is to literature what jazz is to music.
As Maher also notes, ..."his grasp of semantics, and the linguistic blend of his Lowellian, Franco-American, Western cowboy, Atlantic seaman, railroading brakeman, earthbound Okie, and streetwise Manhattanite accents brought his reading to life...
"With a flawed idealism expressed in earnest, Kerouac remained stubbornly inclined to state and restate his beliefs and ideas even against the swelling tide of public opinion...he is...one of the twentieth century's most perplexing literary personalities."Jack Kerouac died in 1969, at the age of 47. |
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Post by Metella on Apr 12, 2006 12:25:12 GMT -5
well, now, that does sound interesting
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Post by Techguy on Apr 12, 2006 21:01:09 GMT -5
Kerouac's Lowell, Massachusetts roots might account for some of it. I notice you're from his home state. 
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Post by Metella on Apr 13, 2006 7:26:22 GMT -5
Lowell? been through there, not too far away. surprised I've never heard it mentioned on the local news in these past few years when opportunities arise.
I like Mass physically - but the Laws? christ they want to legislate a law for everything & this is one state you can't even carry mace without a LICENSE !!! how sick is that?
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Post by Techguy on Jul 28, 2006 14:43:10 GMT -5
For Metella and anyone interested in exploring Kerouac: While browsing the YouTube archives on the Gothamist.com website, I found this video excerpt of Kerouac's 1959 appearance on "The Steve Allen Show." JK gives his explanation of what "beat" is and reads from "On the Road": www.gothamist.com/archives/arts_and_events/television/
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Post by sarahlee on Jul 28, 2006 15:41:29 GMT -5
Wow. My dad used to make me watch Steve Allen, now I see why. Thanks, you made me remember and appreciate.
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Post by sarahlee on Jul 29, 2006 13:53:29 GMT -5
...and wasn't the music nice...
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Post by Techguy on Jul 29, 2006 17:22:19 GMT -5
Seeing that video is a reminder about a time when TV talk shows had something important to say and offer the viewing audience besides a celebrity gab gossip and gush fest.
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Post by Metella on Aug 7, 2006 11:09:53 GMT -5
Weren't the Smothers Brothers GREAT ?!
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Post by Techguy on Aug 7, 2007 21:27:46 GMT -5
Bump in advance of the 50th anniversary of the publication of On the Road next month.
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Patrick Roy, 2006 inductee into the Hockey Hall of Fame
