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I don't see it. The 1930s weren't that long ago, there are still people alive who lived through them. If you were talking about ancient Egypt, you might have a point.
The 1930s had radically different opinions on race, gender, religion, and a host of other things as compared to today.
Maybe it's because I never had my On the Road phase, but this review on Kerouac I always found really strong: > On the Road is a terrible book about terrible people. Jack Kerouac and his terrible friends drive across the US about seven zillion times for no particular reason, getting in car accidents and stealing stuff and screwing women whom they promise to marry and then don’t. > Jack Kerouac’s relationship with Dea…
It must be so exhausting to go through life only enjoying things that match one’s up-to-the-minute current moral views. I guess all biographies of influential people are basically out, as being successful in 1000BC or 1500AD required one to do things considered unethical today. It feels a bit like religious fundamentalism with a different veneer.
The best person to ever have lived, was thus a baby born to a prisoner in the 1600 which spend his life in prison doing nothing. We should all aspire and be inspired to be like that. Childlike and horrifically controlled by external systems.
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So you don't read or enjoy any books about people that have broken any commandments?
You can enjoy a book while still noting that the characters in it are not doing good things.
Maybe it's because I never had my On the Road phase, but this review on Kerouac I always found really strong: > On the Road is a terrible book about terrible people. Jack Kerouac and his terrible friends drive across the US about seven zillion times for no particular reason, getting in car accidents and stealing stuff and screwing women whom they promise to marry and then don’t. > Jack Kerouac’s relationship with Dea…
I interestingly came to a pretty similar conclusion about Kerouac around the same time as this reviewer, and brought it up in my review of Henry Miller’s book on Big Sur (which I can highly recommend): https://kamranjon.com/writings/henry-miller-and-the-big-sur....
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The deep pockmarks in Scott Alexander's hands left from so strongly clutching his pearls will take an eternity to de-dimple.
TIL I learned that not liking a-holes and to find the story their repititive adventures boring is pearl-clutching
Jack Kerouac has always felt like a gateway for early 20 year old guys looking to be seen as literary explorers. Similar to how Orwell seems to be commonly found around your mid teens (15-17) and many are seem reading 1984. I guess it's almost a right of passage. I know many will say those are stereotypes or tropes but having worked with people from 15-28 over the course of many years in a range of roles, it's very m…
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Orwell is an absolute master of both fiction and non-fiction. This dude lived and got dirty on purpose just to be able to report about it: far-away colonies, lower-class slums, foreign wars against fascists; in the end it even cost him his life. I am SO happy he is an obligatory lecture in many schools and countries; it's probably the best thing kids could be reading. He's been my hero ever since I've read him, and s…
I've read all his works and I was a big fan. But I do still believe it does attract a specific age. Orwell had some excellent work, and I didn't insult him. However I am wary of romanticising a way of life. His early works were based on his real experiences but I can't promote essays or books based on a brief entrance into that life for research as it's not quite the same. I believe all forms of media are best when t…
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> up-to-the-minute current moral views “You shall not steal” is the eighth commandment from the Bible, two thousand years ago.
So you don't read or enjoy any books about people that have broken any commandments?
That was always one of the appeals of the Seinfeld show for example. Well written show about some really horrible people. Fun for the whole family.
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The moral views of the average person circa 1930 are very different from one today. But I read old books for their interesting stories, viewpoints on life, literary quality, etc. – not to tut-tut someone for having different moral views than me, a hundred years later. So it doesn't bother me. Like I said, I really cannot understand the mindset of someone that reads a book from another era/civilization and focuses on…
I don't see it. The 1930s weren't that long ago, there are still people alive who lived through them. If you were talking about ancient Egypt, you might have a point.
Personally speaking, I found the book very 'awe-inspiring'/it made me go 'wow' a bunch, because I found the author's experience so completely different from my own :)
I wonder why Keruoac-like personalities are so magnetic, I never felt it click. Maybe it's that people wish they would dare share that freedom? Escapism from boredom? The lifestyle does not at all feel pleasant, at least to me. I don't mean it in the sense of regular comfort; these lines describe a tortured man more than they do a 'happy beggar'. And then there's the chaos the trainwreck leaves behind. I don't believ…
I find the magnetism from these types of people is seeing someone violate your social norms (usually for gain) in ways you had never considered, and getting a tantalising glimpse of what might be possible if only you weren't so timid/proper/responsible/considerate/whatever.
I think that glimpse is only tantalizing, and Kerouac's types only magnetic, when the reader lacks a well developed theory of mind for other humans and only obeys laws and social conventions for fear of punishment and ostracism. If you can empathize with others, shedding that capacity is more a strange nightmare than it is desirable. On the other hand, if you are fearful of social and legal consequences, freedom from that fear is absolutely a seductive fantasy.