Kerouac was one of my favorites in college and On the Roadwas one of the books that nurtured my appreciation of literature and influenced me to change to an English major my sophomore year of college. Here it is many years later and for some odd reason, I am just reading my second Kerouac. This book has been sitting on my shelves since my undergrad days, and unrightfully so.
The Dharma Bumsis an incredibly relaxing read. While I was reading the book, I wanted nothing more than to lay in the grass under a shade tree in the mild spring weather that has sporadically been gracing Amarillo of late (perhaps in the lotus position). I never actually succumbed to my urges, but it was tempting. The tone of the book is reflective of the Zen Buddhismthat Ray Smith (Kerouac's semi-autobiographic character) practices. One does gather the impression that many of the characters, including Ray and Japhy, know very little about the actual practice of Buddhism, and while their path is a spiritual one, it is constantly contradicted by the hedonistic lifestyle of drugs, alcohol, and free love practiced by the novel's participants. In fact, the juxtaposition of the two ideals seems to be Kerouac trying to find a balance between the two seemingly contradictory lifestyles. There are even moments where, in retrospect, Kerouac seems to be poking fun at some of his beliefs that he had at the actual time events took place in the novel (since they are most biographical and Kerouac wrote it retrospectively).
One of the things that truly impacted my reading was the romanticism found in the book. Kerouac returns to a worship of nature, not seen since the early 20th century, but what makes it so incredibly odd is the other events that Kerouac romanticizes so greatly, all generally relating to being a poor, unmaterialistic bum. It wouldn't be a Kerouac novel without traversing the country with an upheld thumb, which Ray does from California to North Carolina, back again and from California north to Washington state. Ray is introduced to nature by Japhy Ryder (thought to be real life beat poet Gary Snyder). This hitchhiking, living with only a pack and a sleeping bag on one's back, and living a materially simplistic lifestyle is praised above all else in the novel.
Having done a little research on the historic basis for the novel, I noticed that most critics pay a lot of attention to what were historically the Six Gallery reading where Ginsberg (Alvah Goldbook in the novel) recited "Howl" ("Wail" in the novel). Kerouac refused to read at the reading, most likely due to his level of intoxication, but most historians agree that Kerouac delivers a lucid and fairly accurate recollection of events.
Unlike On the Roadthe protagonist (Kerouac's representative) has no serious romantic interest. In fact, it almost seems that if there is a romantic interest for Ray, it is Japhy Ryder. Now while, it is made clear that their relationship is platonic (Kerouac includes just enough reference to the opposite sex to let the reader know that he is decidedly heterosexual), Smith constantly thinks of Japhy when he is away from him ("What would Japhy think," "I can't wait to tell Japhy something-or-other," etc.). Japhy represents what Ray aspires to be. From the reader's perspective, Japhy seems no more sane than Ray. In fact, he seems less so at points. Ray idealizes Japhy as someone who has life all figured out, but Japhy is constantly contradicting himself and changing his mind. For example, when Ray returns to California, Japhy does not want to hear Ray's musings, saying that words are meaningless, but Japhy himself engages in constant talking, talking about nothing. In another instance, Japhy accuses Ray of drinking too much (which I am sure is true, Ray being the real Kerouac and all), but later the very same day, Japhy returns from a lecture on Buddhism completely sauced and admits that he was wrong about drinking to Ray.
I believe that two things had to happen for postmodernism to come into being, the first being the complete abandonment in the faith of mankind seen in early sci-fi novels like 1984, Fahrenheit 451, and Brave New World. The second thing that had to happen was the beats who changed completely conceptions of morality and romanticism (a very twisted romanticism). The beats also had to contribute their east-meets-west ideals, making postmodernism a truly world event.
I find this post truly rambling, but in lieu of it being about a beat novel, editing is completely out of the question. I recommend this book to anyone and everyone who can read and has a brain in their head (even though you should really read On the Road first).
No comments:
Post a Comment