What does /lit/ think about Jack Kerouac, On the Road, and Beat

Very little. They are non-entities to me.

>>9685910
I like what Hofstadter said about them. Their modus operandi is emblematic of mindless "process" and nothing more. There is no consideration, thought, nuance, or overarching point to their work. They are nothing but style, and poor style at that.

Gay

>>9685910
the dharma bums is p. comfy but the rest is trash

>>9685910
Not really a fan of the beats, man.

That book is fantastic. I love the sense of wanderlust it inspires.

>>9685981
Started reading On the Road a while back and I definitely think this a little bit. Like there are interesting thoughts here and there but I'm also very aware that I'm just reading an embellished account of some not terribly notable period in someone's life.

>>9686118
If you read the Original Scroll you'll find even more that this is the case and that Kerouac was clearly letting his fingers do the work instead of his brain. Maybe there's something to be said for something like that. I didn't completely hate it and the critique that Dougie levels on them is made to compare the Beats with John Dewey's educational philosophy, which strikes me as compelling upon first thought. I suppose there is something appealing about the Beats on a base level, which is why they grew so popular and are read primarily by younger people.

>>9686159
I think you have to buy into the mystique a bit. To me the writing is similar to Bret Easton Ellis (who I like), albeit Ellis does that going-nowhere-fast shtick in a subtle mocking way. If you enter it with the kind of "faith" that Kerouac isn't just jerking you around and that this shit actually matters to him, I think it's a nice little story. At least that's how I imagine I'll try to perceive it as I read further into it.

Their lives were probably 10x better to actually live than to read about.