Sunday, February 29, 2004

After all these years...

So I picked up The Dharma Bums tonight and I'm surprised because for the first time I can really READ it. I've been through it twice and never really known the book like I should have. All of Kerouac's words and sentences and such strung together and I couldn't really untangle the knot and make sense of it until now. Now I read the conversations between Ray and Japhy and I can hear them in my head. It's not just some dumb esoteric poetry bullshit, it's real language, a real conversation, and it took me nearly six years (if I remember correctly) to realize it.

It's magic, I swear to God. Anyone who hasn't, read something by Kerouac. Read The Dharma Bums because it's better than On the Road in my opinion. Now I'm thinking I should read all the books over again because maybe this time I'll glean something more from them. I'm in love all over again and it feels marvelous.

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