Book Reviews
March 30th 2008 13:07
I like to read books. Not just any books. Really good books. Books like John Clellon Holmes' Go! that gives a vivid portrait of the exciting lives and amazing characters of Beat Generation members like Jack Keruoac (known in the book as Gene Pasternak), Allen Ginsberg (Stofsky) & Neal Cassady (Hart Kennedy).
Back before these guys became classic literary figure in works like On the Road and Howl, these guys prowled the lively streets of 50's New York, partying in decrepit apartments, mixing with energetic and edgy characters, diving in and out of bars, espousing profound ideas but more importantly living out their ideas in their frenetic, free-living, go go go way of life.
The book is inevitably compared to its Beat Generation successor On the Road. To me they're companion pieces as its great to see the two different perspectives on the same group of characters. Holmes' book doesn't have the style of Kerouac's modern classic but is a more effective documentation and more objective look at both the positives and negatives of the new way of life expressed by the Beat Generation.
Another book that I poured over recently was Charles Bukowski's Post Office, which was a flying read, a kind of autobiography reflected in the character of Henry Chinaski. A depraved character who thinks little of his actions but just goes on, enjoying little in life but booze, women and the races, he captures the heart of every male, seeing a little of themselves and a little of what they wish they could be. It's not an uplifting or thought-changing voyage Bukowski takes us on, it's a dark, dirgid and humorous look at the reality of how life will be for the majority of us folk condemned to live our lives in pointlessness and obscurity.
Then I took turn into fantasy with the brilliant Japanese author Haruki Murakami's book Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. The name describes what you are getting into pretty accurately. It's a wild journey that fuses many classic genres and filters them through Murakami style of pop-culture references, unique characters and vivid imagination.
In the novel, each chapter alternates between from two different stories. One story, appears similarly to the world we inhabit but incorporates surreal elements while the other story is a classic fantasy story setting with archetypal characters and setting.
Murakami has an ability to draw you into his story and feel for his characters and become involved in his world, like no other writer. This work won't be seen by critics as his finest art but the tapestry he weaves here is so complex and compelling that I enjoyed it even more for its use of low-art genre forms. This novel is at times breathtaking, baffling, hypnotic and endless more superlatives. If you like imaging worlds through literature this is for you.
Back before these guys became classic literary figure in works like On the Road and Howl, these guys prowled the lively streets of 50's New York, partying in decrepit apartments, mixing with energetic and edgy characters, diving in and out of bars, espousing profound ideas but more importantly living out their ideas in their frenetic, free-living, go go go way of life.
The book is inevitably compared to its Beat Generation successor On the Road. To me they're companion pieces as its great to see the two different perspectives on the same group of characters. Holmes' book doesn't have the style of Kerouac's modern classic but is a more effective documentation and more objective look at both the positives and negatives of the new way of life expressed by the Beat Generation.
Another book that I poured over recently was Charles Bukowski's Post Office, which was a flying read, a kind of autobiography reflected in the character of Henry Chinaski. A depraved character who thinks little of his actions but just goes on, enjoying little in life but booze, women and the races, he captures the heart of every male, seeing a little of themselves and a little of what they wish they could be. It's not an uplifting or thought-changing voyage Bukowski takes us on, it's a dark, dirgid and humorous look at the reality of how life will be for the majority of us folk condemned to live our lives in pointlessness and obscurity.
Then I took turn into fantasy with the brilliant Japanese author Haruki Murakami's book Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. The name describes what you are getting into pretty accurately. It's a wild journey that fuses many classic genres and filters them through Murakami style of pop-culture references, unique characters and vivid imagination.
In the novel, each chapter alternates between from two different stories. One story, appears similarly to the world we inhabit but incorporates surreal elements while the other story is a classic fantasy story setting with archetypal characters and setting.
Murakami has an ability to draw you into his story and feel for his characters and become involved in his world, like no other writer. This work won't be seen by critics as his finest art but the tapestry he weaves here is so complex and compelling that I enjoyed it even more for its use of low-art genre forms. This novel is at times breathtaking, baffling, hypnotic and endless more superlatives. If you like imaging worlds through literature this is for you.
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