So can I skip this or what? I'm not missing anything right?

betterthanfood book reviews reviewed big sir and said it was pretty good, pick up that one.

What?

Read it if you want, don't if you don't.

>>8316565
its pretty short, you could read it in an afternoon

>>8316588
>>8316594
I finished the first part, and it comes across to me as inane drivel, overrated pseudo-literature.

>>8316608
then skip it, I think it's an interesting book to read if you want to get to know Kerouac (not his writing, but his actual thought process).

>>8316608
That is correct

>>8316613

>Implying that literal amphetamine-fueled rambling qualifies as thought

>>8316608
Rest is fine but don't call anything overrated. Makes you look stupid.

>>8316654
Kerouac ain't too different from your average 4chan user. An introspective boy with a void in his life. Only difference is, Kerouac's solution was more drastic than the self-imposed 4chan isolation - travel, drugs, and living through his buddy. Kerouac wasn't made for that kind of lifestyle which is why he eventually went full retard as a byproduct of it. His mistake was in believing that he is missing out on something good or real by not engaging in it. Eventually he stained his perfectly-fine self beyond recognition and he STILL didn't obtain what he wanted. He was set apart as blameless but opted to listen to the devil instead.

>>8316565
Don't bother, it's shit.

>>8316671

To me he just seems like an immature drunk. He never had his own house, he lived either with his mother or a girlfriend. He had a daughter with one of these women and refused to acknowledge the child or raise it. Gay and in denial, dead of alcoholism at the age of 47, a pathetic end. I don't get why people idolize him, they fell for the Beat Generation meme I guess.

>>8317896
>>8316671

i took an interest in kerouac when i learned he was actually a deeply-religious catholic and politically conservative. neither of these traits describe me (you could call me a lapsed catholic, though i feel like i was never really one to begin with) but i just found something really compelling in the idea that this proto-hippie could hold views so in conflict with what he inspired and is associated with.


only read on the road so far. i thought it was a good read, but i agree it's a bit of a meandering slog for a while. however the ending vindicates everything that led up to it.

Very good book. Kerouac has a real voice. Uninhibited, compassionate, creative, appreciative, tender, wild, smooth. He has many unique qualities as a writer. The primary shortcoming of the book is that it is experiental, but of course all writing is, anyways. This book really woke me up when I read it. The language is at times quite prominently beautiful. The feeling and soul of the author is translated very lucidly onto the page. There are few books like On The Road.

Don't mistake unpretentiousness and down to earth experiential writing with "inane rambling". I mean, you can criticize this book with a one liner like that, but it is a recognized classic of its time.

>>8316662
kerouac (and the beats as a whole, and yes this includes bukowski despite how much he tried to say "BUT IM NOT A BEAT") is all pseudointellectual drivel.

>>8316671
Great post. Kerouac was essentially a beta Hunter S. Thompson who tried applying Catholic virtue to a lifestyle that was, he knew, really just a degenerate avoidance of duty and responsibility. All great writers are prudes and conservatives, and Kerouac is no different.

>>8319739
It's not that I disagree. Just think calling things overrated is silly.