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Jack Kerouac
Book by French, Warren
147 pages, ebook
First published January 1, 1986
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October 8, 2024
A well developed critique of Jack Kerouac's attempt to memorialize his own life in a series of books he called The Legend of Duluoz. Kerouac's books are generally very depressing, which mirror his own life of loneliness and alcoholism. Personally I have always found Kerouac's life much more interesting than his work. Similar to Hemingway, he lived large and had an outsized impact on American society.
Before reading this book, my take on Kerouac was that he was a romantic, continually saddened because he was unable to find love. The author seems to believe that Kerouac had a split personality, personified in his first book The Town and the City by two brothers, Peter, a traditionalist who represented "the town" and Francis, the rebel, representing "the city". These two archetypes competed for supremacy in Kerouac's psyche. The author also believes that Kerouac had latent bi-sexual tendencies which he may or may not have acted upon. This also tormented him as it was considered an abhorrent sin in his the Catholic French-Canadian family culture.
I suppose no one will ever categorically pin down the root cause of Kerouac's depression and angst, as his own attempts to self-diagnose himself were utter failures, but somehow his "legend" continues to inspire and attract people. If you are one of these this book is for you. If not it will be of no interest to you.
Before reading this book, my take on Kerouac was that he was a romantic, continually saddened because he was unable to find love. The author seems to believe that Kerouac had a split personality, personified in his first book The Town and the City by two brothers, Peter, a traditionalist who represented "the town" and Francis, the rebel, representing "the city". These two archetypes competed for supremacy in Kerouac's psyche. The author also believes that Kerouac had latent bi-sexual tendencies which he may or may not have acted upon. This also tormented him as it was considered an abhorrent sin in his the Catholic French-Canadian family culture.
I suppose no one will ever categorically pin down the root cause of Kerouac's depression and angst, as his own attempts to self-diagnose himself were utter failures, but somehow his "legend" continues to inspire and attract people. If you are one of these this book is for you. If not it will be of no interest to you.
Displaying 1 of 1 review