Thread: On The Road

Originally Posted by zero

Kerouac is brilliant.

Yes. He is.

I've only read The Dharma Bums. It was okay. I picked it up because it was about Buddhism and the Western adoption of Zen, but On the Road is on the "to read" list.

Originally Posted by farmer

I see. Your teacher is a freaking idiot.

hahahaha, that is good stuff.

I liked On The Road but I don't think Kerouac is spectacular. I enjoyed both On The Road and Atop An Underwood. He is energetic, but I don't find him quite brilliant. I don't think he is comparable or nearly as good as Hemingway either. Vaguely comparable to Catcher in the Rye.

I think Salinger's Nine Stories is brilliant though. I've read those gems many many times. Hemingways short stories also fall into that category as well as many of his books.

Saponification- check out Hermann Hesse. Narcissus and Goldmund and Siddhartha especially. Steppenwolf is not "as" strongly buddhist but it is certainly in there. All three are very good reads though.

Originally Posted by starrwriter

Your username is the same as the main character in "Steppenwolf," but you don't think the book was Hesse' best work? Hmmm...

I thought it was his best novel with "Siddhartha" a close second and "Demian" third. I couldn't get through "Narcissus" for some reason.

No, I was referring to buddhist philosophy which I gathered was where his interests were. I preferred Narcissus to Siddhartha. I also agree that Steppenwolf is his best and find them all to be very close. Those that I have read anyway. I think Steppenwolf could have been better without the pamphlet section which seems to bother me more each time I read it. The book has some of the greatest lines and thoughts though. My copy looks ridiculous because of all of the underlined words and phrases.

BTW, shhhh. I don't think anyone else has noticed. It is more fun that way.