'On the Road' Turns 50

Wow. I'm getting old. He's still one of my favourites. God bless him for Tristessa, The Dharma Bums, Satori in Paris, his poetry, and hell, even On The Road.

I loved his Belief & Technique for Modern Prose:

1. Scribbled secret notebooks, and wild typewritten pages, for yr own joy
2. Submissive to everything, open, listening
3. Try never get drunk outside yr own house
4. Be in love with yr life
5. Something that you feel will find its own form
6. Be crazy dumbsaint of the mind
7. Blow as deep as you want to blow
8. Write what you want bottomless from bottom of the mind
9. The unspeakable visions of the individual
10. No time for poetry but exactly what is
11. Visionary tics shivering in the chest
12. In tranced fixation dreaming upon object before you
13. Remove literary, grammatical and syntactical inhibition
14. Like Proust be an old teahead of time
15. Telling the true story of the world in interior monolog
16. The jewel center of interest is the eye within the eye
17. Write in recollection and amazement for yourself
18. Work from pithy middle eye out, swimming in language sea
19. Accept loss forever
20. Believe in the holy contour of life
21. Struggle to sketch the flow that already exists intact in mind
22. Dont think of words when you stop but to see picture better
23. Keep track of every day the date emblazoned in yr morning
24. No fear or shame in the dignity of yr experience, language & knowledge
25. Write for the world to read and see yr exact pictures of it
26. Bookmovie is the movie in words, the visual American form
27. In praise of Character in the Bleak inhuman Loneliness
28. Composing wild, undisciplined, pure, coming in from under, crazier the better
29. You're a Genius all the time
30. Writer-Director of Earthly movies Sponsored & Angeled in Heaven

God bless you, Jack.

I bought OTR based on reading one paragraph in a magazine review and haven't got around to reading it yet.

But thanks for the reminder, Haskins - I'll bump it to the top of my TBR pile.

You might as well watch Easy Rider. Kerouac is a cult, in another few years, an extinguished symbol. He is an effigy of a time, much like Brando screaming Stella on a Broadway stage. Except that Tennessee Williams had substance. That's why Stanley will endure.

But Jack K had no particularly profound insights. Which is why Shakespeare will outlast him.

And so will Tennessee.

I can't believe you would say that about Kerouac. It boggles the mind. I wonder if you're trying to incite?

William Haskins said:

he's at 50 years and going strong. at 100k copies a year, even for a few more decades, there's going to be a lot of kerouac on the shelves and in the public consciousness.

if that burns you up for some reason, that's just a bonus.

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Haskins, with those numbers, I do believe there are more than a couple of us who "got" his soul filled pages of descriptions and realized we held the works of a man who was inspired before his time.

Thanks for reminding me of OTR and I do believe it's time to pull it off the shelf and reminisce.

He wasn’t a great writer, no. His outpouring of words and lack of formal structure is what led Truman Capote (a mean-spirited twit but a great writer) to say, “That’s not writing, that’s typing.”

But On the Road is an iconic work–it sums up a period of American culture in a way that few books have ever been able to do. And despite its flaws as a novel, it brings alive its characters. And more importantly, it has a burning energy, a special something, that undefinable quality that makes a great book.

There are hundreds of “better written” books that have sunk without a ripple, and very few that have anywhere near its impact. Fifty years from now people will still be reading it, and with good reason.

Kerouac rocks, dude.

As I said, he's a cult and a product of an era. Because he's on a bunch of bookshelves doesn't make his book any more important than a Jackie Collins, My Friend Flicka or for that matter: Spiderman.

Add: I don't begrudge his popularity - if it's authentic - just the idea that he deserves any kind of homage above and beyond an assortment of his peers.

I suppose you'd say the same of James Joyce? Great writing is not done to formulas, it creates its own path of words through the world. Jack portrayed a moment in time, in words that convey the confused and yearning spirit of that time. You don't like it? Don't read it. Just don't assume that you are qualified to judge its literary merit. It's still on the shelf for a reason. It has nothing to do with a cult. I've never heard of a Kerouac cult. My Friend Flicka is still on the shelf because it is a well-written story that children will love as long as there are children, like Anne of Green Gables, Treasure Island, Winnie the Pooh. Jackie Collins? Please!

Bird- I'm not a Kerouac fan either, but c'mon man.

This is an homage/anniversary thread. No reason to rain on the parade with sniping comments. I didn't like On the Road, and I have issues with Kerouac's writing, but the man sold a shytload of books, which is a helluva lot more than I've ever done. So bravo. I'll give credit where credit is due.

I have to admit, I haven't read the whole thing, which is still sitting on my shelf. But I read part of it and what a great writer.

it brings alive its characters. And more importantly, it has a burning energy, a special something, that undefinable quality that makes a great book.

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If that doesn't say "great writer" I don't know what does. Like "he knows how to properly use semicolons"?

Kerouac at fifty - he's one reason I love my mid-century modern house and enjoy some pieces of post-war modern American culture with an intensity I couldn't imagine during the 'fifties when it was all new. I apppreciate it with a fervor now that time and experience have allowed it to make sense instead of just being sensual.

Thank you, Mr. Haskins, for the reminders of why I became a writer in the first place. And thank you KTC for Belief & Technique - made me smile again.

William Haskins said:

let her rant. it's fine.

the bottom line is that the continuum of literature hinges not only on great works (a subjective term if ever there was one) but also on authors and works that are emblematic of their times and cultures.

the beats certainly resided at a significant turning point and 'on the road' continues to serve as a window into the post-WW2 american psyche.

so, while BoP (and anyone else) can belittle it, kerouac is far beyond their reach.

to compare it to jackie collins is icing on the cake because it really just reveals what must be some baggage that makes it more than a passing comment for our dear BoP...

again, win-win.

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Lol! Wow! Heh, we're talkin Kerouac here, not Jesus.

But, I give up. You win, I mean, you win-win!!

No more raining on the Kerouac ticker-tape parade. Promise.

Lol. . . .

Oh, I almost forgot: STELLAAAAAAAA. . . . .

I loved On The Road.
You all have done a pretty good job of saying why I love it.
Just offering my tickertape to the parade.

William Haskins said:

strawman du jour...

no one claimed he was jesus, or shakespeare...

regardless, thanks for keeping the thread alive.

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You're welcome.

Thanks for mentioning it, I've never heard of it, but I think I will pick up a copy. I like road novels.