Desolation Peak by Jack Kerouac is not so much a book as a diary of his experiences as a fire watcher atop a mountain on the border of Canada.
An alcoholic with psychiatric illness he hopes to find the meaning of life by studying Buhdism while isolated for a month, high up in the mountain range living in a rodent infested hut. He does some writing but is bored and longs for the 'warm arms' of a Mexican acquaintance. He resorts to smoking coffee beans when his tobacco runs out.
"...last night all the insects seized in honour of the moon. I paced a long time in the bright silver stillness with pink horizons in the west wishing there was a personal god who would bring tears into my eyes when I learn the truth, the infinitude of the mercy of the everlasting eternity such that there is no need for compassion ".
He becomes disenchanted with the teachings of Buhda.
"The primordial essence is dreaming this up like a mind but it is not really a mind, the holy spirit is the eternal continuation. The only reason that we can concieve of nothingness is
that we have already conceived of somethingness."
Kerouac definitely is a skilled writer of the free flow consciousness style, but do not expect edification. He is raw and somewhat gross. He fails to find the narrow road of Jesus and dies an alcoholic 10 years later.
I'm pleased to have introduced you to something new and other than the bible and catholic apologia.
ReplyDeleteNow, can I recommend Thomas Pynchon to you?
Start with 'The Crying of Lot 49', move on to 'V' and then see if you can handle 'Gravity's Rainbow'. The exercise will be well worthwhile, believe me.
TC
Not much available of his on Everand. Next?
ReplyDeleteThat's a shame. You'd really like 'V'.
DeleteCarlos Ruiz Zafón - 'The Shadow of the Wind'.
DeleteThis is stunning and has two or three follow ons. A must read.
I'll look for it, Everand only has the audio in Spanish..
DeleteGet them to change it to Aramaic. That'd be right up your street.
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