Londons Falling

The West is the best

Rating: 4/5
Comments:
Rereading the Dharma Bums after probably a ten-year hiatus, I am struck by how foreign the beatniks seem to us today and how that impression must have been magnified tenfold for the Leave It To Beaver folks whom we are told ran the country back in the fifties. Then again Ray, Kerouac's protagonist, hitchhiked back and forth across America and found a surprising degree of tolerance if not admiration from the people stopping to give him a ride. Maybe that's just the nature of people on the move or maybe America wasn't really 100% homogenous like the beats and the flower children who followed them claimed.

It would do "the kids today" good to read this book. I'll wager at least half of them won't get past the poetic language with which Kerouac writes his alleged prose. For the texting generation, Kerouac might as well be Shakespeare. A quick read fails to fully appreciate the music in his words. Slow down and enjoy.

For those willing to embrace this new language, a world governed by thought, belief, emotion, experience, appreciation for nature and attention to basic human needs is unveiled; a world plunked down in the midst of the newborn consumer-driven American society governed by brands, advertising, the lure of "convenience," and the first hesitant salvos of pop culture. Kerouac's characters are as well-versed in Buddhism as the Middle America folks they meet are fluent in Christianity. For an introduction to American Zen Buddhism as it emerged in the beat culture of the fifties and early sixties, read Alan Watt's The Way of Zen The Way of Zen and then read The Dharma Bums, looking up and studying every reference to Buddhism you don't understand. It's on my list of things to do, along with hiking to Desolation Peak. If you ever listened to the Doors and didn't understand why Jim Morrison sang "the West is the best," read The Dharma Bums and then Steinbeck's Cannery RowCannery Row: (Centennial Edition), and you'll begin to see, if not agree. It wouldn't have broken my heart if the last half of the book had been devoted to Ray's two months on Desolation Peak instead of just the last ten pages, but his adventures hitch-hiking, sitting in his family's woods, sleeping beneath the stars and eucalyptus trees, and riding the rails on the Midnight Ghost are worth every page devoted to them. Only Shot At A Good Tombstone

Favorite

Rating: 5/5
Comments:
Liked this more than On the Road. Has a completely different feel. One of my favorite reads.

My favorite Kerouac

Rating: 5/5
Comments:
If you are of a certain age and experience, you already know about Dharma Bums.

If you are of another certain age and experience, this book goes against everything taught by Saint Ronald Reagan, and so you should avoid it.

If you are young, give this book a try. Better yet, instead of buying it, go to the local library to read it. Unless the people I described in my second paragraph have taken over and there are only Approved Books in the library...if there are libraries at all. Libraries cost money, and that means (shudder) taxes.

For everyone else: this is Kerouak's best work.