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This is an unusual book in the Kerouac corpus: part Buddhism filtered through working class, French-Canadian Catholicism; part retelling of classic Buddhist writings; and most of all, part baring of the soul of a man intimately acquainted with suffering & loss, which informs the always energetic, tumbling flow of his prose. In writing of the Buddha as a counterpart to Christ, Kerouac is really offering his own confession of exactly where he was at that moment, struggling with the painful personal questions of purpose, meaning, despair & salvation. In short, it's essentially his own spiritual autobiography to that point in his life.
Some reviewers have complained that this isn't "real" Buddhism, or that it's woefully misunderstood at best. And I can't entirely disagree—if that's the viewpoint from which you're reading this book. In that case, it's bound to disappoint. But I'd suggest that reading it as the naked statement of the individual man, one caught up in the possibilities of redemption & meaning that his struggling but earnest perception of Buddhism offered him, may well be more rewarding for the reader.
In any case, it's well worth reading simply for the beauty & vividness of the language, composed when he was at the height of his power as a writer. I only wish there was a recording of Kerouac reading it himself, as he was always the best reader of his own work, with a wonderful voice that was open & honest, filled with life—and that included suffering as well as joy, intermingling in a way that goes right to the heart. The audiobook version captures some of that with a skilled reader; but try reading it aloud to yourself & see how it sounds.
So—an absolutely vital book? Perhaps not, even for some Kerouac devotees ... but for me, a lovely, sometimes heartbreaking work that illuminates both his writing & his life—for that reason, hsppily recommended!
- Paperback: 224 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Books (October 27, 2009)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 9780143116011
- ISBN-13: 978-0143116011
- ASIN: 0143116010
- Product Dimensions: 4.8 x 0.6 x 6.1 inches
- Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
- Average Customer Review: 20 customer reviews
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Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
#288,469 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #226 in Self Help for Catholics
- #2151 in Religious Leader Biographies
- #2837 in Christian Self Help
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