Desolation Angels
by Jack Kerouac
|
List Price: Our Price: $8.79 You Save: $7.21 (45%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $2.24 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Desolation Angels
Book Review: literary molasses
Summary: 4 Stars
it oozes oh so slow and when it is on it is on. sometimes i have trouble with kerouac as he makes references to things that leave me scratching my head. every so often in this book i would turn back a few pages to see if i remembered what i read. i think 60% of the time i didn't. like the slow reading however, i know these pages have oozed into my subconscious. these concepts may take a few years to be fully realized.
welcome to the wonderfull world of jack kerouac outside of "on the road". do i love it? i'm not sure, that's why i didn't give "desolation angels" five stars. is he passionate? no doubt. is this book well-written? not even a question.
but this is kerouac to me. it's about patience and reward. this is not a fast read. in fact at times, i'll read four pages and feel exhausted. did i expect a quick read when i bought it? hell no.
bottom line: was it an enjoyable read? some parts yes, some parts no. but this begs the question, is it supposed to be enjoyable? i'd say same answer. definitely thick on the emotion so in that sense, I hold it in high regard. one part of the book i was singing the prose aloud. strange, isn't it?
:o)
Book Review: gotta love the guy...
Summary: 3 Stars
I have been reading Kerouac for about twenty years (but still haven't exhausted the canon). After reading Desolation Angels I think it might still be a while.You have got to love Kerouac to get through much of this book (and I do) and it is ultimately worth the effort, but what an effort! Too much of this book is "we did this, then we did that" and Kerouac's lack of contextualizing all this can get to you.
But there are always small epiphanies that make Kerouac worth reading. There are about six in this book, the best being his brief account of his sea voyage to Tangiers on a Yugoslav freighter in a storm. "It scares a seaman to hear the Kitchen scream in fear." And Kerouac's lamentation on the unfortunate popularization of the 'cool' ethos: "But all I could do was sit on the edge of the bed in despair listening to their awful 'likes' and 'like you know' and 'wow crazy'...All this was about to sprout out all over America even down to High School level and be attributed in part to my doing!"
Much of what makes Kerouac one of the American Big Three is that nobody else could get away with writing like this. It ain't pretty and it's often exasperating, but what a Great Soul.
Book Review: Desolation indeed...
Summary: 5 Stars
From the moment I opened On the Road, I knew Jack Kerouac
wasn't just any author. A new spirit and new feelings, stirred
up by mere words...It doesn't happen often enough.
In that respect, Desolation Angels is typical Kerouac. The
incredibly flowing mad descriptions and details, his friends
as real as the stars, beautifully rendered real personalities.
From his isolation as a fire lookout, long time to be sober
for Kerouac, he jumps back into his old life...Drinking
screaming talking crazy friends Ginsberg Cassady et al. A
trip to Mexico, living above an old junky, Mexican women,
writing. Friends come to Mexico...you can imagine.
Tangier and William Burroughs, another junky...Kerouac helps
him, typing the manuscript of Naked Lunch (Nude Dinner, he
calls it, just like the other pseudonyms he assigns...)...
Back to the States, more of the wonderful same, always fresh
and exciting...But in the end, I was only surprised. He left
his Desolation Angels.Book Review: The picture of unmaking
Summary: 5 Stars
This book has been described as the journal of Jack losing himself. Some critics state that when he came back down from his time of solitude on Desolation Mountain begins his spiral downward into madness, alcoholism and loss of artistic edge. I disagree - but it is most certainly a showing of a break in his persona - as he describes the beauty and horror of having nothing to do but face one's self when that's all one has. The lies you tell yourself are strong, but give way when you have no one else to reinforce them for months on end...and this may have indeed driven Jack to the edge and beyond.The pre-eminent voice of the Beat movement, who both gave it its name and disavowed his involvement, is at his most exposed and honest self in this work. This is not a book to read for a relaxing afternoon, in my opinion. This is a book that will burden you - but you'll be better for it.
Book Review: The Road to Ruin
Summary: 5 Stars
Let me tell you a story. I had just come down toSan Francisco after a couple of years of bumming
around the Great Northwest. It was a Monday morning
and I had picked up a newspaper; bound and determined
to scour the want ads until I found prospects for an
honest job, with the full intention of becoming more
respectful. I went to a cafe in North Beach and had a
seat at one of the outdoor tables. As I began to unfold
the newspaper, I noticed that someone had left a copy
of "Desolation Angels" on the chair. I picked it up and
started to read it. Several hours later I abandoned my
faint tries at redemption and walked over to Washington
Square to work on some poetry. The man can flat out write.
That's why they call him the King of the Beats.