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Jack Kerouac Birth Anniversary: Books and quotes by the pioneering author of Beat Generation
One of the revolutionary authors of the Beat Generation, Jean-Louis ‘Jack’ Kerouac was born on March 12, 1922.
One of the revolutionary authors of the Beat Generation, Jean-Louis ‘Jack’ Kerouac was born on March 12, 1922. Known for his spontaneous style of prose and themes based on Catholic spirituality, jazz, Buddhism, drugs and travel, he was considered to be an underground celebrity and a founder of the hippie movement.
Even though Kerouac died at the age of 47 from abdominal haemorrhage due to a lifetime of heavy drinking, his legacy continued with his works, ranging from On the Road to the experimental Book of Dreams.
On the Road: The 1957 novel based on the travels of the author and his friends across United States is considered to be a defining work of the postwar Beat generation with the lives of the protagonists set against a backdrop of jazz, drug use and poetry. The book has a number of personalities including William S Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg and Neal Cassady as characters in the novel.
Music plays an important role in the book, with the author making numerous references to musical genres to define the setting and time in his novel.
The Dharma Bums: The novel traces events occurring years after the narrative of On the Road. The main characters - Ray Smith and Japhy Ryder are based on the author himself and essayist Gary Snyder respectively. A significant influence on the Hippie counterculture of the 1960s, the book traces Kerouac’s daily life and ideals including him hitchhiking through the US through jazz clubs, poetry readings and drunken get-togethers. The novel was published in 1958.
The Subterraneans: The novella published in 1958 is a semi-fictional account of the author’s romance with Alene Lee. The novel traces his meeting with Alene, while she was typing up the manuscripts of William Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg. However, Kerouac changed her name to Mardou Fox and moved the setting to San Francisco in the novel. Gore Vidal too makes an appearance in the narrative as the successful novelist Arial Lavalina.
Visions of Cody: Though written between 1951 and 1952, the novel was first published in 1972, and is a collection of short stream-of-consciousness essays, describing post-World War II New York City environment. The second part of the book consists of transcriptions of taped conversations between Kerouac and Cassady. The final section is a writing experiment by Kerouac.
Book of Dreams: An experimental novel published in 1960, it is based on a dream journal the author kept between 1952 and 1960. The novel sees Kerouac continue with plotline and characters from books as he sees them in his dreams. The book gives an insight into the Beat Generation author’s mind and psyche.
Jack Kerouac’s literary works has a major impact on the rock music of the 1960s influencing the likes of Bob Dylan, the Beatles, and The Doors. Here’s looking at a few quotes attributed to him.
•One day I will find the right words, and they will be simple.
•Live, travel, adventure, bless, and don’t be sorry.
•There was nowhere to go but everywhere, so just keep on rolling under the stars.
•Happiness consists in realizing it is all a great strange dream
•Don’t use the phone. People are never ready to answer it. Use poetry.
•...because he had no place he could stay in without getting tired of it and because there was nowhere to go but everywhere, keep rolling under the stars...
•The air was soft, the stars so fine, the promise of every cobbled alley so great, that I thought I was in a dream.
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