annemariewellswriter's review against another edition
2.0
It's strange to think that there was a time when you could be blatantly homophobic and racist and not only get your book published but have people revere it as a classic.
This book may have had a significance at one time, but its time is over. Society has progressed and there is no room for this now.
I can see how people who aren't affected by Kerouac's prejudice would enjoy this book.
This book may have had a significance at one time, but its time is over. Society has progressed and there is no room for this now.
I can see how people who aren't affected by Kerouac's prejudice would enjoy this book.
jackbowerman's review against another edition
3.0
This is really a literary mess. Kerouac's life and mental state were clearly unraveling and falling apart before him as he struggled to cope with his unwanted fame and the troubles of alcoholism. It's full of delirium and paranoia and is really not an easy or particularly enjoyable read - a lot of it just comes across as nonsense and you're waiting for a sentence to make sense.
The stars it earns are simply because of how Kerouac communicates his alcoholism, mental state, paranoia, delusions - there are a few good passages, but only few. I'm also not sure the fact that he communicates his struggles is actually intentional. I also think in other reviews people have left that they are idolising and glorifying the fact he is writing about his mental downfall. But this doesn't automatically warrant a good rating, it should be about how the author writes about their mental downfall, and honestly, some of this is just utter gibberish. The are often sentences that are full of invented words, sentences with absolutely zero linear structure - grammar doesn't really matter imo but a lot of this is just nonsense that I'm not even sure Kerouac consciously knew he was writing.
Overall, a disappointment and quite a sad read to watch him fall apart on the pages having massively enjoyed some of his earlier work.
The stars it earns are simply because of how Kerouac communicates his alcoholism, mental state, paranoia, delusions - there are a few good passages, but only few. I'm also not sure the fact that he communicates his struggles is actually intentional. I also think in other reviews people have left that they are idolising and glorifying the fact he is writing about his mental downfall. But this doesn't automatically warrant a good rating, it should be about how the author writes about their mental downfall, and honestly, some of this is just utter gibberish. The are often sentences that are full of invented words, sentences with absolutely zero linear structure - grammar doesn't really matter imo but a lot of this is just nonsense that I'm not even sure Kerouac consciously knew he was writing.
Overall, a disappointment and quite a sad read to watch him fall apart on the pages having massively enjoyed some of his earlier work.
bbboeken's review against another edition
2.0
Niet mijn ding zoals Dharma Bums, deze Big Sur. Jammer, maar het ontspoorde iets te veel naar mijn zin.
monicamjw's review against another edition
1.0
I wanted to like this - I love Big Sur and The City, which should not be called Frisco, even by a writer of his generation. I appreciate Kerouac's place in our literary tradition, and I honor the interior glimpse of the man himself, but, in the end, I'm just not a Kerouac fan.
tdivjak2's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
A slowpaced novel with a dense language. But it is exactly this complicated language that makes the book a poetic read. The text contains beautiful descriptions of Californian coast.
One thing I do wish I knew before picking this book up, though, is that it contains a lot of references to other works, be it classics or works of the authors time. I suggest picking it up if you are a well-versed reader.
One thing I do wish I knew before picking this book up, though, is that it contains a lot of references to other works, be it classics or works of the authors time. I suggest picking it up if you are a well-versed reader.
paigelewis's review against another edition
3.0
This book felt a bit fever dreamish but in the most tame of ways. There were some parts that I really enjoyed and felt gripped by, but for the most part I felt kind of half in it. I liked it, but I’m not rushing out to read more Kerouac in the immediate future.
mattbeatty's review against another edition
4.0
I'll admit it, I love Kerouac. Though I hadn't read him in years until this, until recently. It was easy to be reintroduced. His style and casual prosaic gait is inviting. He pulls you along with his thoughts and meanderings--like the creek he loves so much by the cabin--he flows and lulls and ponders with spidery reaching. It's great literary philosophic escape, somehow, listening to all his woes, his financial stability yet yearning to be or experience something else. His disenchantment with the same old scene and then he's sucked right back in.
It seems this must have been cathartic for him. It's as if he were speaking right to you, all his worries and insecurities and often bizarre proposed outcomes, dreams, visions, and so on. All the stories, and characters, the settings themselves are characters--Monterey, Big Sur + and its "Raton Canyon" (really Bixby Canyon), the sea, San Francisco! especially. You're in Jack's circle of friends. You're living his way of life, the beat generation years after beating awake.
"Writing's just an afterthought or a scratch anyway at the surface" (141). He knows it. He maintains his writing style as self-referential, almost a parody of himself. All his purposeful misspelling-shortcuts, lack of punctuation, dashed sentences, one per paragraph.
It's all very raw and presented for you like a mansuscript. I love it.
--- ---
"It always makes me proud to love the world--Hate's so easy compared" (141)
"we're all strangers with strange eyes sitting in a midnight livingroom" (179)
"For after all the sea must be like God" (41). -- And there it is folks, Big Sur for your consuming pleasure.
It seems this must have been cathartic for him. It's as if he were speaking right to you, all his worries and insecurities and often bizarre proposed outcomes, dreams, visions, and so on. All the stories, and characters, the settings themselves are characters--Monterey, Big Sur + and its "Raton Canyon" (really Bixby Canyon), the sea, San Francisco! especially. You're in Jack's circle of friends. You're living his way of life, the beat generation years after beating awake.
"Writing's just an afterthought or a scratch anyway at the surface" (141). He knows it. He maintains his writing style as self-referential, almost a parody of himself. All his purposeful misspelling-shortcuts, lack of punctuation, dashed sentences, one per paragraph.
It's all very raw and presented for you like a mansuscript. I love it.
--- ---
"It always makes me proud to love the world--Hate's so easy compared" (141)
"we're all strangers with strange eyes sitting in a midnight livingroom" (179)
"For after all the sea must be like God" (41). -- And there it is folks, Big Sur for your consuming pleasure.
michelicious's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
notthemoon's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75