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Satori in Paris & Pic
Satori in Paris and Pic, two of Jack Kerouac's last novels, showcase the remarkable range and versatility of his mature talent. Satori in Paris is a rollicking autobiographical account of Kerouac's search for his heritage in France, and lands the author in his familiar milieu of seedy bars and all-night conversations. Pic is Kerouac's final novel and one of his most unusual. Narrated by ten-year-old Pictorial Review Jackson in a North Carolina vernacular, the novel charts the adventures of Pic and his brother Slim as they travel from the rural South to Harlem in the 1940s.
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1985
57 people are currently reading
1049 people want to read
About the author
Jack Kerouac
473 books11.5k followersJean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac, known as Jack Kerouac, was an American novelist and poet who, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, was a pioneer of the Beat Generation.
Of French-Canadian ancestry, Kerouac was raised in a French-speaking home in Lowell, Massachusetts. He "learned English at age six and spoke with a marked accent into his late teens." During World War II, he served in the United States Merchant Marine; he completed his first novel at the time, which was published more than 40 years after his death. His first published book was The Town and the City (1950), and he achieved widespread fame and notoriety with his second, On the Road, in 1957. It made him a beat icon, and he went on to publish 12 more novels and numerous poetry volumes.
Kerouac is recognized for his style of stream of consciousness spontaneous prose. Thematically, his work covers topics such as his Catholic spirituality, jazz, travel, promiscuity, life in New York City, Buddhism, drugs, and poverty. He became an underground celebrity and, with other Beats, a progenitor of the hippie movement, although he remained antagonistic toward some of its politically radical elements. He has a lasting legacy, greatly influencing many of the cultural icons of the 1960s, including Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Jerry Garcia and The Doors.
In 1969, at the age of 47, Kerouac died from an abdominal hemorrhage caused by a lifetime of heavy drinking. Since then, his literary prestige has grown, and several previously unseen works have been published.
Of French-Canadian ancestry, Kerouac was raised in a French-speaking home in Lowell, Massachusetts. He "learned English at age six and spoke with a marked accent into his late teens." During World War II, he served in the United States Merchant Marine; he completed his first novel at the time, which was published more than 40 years after his death. His first published book was The Town and the City (1950), and he achieved widespread fame and notoriety with his second, On the Road, in 1957. It made him a beat icon, and he went on to publish 12 more novels and numerous poetry volumes.
Kerouac is recognized for his style of stream of consciousness spontaneous prose. Thematically, his work covers topics such as his Catholic spirituality, jazz, travel, promiscuity, life in New York City, Buddhism, drugs, and poverty. He became an underground celebrity and, with other Beats, a progenitor of the hippie movement, although he remained antagonistic toward some of its politically radical elements. He has a lasting legacy, greatly influencing many of the cultural icons of the 1960s, including Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Jerry Garcia and The Doors.
In 1969, at the age of 47, Kerouac died from an abdominal hemorrhage caused by a lifetime of heavy drinking. Since then, his literary prestige has grown, and several previously unseen works have been published.
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January 22, 2024
این کتاب شامل دو متنه. اولی «اشراق در پاریس» که آخرین یا یکی از اخرین نشرشده‌های کرواک قبل از مرگ میان‌سالانه‌اشه و یک سفرنامه از سفری در همون مواقع به پاریسه و دومی داستانی حدودا ۱۰۰ صفحه‌ای به نام پیک.
هر دوی این متن‌ها رو از آخرین چیزی که ازش خوندم، یعنی «زیرزمینی‌ها» بیشتر دوست داشتم. زیرزمینی‌ها از نوشته‌های اولشه و بعد از «در راه» منتشر شده، اما برای من اصلا خوش‌خوان نبود و نصفشو که خوندم، دیگه نتونستم ادامه بدم. اصلا نمی‌فهمیدم چی میشه. با توجه به این که مترجم زیرزمینی‌ها با اشراق در پاریس یکیه، نمی‌تونم بگم مشکل در ترجمه بوده. شاید داشته فرم جدیدی رو و سیالیت ذهنی بیشتری رو امتحان می‌کرده.
با تمام این‌ها اشراق در پاریس ماجرای عرق‌خوری‌ها و سرزدن به کتاب‌خونه‌های پاریسه و گاهی هم دختربازی‌هاش. به گفته‌ی خودش، در این سفر اشراق و جوشش آگاهی‌ای بهش رخ می‌ده و هدف نوشتن این سفرنامه هم باز به گفته‌ی خودش، در اولین بخش‌های متن، هم‌صحبتیه. اینجا کرواک ایده‌ی جالبی رو مطرح می‌کنه. می‌گه ادبیات مورد علاقه من، مثل هم‌صحبتی می‌مونه. منم رفتم و یه تجربه‌ی ناب داشتم و می‌خوام هم‌صحبت شما شم و این تجربه رو با شما به اشتراک بذارم. من با این مدل کار کردنِ ادبیات خیلی موافقم. سفرنامه هم همینه، ینی اتفاقات یا پیچش‌های دراماتیک خاصی توش نمی‌افته، چیزی که می‌فهمیم اینه که هی داره کنیاک می‌خوره، دنبال شجره‌نامه و اصلیت فرانسویش در کتابخونه‌ها و اسناد تاریخی می‌گرده و با آدم‌های مختلف هم‌کلام میشه.
توی این کتاب من دنبال لحظات ساده بودم، موقعیت‌های خیلی معمولی‌ای که توی یک سفر، یا در ایام فراغت برای آدم پیش میاد و بینش‌های جالبی به آدم می‌ده. لحن کرواک مثل همیشه صمیمی و بی‌پرده بود و قاطی بود از افکارش در لحظه‌ی سفر و در لحظه‌ی پس از سفر که مشغول نوشتن بوده و این فرم برای من خیلی جذابه. یک‌جور سیال ذهنِ غیرِ گنگ و غیر تصویری. مثلا فرقش با سیال ذهنِ گلشیری -که چرا اصلا دارم مقایسه می‌کنم؟- برام اینه که گلشیری پر از تصویره و من نمی‌تونم سوار قطار ذهنش بشم و باهاش حرکت کنم، اما ذهن کرواک پر از پرش ذهنیه و دنبال کردن این پرش‌ها برای من جالبه و چیزیه که خودم هم تجربه‌اش کردم و می‌تونم بفهممش.
در نهایت این سفرنامه معمولی بود برای من. لحظات جذابی داشت و لحظات پرگویی‌ای هم داشت ولی خیلی من رو به شور وا نمی‌داشت.
اما داستان دوم، پیک، خیلی جالب بود. ماجرای یک پسربچه‌ی سیاه‌پوست بود و این که چطور وارد دنیای آدم‌بزرگ‌ها میشه و سفری رو شروع می‌کنه. در مقدمه‌ی مترجم اومده که ممکنه این داستان پیش‌نویس و ایده‌های اولیه «در راه» بوده باشه. ولی نمی‌دونم. اما از لحاظ تم سفر و ریتم نوشته می‌شد این شباهت رو دید.
ریتم نوشته بسیار پرشتاب و به قول بیتی‌ها بی‌باپ بود. مثل موسیقی بی‌باپ. ریتمی پر از تغییر که آروم نمی‌گیره و مثل ماری‌پیچان تورو با خودش به ته دره می‌بره.
میشه گفت پیک یه داستان بیسکوییتی بود برای من. از این حیث که شبیه توصیف بوکوفسکی از «سفر به انتهای شب» سلین بود که یه شب تا صب یک نفس کتاب رو خونده و بیسکوییت خورده. ریتم پیک برای من همینقدر گیرا و پرکشش و جذاب بود طوری که می‌تونستم من هم یک نفس بخونمش، ولی خب اون همه بیسکوییت نداشتم.
پر از توصیفات صمیمی و به اندازه، وجود یک راوی بچه که نادانی و سادگی کودکیش خیلی جذاب بود، پر از اتفاق‌های ماجراجویانه و سفردار، دارای توصیف پر تب و تاب یک اجرای جاز، سرگردانی و تمام چیزهایی که از این داستان انتظار داشتم. بابت پیک هم بود که به این کتاب پنج دادم و خوندنش رو به هرکسی که مثل خودم باشه توصیه می‌کنم.
ریتم نوشته مثل ریتم یک موسیقی بی‌باپ، پر از جمله‌هایی بود که به هم وصل می‌شن و می‌تونن تموم نشن و فقط وجود فصل‌بندیه که این ریتم رو به زور قطع می‌کنه. شاید هم بابت همینه که در راه رو یک‌نفس نوشته و دیگه نذاشته هیچ چیزی این ریتم رو از نوشته‌اش بگیره.
اما همچنان سوال همیشگی من باقیه: چطور در راه رو به اون طولانی‌ای نوشته؟ چه حافظه‌ای می‌تونه جزئیات یک سفر رو اونقدر دقیق به یاد بیاره؟ حسرت می‌خورم به این حافظه. شایدم نداشتن حافظه خودش یه موهبته. اینم یه بحثیه.
هر دوی این متن‌ها رو از آخرین چیزی که ازش خوندم، یعنی «زیرزمینی‌ها» بیشتر دوست داشتم. زیرزمینی‌ها از نوشته‌های اولشه و بعد از «در راه» منتشر شده، اما برای من اصلا خوش‌خوان نبود و نصفشو که خوندم، دیگه نتونستم ادامه بدم. اصلا نمی‌فهمیدم چی میشه. با توجه به این که مترجم زیرزمینی‌ها با اشراق در پاریس یکیه، نمی‌تونم بگم مشکل در ترجمه بوده. شاید داشته فرم جدیدی رو و سیالیت ذهنی بیشتری رو امتحان می‌کرده.
با تمام این‌ها اشراق در پاریس ماجرای عرق‌خوری‌ها و سرزدن به کتاب‌خونه‌های پاریسه و گاهی هم دختربازی‌هاش. به گفته‌ی خودش، در این سفر اشراق و جوشش آگاهی‌ای بهش رخ می‌ده و هدف نوشتن این سفرنامه هم باز به گفته‌ی خودش، در اولین بخش‌های متن، هم‌صحبتیه. اینجا کرواک ایده‌ی جالبی رو مطرح می‌کنه. می‌گه ادبیات مورد علاقه من، مثل هم‌صحبتی می‌مونه. منم رفتم و یه تجربه‌ی ناب داشتم و می‌خوام هم‌صحبت شما شم و این تجربه رو با شما به اشتراک بذارم. من با این مدل کار کردنِ ادبیات خیلی موافقم. سفرنامه هم همینه، ینی اتفاقات یا پیچش‌های دراماتیک خاصی توش نمی‌افته، چیزی که می‌فهمیم اینه که هی داره کنیاک می‌خوره، دنبال شجره‌نامه و اصلیت فرانسویش در کتابخونه‌ها و اسناد تاریخی می‌گرده و با آدم‌های مختلف هم‌کلام میشه.
توی این کتاب من دنبال لحظات ساده بودم، موقعیت‌های خیلی معمولی‌ای که توی یک سفر، یا در ایام فراغت برای آدم پیش میاد و بینش‌های جالبی به آدم می‌ده. لحن کرواک مثل همیشه صمیمی و بی‌پرده بود و قاطی بود از افکارش در لحظه‌ی سفر و در لحظه‌ی پس از سفر که مشغول نوشتن بوده و این فرم برای من خیلی جذابه. یک‌جور سیال ذهنِ غیرِ گنگ و غیر تصویری. مثلا فرقش با سیال ذهنِ گلشیری -که چرا اصلا دارم مقایسه می‌کنم؟- برام اینه که گلشیری پر از تصویره و من نمی‌تونم سوار قطار ذهنش بشم و باهاش حرکت کنم، اما ذهن کرواک پر از پرش ذهنیه و دنبال کردن این پرش‌ها برای من جالبه و چیزیه که خودم هم تجربه‌اش کردم و می‌تونم بفهممش.
در نهایت این سفرنامه معمولی بود برای من. لحظات جذابی داشت و لحظات پرگویی‌ای هم داشت ولی خیلی من رو به شور وا نمی‌داشت.
اما داستان دوم، پیک، خیلی جالب بود. ماجرای یک پسربچه‌ی سیاه‌پوست بود و این که چطور وارد دنیای آدم‌بزرگ‌ها میشه و سفری رو شروع می‌کنه. در مقدمه‌ی مترجم اومده که ممکنه این داستان پیش‌نویس و ایده‌های اولیه «در راه» بوده باشه. ولی نمی‌دونم. اما از لحاظ تم سفر و ریتم نوشته می‌شد این شباهت رو دید.
ریتم نوشته بسیار پرشتاب و به قول بیتی‌ها بی‌باپ بود. مثل موسیقی بی‌باپ. ریتمی پر از تغییر که آروم نمی‌گیره و مثل ماری‌پیچان تورو با خودش به ته دره می‌بره.
میشه گفت پیک یه داستان بیسکوییتی بود برای من. از این حیث که شبیه توصیف بوکوفسکی از «سفر به انتهای شب» سلین بود که یه شب تا صب یک نفس کتاب رو خونده و بیسکوییت خورده. ریتم پیک برای من همینقدر گیرا و پرکشش و جذاب بود طوری که می‌تونستم من هم یک نفس بخونمش، ولی خب اون همه بیسکوییت نداشتم.
پر از توصیفات صمیمی و به اندازه، وجود یک راوی بچه که نادانی و سادگی کودکیش خیلی جذاب بود، پر از اتفاق‌های ماجراجویانه و سفردار، دارای توصیف پر تب و تاب یک اجرای جاز، سرگردانی و تمام چیزهایی که از این داستان انتظار داشتم. بابت پیک هم بود که به این کتاب پنج دادم و خوندنش رو به هرکسی که مثل خودم باشه توصیه می‌کنم.
ریتم نوشته مثل ریتم یک موسیقی بی‌باپ، پر از جمله‌هایی بود که به هم وصل می‌شن و می‌تونن تموم نشن و فقط وجود فصل‌بندیه که این ریتم رو به زور قطع می‌کنه. شاید هم بابت همینه که در راه رو یک‌نفس نوشته و دیگه نذاشته هیچ چیزی این ریتم رو از نوشته‌اش بگیره.
اما همچنان سوال همیشگی من باقیه: چطور در راه رو به اون طولانی‌ای نوشته؟ چه حافظه‌ای می‌تونه جزئیات یک سفر رو اونقدر دقیق به یاد بیاره؟ حسرت می‌خورم به این حافظه. شایدم نداشتن حافظه خودش یه موهبته. اینم یه بحثیه.
May 18, 2011
Satori in Paris was OK, and had some fun parts, but mainly seems like an account of a washed-up old drunk stumbling around France not getting anything done. I'll admit, I've never really been a huge Kerouac fan. He is a good storyteller, and can infuse a story with great excitement and lust for life, but I think he is actually a terrible writer in a technical sense. Pic was pretty much unreadable, I got through chapter 1. JK trying to narrate as a young southern black boy, it actually seemed a little insulting if you ask me.
April 21, 2019
as always, hundreds of feelings felt when reading Kerouac. joy and excitement primarily. love too. when i read him, i always start to see the bliss of life and the ways how to enjoy it fully, because what else is there to do?
September 28, 2022
3.75/5 for Satori in Paris
3.5/5 for Pic
I enjoyed Kerouac's drunken romp around France in search of his namesake, especially appreciating the irony of the unfinished and arguably unsuccessful journey, much like the abrupt and untimely end to his life.
Pic, however, took a lot for me to finish. I found Kerouac's racist depiction of language and southern black culture hard to swallow through my modern cultural lens. Nonetheless, it was an interesting story. I felt that the journey was almost too hastily wrapped up; I would have wanted to read more about Pictorial Review Jackson's life (and how he got such a killer name). But given that this was Kerouac's last completed novel, I'll take whatever I can get, hahaha.
3.5/5 for Pic
I enjoyed Kerouac's drunken romp around France in search of his namesake, especially appreciating the irony of the unfinished and arguably unsuccessful journey, much like the abrupt and untimely end to his life.
Pic, however, took a lot for me to finish. I found Kerouac's racist depiction of language and southern black culture hard to swallow through my modern cultural lens. Nonetheless, it was an interesting story. I felt that the journey was almost too hastily wrapped up; I would have wanted to read more about Pictorial Review Jackson's life (and how he got such a killer name). But given that this was Kerouac's last completed novel, I'll take whatever I can get, hahaha.
October 10, 2024
واقعیت اینه که کتاب خوبی نبود، و اگر داستان دومش (پیک) نجاتش نمی‌داد، همین سه امتیاز رو هم نمی‌گرفت.
ولی خب شاید داستان دوم ارزشش رو داشت. شاید هم نه.
ولی خب شاید داستان دوم ارزشش رو داشت. شاید هم نه.
August 12, 2018
that moment when you realize you have grown out of kerouac completely and he's got nothing more to offer to you. :(((((
the 15year old me reading the original manuscript of on the road in one sitting and FEELING the way it's turning her reading life upside down is crying somewhere and i kind of want to cry with her.
the 15year old me reading the original manuscript of on the road in one sitting and FEELING the way it's turning her reading life upside down is crying somewhere and i kind of want to cry with her.
July 29, 2007
Peak experience can happen anywhere and only require an open mind, and to force yourself into new ideas and new situations.
another Kerouac masterpiece.
another Kerouac masterpiece.
January 8, 2011
Satori was excellent, as Kerouac's other novels are. Pic surprised me. It was great - a piece I wasn't expecting from Kerouac.
Read
January 16, 2024الان اندازه خود ژان کلافه‌م شاید بعدا چیزایی نوشتم امیدوارم.
May 17, 2020
Dos novelas de Kerouac por el precio de una: «Satori en París» es más un diario de viaje que propiamente ficción, y narra los encuentros y desencuentros sufridos por el autor en un viaje iniciático a París y a Bretaña, en búsqueda de las raíces bretonas de sus antepasados. Un libro hilarante y con una prosa rápida, se trata de una de las pocas obras donde el autor, fiel a su costumbre de abrevarse de sus experiencias para convertirlas en literatura, aparece en la trama con su nombre.
«Pic», la segunda novela del volumen, es una novela donde el personaje es un niño de 10 años, Pictorial Review Jackson, oriundo de Carolina del Norte, que tras la muerte de su abuelo queda en el desamparo. Acogido por su tía materna primero, por su otrora hermano fugitivo después, Pic conocerá brevemente cómo es la vida en Nueva York, antes de que las circunstancias obliguen a su familia a mudarse a California.
«Pic» fue la última novela de Kerouac y es terriblemente inusual en su corpus literario. Narrada con el lenguaje de un niño de 10 años, afroamericano, que descubre un sinfín de experiencias nuevas a través de los múltiples viajes que debió arrostrar, merece ser inscrita como una joya en el canon literario de las novelas americanas donde el personaje principal es un niño: Resulta superior a «El pony rojo» de John Steinbeck y equiparable en maestría a «Siempre hemos vivido en el castillo» de Shirley Jackson.
Dos obras muy recomendables, aunque dispares para ser editadas en el mismo libro.
«Pic», la segunda novela del volumen, es una novela donde el personaje es un niño de 10 años, Pictorial Review Jackson, oriundo de Carolina del Norte, que tras la muerte de su abuelo queda en el desamparo. Acogido por su tía materna primero, por su otrora hermano fugitivo después, Pic conocerá brevemente cómo es la vida en Nueva York, antes de que las circunstancias obliguen a su familia a mudarse a California.
«Pic» fue la última novela de Kerouac y es terriblemente inusual en su corpus literario. Narrada con el lenguaje de un niño de 10 años, afroamericano, que descubre un sinfín de experiencias nuevas a través de los múltiples viajes que debió arrostrar, merece ser inscrita como una joya en el canon literario de las novelas americanas donde el personaje principal es un niño: Resulta superior a «El pony rojo» de John Steinbeck y equiparable en maestría a «Siempre hemos vivido en el castillo» de Shirley Jackson.
Dos obras muy recomendables, aunque dispares para ser editadas en el mismo libro.
January 6, 2023
Basically ‘On The Road’ but just in Europe. Jack Kerouac is a messy, chaotic drunk, which is heavily reflected in his seemingly aleatory stream-of-consciousness writing.
His aesthetic is just rugged degenerate, and if you’re into it you’re into it. Personally, not into it.
His aesthetic is just rugged degenerate, and if you’re into it you’re into it. Personally, not into it.
October 31, 2016
Two very different stories united by a common theme, a trip. First trip is by Kerouac himself to Paris and Brittany, France to discover his lineage or more so to experience France and French people. Second is by Pic from North Carolina to California via New York in search of a better life. Satori in Paris has a flow of a road trip with scattered events and conversations mostly in bars and cafes. Pic tells a very different story of a black boy who travels out of necessity. He is taken out of a home of his aunt after he moved there following the death of his grandfather by his brother, Slim. They travel together first to New York, where his brother lives and then to California, after Slim and his wife decide that they have a better chance of making a living there. And all of the random events are again united by the storyteller.
August 7, 2017
This is only mediocre Kerouac, but that's still better than most writers' best stuff. Kerouac's alter-ego wanders around France looking for his roots, but finding only bars and sadness. It's fairly depressing, but extremely short, and contains enough literary gems and insight into the declining state of Kerouac's powers to make it a worthwhile read. But if you are new to Kerouac, read On the Road, Dharma Bums, Desolation Angels, Maggie Cassidy, etc. first.
December 2, 2023
وقت خداحافظی که برسد، یادمان رفته این همه رفتن و رفتن اصلا واسه چی بود.
کرواک نابغه است اما تو آخرین نوشته‌هاش میشه یه سکته‌ای رو احساس کرد. انگار که با سر حد تردید نویسنده رو‌به‌روییم که دیگه داستان‌ها کیفیت و درخشش کارهای قبلی رو ندارن این رو از جهتی دوست دارم اینکه یه روند رشد، دیوانگی و شک رو می‌تونم تو کارهاش دنبال کنم ولی از طرفی هم دلتنگ نبوغ و درخشش کارهای اولش میشم.
داستان دوم کتاب پیک اولین داستانیه که حداقل من از کرواک دیدم که شخصیت اصلی خودش نیست و این برام جالب بود.
نهایتا کرواک صادقه و من دوسش دارم.
کرواک نابغه است اما تو آخرین نوشته‌هاش میشه یه سکته‌ای رو احساس کرد. انگار که با سر حد تردید نویسنده رو‌به‌روییم که دیگه داستان‌ها کیفیت و درخشش کارهای قبلی رو ندارن این رو از جهتی دوست دارم اینکه یه روند رشد، دیوانگی و شک رو می‌تونم تو کارهاش دنبال کنم ولی از طرفی هم دلتنگ نبوغ و درخشش کارهای اولش میشم.
داستان دوم کتاب پیک اولین داستانیه که حداقل من از کرواک دیدم که شخصیت اصلی خودش نیست و این برام جالب بود.
نهایتا کرواک صادقه و من دوسش دارم.
May 8, 2021
Kerouac at his absolute worst. Satori in Paris, though at times self-parodying, is just a solipsistic wreck with no structure. Pic is unforgivable. Nothing more than literary blackface. If I was the Kerouac estate, I'd insist all copies were burned.
December 31, 2023
Not cute.
August 12, 2012
Three Stars for Satori in Paris, Five Stars for Pic!
I'm surprised by how many reviewers have focused on Satori in Paris and largely neglected a discussion of Pic, which, to my mind, is EASILY the pick of the two in this great value pack (pun unintentional).
When Jack died, he was working on a novel about his father's printing shop back in Lowell but never finished it (see Memory Babe by Gerald Nicosia for more details). Therefore, Pic was the last novel that Jack would ever complete. The name of the title is the short name/nickname of one of hte main characters, Pictorial Jackson. Stylistically similar to Twain and starting off with a touch of the Faulknerian southern gothic novel for which he is so well known, the story ends up becoming an energy-charged tale of two brothers escaping hard times down South as they hit the road and travel to New York and the excitement of jazz and its endless number of bars. I was amazed at how accurately Kerouac was able to transcribe the African-American language of those times. One of Kerouac's greatest gifts was his 'ear' for sound and language which allowed him to composed timeless classics like Mexico City Blues and Old Angel Midnight.
Satori in Paris, even though it does have its great moments, is not an easy read. I don't mean in a high-brow sense or that Jack loses his reader through his spontaneous prose literary excursions and scatological pile-ups of words but it's hard to read because it was at the end of his life, where Jack seems effectively at the end of his emotional and literary tether, and he is in (gradual) self-destruct mode in which he continued to drink himself slowly to death (as he was a Catholic (occasional Buddhist) and did not believe in suicide per se). Satori in Paris is not nearly as bad as it has been portrayed though, and it DOES NOT deserve the scorn and derision that has been heaped upon it by those who launched the anti-Kerouac crusade (people like Truman Capote who never 'got' what he was about anyway, let's face it) and it does have its amusing parts like when Jack gets into a yelling competition with a train conductor over the correct French pronunciation of a word. (Jack was always proud of his French-Canadian heritage). Incidentally, I found it both funny and sad how Kerouac realizes in this instant that he is a 'lunatic'.
He certainly knew how to put himself down...unfortunately. He once wrote 'put myself down and what have I got left?' - something heartbreakingly honest and melancholic (see Ann Charters' lectures at Naropa for more details).
All in all, this is worth reading but especially because of that not-so-well-known gem after Satori in Paris which is the final novellete Pic, a work which is out of print by itself and often only found in this two-book special.
It is truly a joy to read and extremely vivid in its descriptions that I could have sworn that I had just watched a very interesting fast-paced movie rather than an actual book. In short (bref): sheer genius at the end of a great but tragic career.
What is so fascinating about Pic as well is how different it is, stylistically speaking , from ANYTHING else Kerouac wrote. This also adds support to Ann Charters' claim that he 'could write anything he absolutely wanted to'. There are the certain definitive Kerouackian hallmarks that can be found within (fast-paced jumping narrative, heavy emphasis on booze, travelling and saxophones etc.) but there's something magical about it too that I can't quite put my finger on - like Kerouac had tapped into a secret vein, a conduit if you will, back to the old South, a part of Old America, that does not even exist any more.
I think an interesting paper could be written comparing the first half of the novel with works by Twain and perhaps Faulkner while the second half sounds similar to The Horn by John Clellon Holmes (although I haven't read that book yet but I know it is a book that Kerouac admired).
Highly recommended, especially Pic which may just be Kerouac's short but final masterpiece that he left behind for the world.
I'm surprised by how many reviewers have focused on Satori in Paris and largely neglected a discussion of Pic, which, to my mind, is EASILY the pick of the two in this great value pack (pun unintentional).
When Jack died, he was working on a novel about his father's printing shop back in Lowell but never finished it (see Memory Babe by Gerald Nicosia for more details). Therefore, Pic was the last novel that Jack would ever complete. The name of the title is the short name/nickname of one of hte main characters, Pictorial Jackson. Stylistically similar to Twain and starting off with a touch of the Faulknerian southern gothic novel for which he is so well known, the story ends up becoming an energy-charged tale of two brothers escaping hard times down South as they hit the road and travel to New York and the excitement of jazz and its endless number of bars. I was amazed at how accurately Kerouac was able to transcribe the African-American language of those times. One of Kerouac's greatest gifts was his 'ear' for sound and language which allowed him to composed timeless classics like Mexico City Blues and Old Angel Midnight.
Satori in Paris, even though it does have its great moments, is not an easy read. I don't mean in a high-brow sense or that Jack loses his reader through his spontaneous prose literary excursions and scatological pile-ups of words but it's hard to read because it was at the end of his life, where Jack seems effectively at the end of his emotional and literary tether, and he is in (gradual) self-destruct mode in which he continued to drink himself slowly to death (as he was a Catholic (occasional Buddhist) and did not believe in suicide per se). Satori in Paris is not nearly as bad as it has been portrayed though, and it DOES NOT deserve the scorn and derision that has been heaped upon it by those who launched the anti-Kerouac crusade (people like Truman Capote who never 'got' what he was about anyway, let's face it) and it does have its amusing parts like when Jack gets into a yelling competition with a train conductor over the correct French pronunciation of a word. (Jack was always proud of his French-Canadian heritage). Incidentally, I found it both funny and sad how Kerouac realizes in this instant that he is a 'lunatic'.
He certainly knew how to put himself down...unfortunately. He once wrote 'put myself down and what have I got left?' - something heartbreakingly honest and melancholic (see Ann Charters' lectures at Naropa for more details).
All in all, this is worth reading but especially because of that not-so-well-known gem after Satori in Paris which is the final novellete Pic, a work which is out of print by itself and often only found in this two-book special.
It is truly a joy to read and extremely vivid in its descriptions that I could have sworn that I had just watched a very interesting fast-paced movie rather than an actual book. In short (bref): sheer genius at the end of a great but tragic career.
What is so fascinating about Pic as well is how different it is, stylistically speaking , from ANYTHING else Kerouac wrote. This also adds support to Ann Charters' claim that he 'could write anything he absolutely wanted to'. There are the certain definitive Kerouackian hallmarks that can be found within (fast-paced jumping narrative, heavy emphasis on booze, travelling and saxophones etc.) but there's something magical about it too that I can't quite put my finger on - like Kerouac had tapped into a secret vein, a conduit if you will, back to the old South, a part of Old America, that does not even exist any more.
I think an interesting paper could be written comparing the first half of the novel with works by Twain and perhaps Faulkner while the second half sounds similar to The Horn by John Clellon Holmes (although I haven't read that book yet but I know it is a book that Kerouac admired).
Highly recommended, especially Pic which may just be Kerouac's short but final masterpiece that he left behind for the world.
July 19, 2011
Satori in Paris was less gritty and raw than Big Sur, but I loved it nonetheless. Kerouac perfectly epitomizes loneliness and the feeling of being lost in the world. This book was a great ending to The Duluoz Legend. At first, I didn't like how Kerouac left his moment of satori up to interpretation, but now I understand that Kerouac did that because many moments attributed to the overall Satori.
Pic was very different from any Kerouac I have ever read. It is the first Kerouac work I have read not in The Duluoz Legend. It was a bit tough to get into at first and I didnt really dig the ending. Other than that, it was a good read.
If I had the ability to rate these separately, I would give Satori In Paris 4 stars and Pic 3 stars.
Pic was very different from any Kerouac I have ever read. It is the first Kerouac work I have read not in The Duluoz Legend. It was a bit tough to get into at first and I didnt really dig the ending. Other than that, it was a good read.
If I had the ability to rate these separately, I would give Satori In Paris 4 stars and Pic 3 stars.
March 18, 2014
I wouldn't recommend someone new to Kerouac picking this up as their first go at one of his works, but both stories are HIGHLY enjoyable. You get such a feel for his writing style in Satori in Paris (and you can practice your French, which Kerouac helpfully translates for you), and Pic is brilliantly written, totally switching gears and styles from Satori.
Both are highly enjoyable and well-written.
Both are highly enjoyable and well-written.
May 13, 2008
Satori as a word entered my vocabulary and my thinking with this book -- I was eating up everything of Kerouacs that I could find and this book flowed through my head like a crystal clear stream. Inspirational in the true sense of the word.
January 1, 2011
I got into Kerouac in high school. During those years and early college, I read most of Jack's novels. That included these two. I recall reading this in Cape May, but I don't recall the stories well at all. Too many years.
It dawns on me I am just about Kerouac's age when he died. Sigh . . .
It dawns on me I am just about Kerouac's age when he died. Sigh . . .
October 19, 2017
The finale of The Duluoz Legend is bittersweet; the jadedness Kerouac displays in his other late novels is largely missing, but the ravages of his drunkenness are apparent. Pic is lighthearted and fun, written in a near-perfect Southern vernacular.
October 12, 2018
"Satori in Paris" is not for the Kerouac novice, but the aficionado.
December 26, 2022
Satori in Paris is absolutely fantastic. A deep look into the workings of Kerouac’s constantly churning mind. Pic was a much more bizarre read
November 28, 2022
Kerouac is a writer with very high highs, and very low lows, and boy these are some bad lows for him to end his career with.
Satori in Paris is your classical Kerouac approach, featuring stream of consciousness reporting of his trip to France in order to try to track down details about his ancestors. Mostly though, it is a catalogue of a lot of the usual Kerouac business of drinking and getting lost and becoming involved with the lives of people he bumps into. It's ok reading, though far from some of his masterpieces. If that was the only part of the two-part collection, I would give it three stars, maybe two if I was feeling grumpy.
Pic, which the copy on the back of the book informs me was his final published novel, is a catastrophe. It is a an attempt at a traditional novel, featuring a protagonist, "Pic," who is a poor, African American child in rural North Carolina. I don't know what possessed Kerouac to think he had the tools to tell this story but it feels completely inauthentic and half-baked. It's brevity (it's something like 125 pages) means that there isn't room for much story or character development, though it does also mercifully mean that you don't have to endure it that long. I read it on airplane and thus plowed through it, but if I was at home you can bet it would have taken me two weeks to finish. If it was without Satori in Paris, I would give it one star.
I have loved Kerouac deeply in my life, treasuring On the Road, Lonesome Traveler, Big Sur, and Desolation Angels, and admiring a fair amount of his other work. But when he is bad, he can produce some of the worst books you've ever read, including Dr. Sax, Book of Dreams, and this misbegotten volume.
Satori in Paris is your classical Kerouac approach, featuring stream of consciousness reporting of his trip to France in order to try to track down details about his ancestors. Mostly though, it is a catalogue of a lot of the usual Kerouac business of drinking and getting lost and becoming involved with the lives of people he bumps into. It's ok reading, though far from some of his masterpieces. If that was the only part of the two-part collection, I would give it three stars, maybe two if I was feeling grumpy.
Pic, which the copy on the back of the book informs me was his final published novel, is a catastrophe. It is a an attempt at a traditional novel, featuring a protagonist, "Pic," who is a poor, African American child in rural North Carolina. I don't know what possessed Kerouac to think he had the tools to tell this story but it feels completely inauthentic and half-baked. It's brevity (it's something like 125 pages) means that there isn't room for much story or character development, though it does also mercifully mean that you don't have to endure it that long. I read it on airplane and thus plowed through it, but if I was at home you can bet it would have taken me two weeks to finish. If it was without Satori in Paris, I would give it one star.
I have loved Kerouac deeply in my life, treasuring On the Road, Lonesome Traveler, Big Sur, and Desolation Angels, and admiring a fair amount of his other work. But when he is bad, he can produce some of the worst books you've ever read, including Dr. Sax, Book of Dreams, and this misbegotten volume.
July 17, 2024
3.5 / 5
This maniac and his willingness to simply live have helped me to reset and refocus in ways that only Vonnegut's playful nihilism or PKD's paranoid imagination have consistently been able to. Both short novels in this double feature were characteristically quick reads and full of Kerouac's trademarks: travel-centric plots, keen observations of everyday life, and honest reflection.
Some of my favorite parts of On the Road were the Denver sections, having read it here, so it felt right to read Satori in Paris before heading over myself in a few weeks. I'll certainly take inspiration from this freewheeling account with me. Pic on the other hand was a surprise treat in which a lovable narrator discovers the world through innocent yet discerning eyes. Nothing ever really happens in either, but that's life the Kerouac way. Told in his style I certainly don't mind.
"In other words, and after this I'll shut up, made-up stories and romances about what would happen IF are for children and adult cretins who are afraid to read themselves in a book just as they might be afraid to look in the mirror when they're sick or injured or hungover or insane."
"Grandpa, life ain't happy, and then it's happy, and goes on like that till you die, and you don't know why, and can't ask nobody but God, and He don't say nothin, do He?"
This maniac and his willingness to simply live have helped me to reset and refocus in ways that only Vonnegut's playful nihilism or PKD's paranoid imagination have consistently been able to. Both short novels in this double feature were characteristically quick reads and full of Kerouac's trademarks: travel-centric plots, keen observations of everyday life, and honest reflection.
Some of my favorite parts of On the Road were the Denver sections, having read it here, so it felt right to read Satori in Paris before heading over myself in a few weeks. I'll certainly take inspiration from this freewheeling account with me. Pic on the other hand was a surprise treat in which a lovable narrator discovers the world through innocent yet discerning eyes. Nothing ever really happens in either, but that's life the Kerouac way. Told in his style I certainly don't mind.
"In other words, and after this I'll shut up, made-up stories and romances about what would happen IF are for children and adult cretins who are afraid to read themselves in a book just as they might be afraid to look in the mirror when they're sick or injured or hungover or insane."
"Grandpa, life ain't happy, and then it's happy, and goes on like that till you die, and you don't know why, and can't ask nobody but God, and He don't say nothin, do He?"
March 29, 2021
I grew up on Kerouac, eagerly devouring his books in the 1960s and '70s. "On the Road" inspired me to make my own road trip, although mine lasted only nine months and Kerouac's never seemed to end.
Oddly enough, after I made my trip I reread "On the Road" and found it sad and brown.
In any event, Kerouac had a lot of positive impact on my life.
All this is a roundabout way of saying that you don't need to read these two books.
"Satori in Paris" reminds me of a drunken uncle telling everyone at length about his exploits. "Satori" is about Kerouac's trip to France to uncover his French roots, but it's really a lot of him romanticizing his drunkenness, which ultimately ended his writing career. It's kind of enjoyable if you read it a few pages at a time, but it won't add anything to your understanding of life.
"Pic" was the last book Kerouac wrote and it should have remained unpublished. Kerouac, a white man from the North, uses stereotypes and cringeworthy dialogue to tell the tale of a black Southern youth, Pic, and his brother.
Sorry, Jack, but I wish you spent more time writing and less time drinking.
Oddly enough, after I made my trip I reread "On the Road" and found it sad and brown.
In any event, Kerouac had a lot of positive impact on my life.
All this is a roundabout way of saying that you don't need to read these two books.
"Satori in Paris" reminds me of a drunken uncle telling everyone at length about his exploits. "Satori" is about Kerouac's trip to France to uncover his French roots, but it's really a lot of him romanticizing his drunkenness, which ultimately ended his writing career. It's kind of enjoyable if you read it a few pages at a time, but it won't add anything to your understanding of life.
"Pic" was the last book Kerouac wrote and it should have remained unpublished. Kerouac, a white man from the North, uses stereotypes and cringeworthy dialogue to tell the tale of a black Southern youth, Pic, and his brother.
Sorry, Jack, but I wish you spent more time writing and less time drinking.
June 20, 2022
These shorter “novels” were surprisingly enjoyable. I was not expecting much due to the lukewarm reputation of Kerouac’s later work, and they certainly weren’t among his best, but Satori in Paris, especially, had flashes of the old brilliance (specifically Chapter 25).
Satori in Paris and Pic are both fairly mundane stories, though. Satori in Paris, as I said, boasts some well-written passages, but nothing really happens in the story.
I was nervous to read Pic, which seems like the literary equivalent of blackface, but it was more of a flop than an affront. Pic is similarly mundane, though - I didn’t struggle as much as I expected with it being written from the perspective of a black child, but cultural appropriation and stereotypical African-American slang aside, the plot here is also fairly thin. Some of the writing, again, is exciting, specifically the chapters about Slim playing the saxophone and the Ghost of the Susquehanna, but, ultimately, there isn’t any content nearly as engaging as is found in his best work.
Satori in Paris and Pic are both fairly mundane stories, though. Satori in Paris, as I said, boasts some well-written passages, but nothing really happens in the story.
I was nervous to read Pic, which seems like the literary equivalent of blackface, but it was more of a flop than an affront. Pic is similarly mundane, though - I didn’t struggle as much as I expected with it being written from the perspective of a black child, but cultural appropriation and stereotypical African-American slang aside, the plot here is also fairly thin. Some of the writing, again, is exciting, specifically the chapters about Slim playing the saxophone and the Ghost of the Susquehanna, but, ultimately, there isn’t any content nearly as engaging as is found in his best work.
September 1, 2022
“a satori: the Japanese word for ‘sudden illumination,’ ‘sudden awakening” or simply ‘kick in the eye.’”
The author uses, “my real name here, full name in this case, Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac, because this story is about my search for this name in France.” The name, “simply means House (Ker), In the Field (Ouac) -“. It’s an enjoyable little story, though nothing really happens. I don’t even think he had a satori… Kind of a weak ending to the Duluoz legend.
The second “novel“ in this book is titled “Pic”. (both ‘novels’ are only about 100 pages each). Pic is short for Pictorial Review Jackson, the narrator. He goes from North Carolina to New York and then hitchhikes to California with his brother Slim. It’s written in a vernacular that feels racist in its stereotypes of how a Black person would talk, and that bothered me throughout. I’ve always considered Kerouac to be my favorite author, and it’s sad that this was his final ‘novel’. Such a far cry from “On the Road”…
The author uses, “my real name here, full name in this case, Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac, because this story is about my search for this name in France.” The name, “simply means House (Ker), In the Field (Ouac) -“. It’s an enjoyable little story, though nothing really happens. I don’t even think he had a satori… Kind of a weak ending to the Duluoz legend.
The second “novel“ in this book is titled “Pic”. (both ‘novels’ are only about 100 pages each). Pic is short for Pictorial Review Jackson, the narrator. He goes from North Carolina to New York and then hitchhikes to California with his brother Slim. It’s written in a vernacular that feels racist in its stereotypes of how a Black person would talk, and that bothered me throughout. I’ve always considered Kerouac to be my favorite author, and it’s sad that this was his final ‘novel’. Such a far cry from “On the Road”…
November 13, 2023
Jack Kerouac was a witer from the 50's & 60's. He wrote a stream-of-consciousness style. Hunter S. Thompson was influenced. On top of that, he was a beat, hipster and an acoholic. He wrote a book in the 60's, ON THE ROAD, that was a must read for the hippie, cool generation.
Satori in Paris and PIC were in the style.
Kerouac's level of ego was unsurpassed.
Satori in Paris is a complete waste of time. Period.
PIC at first put me off, it is written from the first person perspective, of a young, 10 years old, black, uneducated, poor child from the back woods of North Carolina. It is written in-dialect.
I ended being touched by the narrative that Kerouac spins.
Please be warned, I am recommending this book with reservations. It will give a look into the world that Kerouac represented. Maybe think of Charles Bukowski.
Satori in Paris and PIC were in the style.
Kerouac's level of ego was unsurpassed.
Satori in Paris is a complete waste of time. Period.
PIC at first put me off, it is written from the first person perspective, of a young, 10 years old, black, uneducated, poor child from the back woods of North Carolina. It is written in-dialect.
I ended being touched by the narrative that Kerouac spins.
Please be warned, I am recommending this book with reservations. It will give a look into the world that Kerouac represented. Maybe think of Charles Bukowski.
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