The Dharma Bums

Being on the road with Ray or up in desolation, this book is amazingly pleasant to read. Meditation, hiking and bum are part of this book and all lead to a simpler life

Just an enjoyable adventure to follow along with. Easy read. Made me think a little. But, mostly, gave me an urge to hike in the mountains that won't go away until I do.

 (Read for uni)

Finally got around to some Kerouac, and I do plan to get around to the big one, On The Road. Like a lot of Kerouac this was written at a breakneck pace, in this instance under 2 weeks, and you can certainly tell, for better and for worse. When it's at its best, it's a gorgeous work of trying to find spiritual enlightenment and the self in a country which has seemingly wiped that side of life from function. At its worst it is nauseatingly aimless and full of itself. From what I'm told, On The Road suffers from this as well, and you definitely gotta take the bad with the good. The highs are definitely worth it in the long run, but this is likely not one I'll reread in the forseeable future. 

I think I need to read this book rather than listen to it to give it a fair rating. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator sounded like William Shatner trying to be carefree, complete with weird emphasis on syllables. It was distracting. If I read this book, I assume I'll pick up on more things and be able to give it a more complete review and rating.

Maybe it's that I'm not in my early twenties anymore, but Kerouac has lost his luster. Maybe it's just that Dharma Bums is not On the Road. Whatever the issue, this novel had no real draw for me. Nothing that compelled me to keep reading, nothing really to say that is was any good at all. Okay, I don't mind reading about hiking or about Buddhism. I'll give it that.