“This is the iconic Beatnik novel, and it's a quasi-auto-biography, if I remember correctly. Let me preface my review with the fact that I am not well-educated in literature; I could be missing some concept, or key feature that would completely alter the following comments.
I imagine that that the lifestyle and choices presented in the work (e.g., anti-consumerist, and "Beat") were shocking during the 1950s. Coupled with the backlash against the almost totalitarian government of the McCarthy era, I have no doubt that the Beat movement was a partial seed for the counter-culture revolution of the 1960s. In that regard, this is an incredibly important piece of literature. However, to a child of a hippie, who's had his/her own road trips, and reasonably "illicit" experiences, this book doesn't have the same shock-value, or allure. Some of the language (particularly the oft quoted, "The only ones for me are the mad ones ...") is beautiful, and crystalizes the thoughts of the author into words which explode in the reader's mind like Pop Rocks and Pepsi.
If you're interested in the history, or just curious, by all means, read this book. (But also read some Ginseburg poetry, Burrows novels, et alii.) If you're looking for a page-turning plot, you may want to look elsewhere.
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wjrobbins2 wrote this review Saturday, May 23, 2009.
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