April 28
Stream of consciousness was a term that American psychologist and philosopher William James coined as a descriptive metaphorical term for his concept of how consciousness looks or behaves.
Literary critics borrowed the term to describe the loose, unbroken passages used as a technique to suggest the formlessness of inner dialogue/thought, sometimes eliminating punctuation and jumping abruptly from one idea, place, time to another, of some "modernist" writers from around 1920, particularly Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, William Faulkner, Thomas Wolfe.
Kerouac adopted it in "On the Road"
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May 1
Reading again about Kerouac....I'd forgotten what I'd read in a bio years ago about how people hounded him and his mother at their various homes (back and forth between Long Island and Florida mostly), showing up at his doorstep at all hours expecting to party or maybe compare road stories, I also vaguely remember stories of these same folk stealing "momentos" from his yard, house, etc.
In studying K.'s bio there soon emerges a clear dichotomy between the real man and the iconic image many had of him. Warren French, in a biography and a critical book has developed the theme that Jack Kerouac was a divided personality. French uses K.'s history as reflected in letter's, friend's memories, as well as the author's work. His very first novel "The Town and the City", according to French, sets the paradigm of this split in the guise of two brothers, characters who are temperamentally, physically, emotionally opposites. Kerouac himself claimed that both were, alternately, him. One is the conservative, straight, conventional athletic young man, the other is more sensitive, artistically-oriented, adventure-seeking who befriends others tending toward the "left" in cultural, political ideologies.
French believes that during the early fifties when Kerouac was writing not only On the Road but most of his critically and/or commercially successful work, under the influence of Neal Cassady most particularly but also Ginsberg, Burroughs and other so-called beats, Kerouac's adventurous alter-ego took the reins, the conservative of his football hero-merchant marine youth eclipsed, but not entirely, for the period. After he achieved fame was regarded as a counter-cultural hero and leader the conservative side once more came to the forefront. But French also acknowledged that part of the problem is that many people either misread Kerouac's On the Road and other early to mid fifties work or perhaps didn't read it at all. Kerouac doesn't glorify the road in the book, or invite others to join him says French, rather he rather disconsolately documents his struggles, disappointments, unfulfilled longings, his disillusionment with America, etc. French thinks maybe it was just this basic honesty in the K.'s writing's that struck a chord with so many people, especially the young, in the cultural desert of the Eisenhower era. The road seemed exciting to so many smothered by the oppressive blandness of post-WWII America, but Kerouac himself .....
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May 4
Kerouac had a poor opinion of the trappings of fame even before Road's big success in 1957 (about 7 years after it was written). When it came his trepidations seemed justified. Apparently from his letters (vol. 2 of which I'm going through for the second time) '57 and on he was perpetually trying to get away from the visitors and fans who disturbed his peaceful studies and homebody life with his mother. Lived on Long Island--Northwood or something now i've forgotten--alternating with briefer stays in Orlando, FL, later St. Petersburg. Prior to that, post Columbia, and Road years (1946-50?) he and mother Gabrielle also lived in Denver for a time--Neal Cassady's origin--also Berkeley where many of the so-called beats hung, partied, screwed, etc. together. Interesting letters divulging the real identities and genesis of many of his stories, virtually all stories based with some fictionalizing upon real events. Others involved in Berkeley/SF scene include Ginsberg of course whose rose-covered house in Berkeley described in I think Dharma Bums, Philip Whalen and Gary Snyder, two poet fellow devotees of Bhuddism and Tao with K.
K. seemed to feel deepest attachments post '56 anyway with these quiet, low -profile, meditation-oriented friends as opposed to the more political and publicity seeking Ginsberg/Corso/Orlovsky bunch. Burroughs, a mentor and always somewhere involved in the mix. Funny stories of meetings at his houses or apartments in New Orleans, Paris, Tangier, Mexico City. Kerouac rarely left the country other than short trips to Mex-City in his last twenty-odd years unlike Ginsberg and some of the others, wishing to remain at home (ever trying to drop drink but failing).....
K. seemed to feel deepest attachments post '56 anyway with these quiet, low -profile, meditation-oriented friends as opposed to the more political and publicity seeking Ginsberg/Corso/Orlovsky bunch. Burroughs, a mentor and always somewhere involved in the mix. Funny stories of meetings at his houses or apartments in New Orleans, Paris, Tangier, Mexico City. Kerouac rarely left the country other than short trips to Mex-City in his last twenty-odd years unlike Ginsberg and some of the others, wishing to remain at home (ever trying to drop drink but failing).....
