The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac REVIEW

Finding religion, connecting with the landscape, drinking and partying, but mostly just roaming.

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[alicedawnphelan]

I’ve just started my first Kerouac! Visions of Gerard seems pretty interesting so far. I usually lurk, but your channel is awesome. Big inspiration to me.

[thecollapseexperiment]

Do you understand HOW Kerouac wrote these books? It wasn't about formulating a plot, it was about a constant stream of thinking while recounting these events.

[warlockofwordschannel]

On the Road counted David Bowie among its legions of admirers, and made it onto his Top books list. Kerouac's Dr. Sax is a vastly funny, nostalgic, strange work which I want to re-read at some point.

[andymarin]

Many of his books are written in his "Spontaneous Prose" style full of long poetic sentences. His autobiographical series "The Legend of Duluoz" is essentially the story of his life from the twenties to the sixties. Obviously, the books about his childhood (Visions of Gerard) are different from those about his youth (Vanity of Duluoz) and those about his later years (Satori in Paris). The style of some books is more difficult, because Kerouac wanted some of his books to be more "impressionistic" and others to be more like the "pot boilers" of the time.
His writing can be impressive and almost brilliant one page and nonsensical on the next. Some of his books are essentially just long rambles (The Subterraneans - written in three days and three nights), others try to be more deep and lyrical (Tristessa).
I think you should give Maggie Cassidy a try. It's about his teenage years and it's a bit easier to get into that other works about that era (such as Doctor Sax).

[booksandallthatjazz]

Good review as always. Yes, it's good to start a book without knowing much, however I find if after 50 pages, I am struggling to appreciate what I am reading, it certainly helps to gain some context by reading reviews and even better, listening to the author discussing the book. I had a similar experience with On The Road and have been meaning to read it again as it's on my bookshelf.

[MrJimzovich]

Dharma Bums was the first Kerouac I read when I was about 18, when a friend lent me his copy. It really appealed to my young hippy sensibility and looking back it probably had more of an affect on my view of life than I realised. On the Road is a favourite too (I think Pynchon in Slow Learner said something like he still thought it was one of the great American novels) despite the problems with it (condescending to Mexicans, the sexism - though I think Sal Paradise is critical of his friends' treatment of their girlfriends, which complicates the picture - and the naive exoticisation of African American culture). His best book, though, I would say is Satori in Paris, a short work of visionary beauty. Avoid Visions of Cody, which is little more than a serious of tedious transcriptions of stoned, rambling dialogues. Mexico City Blues is interesting in places but not one to read cover to cover, and Dr Sax is an overlong exercise in Surrealism that doesn't quite work.

[ericgrabowski]

You cant fall off the side of a Mountain. Try Maggie Cassidy or Visions of Gerard. Tristessa is a novela about his time in Mexico City. He had a vision and it's not for everyone but I love Kerouac. Thanks for reveiwing this .

[gazzk]

From the point of view of writing style, I've always thought, Tristessa, was his best example. It is a novella, although, don't expect to find it an easy read. His description and imagery in it is great as are the characters (all so flawed).

[HHoo]

The book of essays/short stories/articles 'Good Blonde & Others' is fantastic. It highlights Kerouac's versatility as a writer and thinker. Desolation Angels is also an interesting book (though it is quite similar in style to Dharma Bums and On the Road).

[driftigmike]

i don't remember much but i know that hippo book from kerouac flashed me

[AbstractASMR]

For me, I always considered on the road, dharma bums, and big sur as a sort of informal trilogy...one leading to the next, roughly!

[GeorgeMillerUSA]

Mattia, I think it is time for you to tackle some Japanese literature. Drink yourself some Asian stuffs instead of Western and European for a change, eh? Two books comes to mind that I recommend are: *Coin Locker Babies* by Ryu Murakami and/or *Strange Weather in Tokyo* by Hiromi Kawakami.

[couldhavebeenbetterreviews]

I’m not too big into Kerouac, but if you want to read something of his that’s different from On the Road, read Big Surr. It’s the last big novel he did, and it’s him dealing with the fame that came from On the Road while simultaneously battling alcoholism in the tourism town of Big Surr.

[liberprimus]

Hey Bookchemist, I enjoy your channel. Have you ever considered reading works of philosophy?

[MichaelLMe]

Bookchemist I noticed in an earlier video that you said you read Anna Karenina, could you review it? Love your channel by the way.

[lined]

Well, it would... I mean, I read this book, because it tells something about hiking, remebering past times, understand other people involved in same topics, mountaineering, nature, and last but not least, like you said, kind of a culture shock; sometimes it is a thing of a perspective. In so far it was nice to hear your opinion after reading the book. What would be other sense of reading, respectively, writing books!??

[bookreview]

While I always loved and enjoyed reading On the Road I never got into Dharma Bums. I bought it as a teenager, as one of my first English novels and I think the first 20 pages are filled with translations for words I didn't know. After that I just gave up. In uni, after rereading On the Road I gave it another try and couldn't get into it again...Maybe it is time to pick it up once more, lol.

[johntuffin]

I read the Darma Bums immediately after On the Road, and thought it was much better.

[diegomariacardona]

I highly regard dharma bums, it’s my only Kerouac, and I found his prose very entertaining and pretty much perfect for me. The spontaneous narrative (Kerouac’s trademark) was very refreshening for me since I read it at a time when I hadn’t read any “experimental literature” (I.e. Wallace, Pynchon, Borges, etc.) and it’s meaningless plot really hit me. I do agree that the characters are pretentious as fuck, which can get a little obnoxious, and I see why someone would dislike it for this and for other reasons.

Btw, I’m reading Summerland by Chabon, and am absolutely loving it. You introduced me to Chabon so thank you haha.

[michaelhopkins]

You are right about On The Road. Not a work of creative writing.