A review by jackbowerman
Big Sur by Jack Kerouac
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.