Jack Kerouac
 

A thread for everything and anything Kerouac. Favourite book. Favourite line. Favourite character. Anything. Especially which of his books would you like most to be turned into a film?

The Dharma Bums should be turned into a movie. That is the only book I like from him.

All hail The Dharma Bums. My favorite character is def. Japhy Ryder (Gary Snyder)......maybe some favorite lines later.....I have to go.

I've only read On the Road. Loved it. Recently bought a whole bunch of his books from a secondhand bookstore, around 10 or so. Also what I thought was neat, was that someone had owned the whole bunch of books I now own, and wrote on the first page or so when they started the book and when they finished reading it, and also where they were when they read it. Same name in every book. Different locations, such as Sydney, Portland - Oregon, numerous places. Must of been a traveller, not unlike the characters in Kerouacs stories.

I look forward to reading all of them. I just may start Dr. Sax tonight.

i love him. read all the books, love em all

Read On the Road, which was fantastic, and the Dharma Bums, which was very good.

On the Road is finally becoming a movie. Directed by Walter Salles & produced by Francis Ford Coppola, it's slated for release in 2007.

Read Tristessa to get the real meat.

oh, there's this one poem of his i like and i can't remember the title or if it even had one, but here it goes:
i am god.

That's good news! Can't wait.

MACDOUGAL STREET BLUES

CANTO TRES (by Jack Kerouac):

Lets forget the strollers
Forget the scene
Lets close our eyes
Let me instruct Thee
Here is dark Milk
Here is Sweet Mahameru
Who will Coo
To you Too

As he did to me
One night at three
When I w k e i t
P l e e
Knelt to See
Realit ee
And I said
'Wilt thou protect me
for 'ver?'

And he in his throatless
deep mother hole
Replied ' H o m '
(Pauvre Ange)
Mahameru
Tathagata of Mercy
See
He
Now
In dark escrow



In the middleless dark
of eyelids' lash obliviso
So
Among rains of Transcendent
Pity
Abides since Ever
Before Evermore ness
Or thusness Imagined
O Maha Meru

O Mountain Sumeru
O Mountain of Gold
O Holy Gold
O Room of Gold
O Sweet peace
rememberance
O Nava lit yuku
Of sweet cactus
Thorn of No Time
- Ply me on ward
like boat
thru this Sea
Safe to Shore
Ulysses never Sore
- Bless me Gerard
Bless thee, Living
I shall pray for all
sentient human
& otherwise sentient
beings here & everywhere
now -

No names
Not even faces
One Pity
One Milk
One Lovelight
s a v e

Is Walter Salles a good director? I don't want to be completely dissapointed about a movie that could be so good.

I like Kerouac. I don't want to say love him. He's a good writer; very idealistic. Interesting every once in a while, but might be dangerous if given too much attention.

i just got town and the city las week and am about 200 or so pages in. It had a slwo start but im Liking it now. I'll have to track down dharma bums next.

I read On the Road recently and loved it. My favorite passages were the ones describing the jazz musicians, like the piece about the George Shearing show.

Wasn't that great! He describes music brilliantly. Better than any critic I've ever read.

Really? That's fantastic news. I hope it's done well, though, with the right actors and the screenplay written well.

I'm amazed it's taken them this long.

the motorcycle diaries was a very good film , i think salles will do a good job of it.......

not too many character actors that could talke that except for maybe depp or ps hoffman

I think Depp would do a great job, but the response would be overshadowed by superficiality. So I hope they go more low key, but not low key enough that they're no name actors.

Johnny Depp simultaneously makes everything sickeningly popular, and remarkably good. I say it's worth it.

johnny depp has been great in every movie i've seen him in. he's one of those guys who can play any part.

Gilbert Grape is fantastic. every roll i have ever seen him in is wonderful, except i HATE pirates of the carribean. so boring.

i liked him in charlie and the chocolate factory. he was kind of mean to the kids.

I think he's a great actor. But I hope it's not Johnny Depp.

Yeah he was brilliant there.I liked him when he plays this abstract movies.

Gilbert Grape is fantastic.

i agree, but i think it's just because of his looks that i don't want him to do it, because i know he could play the part well. there are other people who look more like kerouac.

He has stepped to the challenge.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=MZOyGjtqlbY

Depp's best role in a film, has gotta be Dead Man.

Number 2 is The Subteraneans for me.

Fear and Loathing and WEGG, at nr.2 & 3

If Depp (My favourite of his would be Blow) gets the role, he'll inevitably do a great job. But the film will just turn into a gawk for young teens who completely ignore the brilliance of the story. And yes, I don't see Johnny Depps image in any of the characters from On the Road. He is not the only actor that would do the role justice. I wouldn't want the other shit that comes along with Johnny Depp. It needs to be a film for Kerouac fans, not Johnny Depp fans.

Anyone read his last novel Pic?

I bought it today along with Visions of Gerard.

pic is ok, i've got it back to back with the subterraneans, which is wonderful. the prose flows magnificently, third to on the road and the dharma bums. actually maybe 4th to visions of cody.
ah i don't know it doesn't even matter in the slightest. read it all!
EDIT. didn't realise how far back this thread was... sorry. but then i think it could do with a bump. whatever

Well entitled bump, indeed.

I haven't read any Kerouac since I started the thread. Been reading lots of Bukowski. I'm on to a Bon Scott bio at the moment.

ahh which bukowski are you reading? i've got his newly published book of poems and i've read post office.
post office is great, his poetry is not as good as the novel in my opinion. some are wonderful, brilliant yet some fall below the mark. all of them make me laugh however. it's so delightfully black humoured, and he writes like he speaks which i find refreshing.

Jack Kerouac/Catholic Block
 

Probably the only author that really ever made a differance.
Influenced the 50's.
Rock n Roll
Pop Culture
With
On The Road
That is a beautiful book.
I heard a lot of references in songs and stuff
and the one by 10,000 Maniacs-'Hey Jack Kerouac'
and from the movie 'Peggy Sue Got Married'
There is a character in that movie that was crazy about Kerouac.
I liked the way that he went on and on about Kerouac.

I heard about Francis Ford Coppalla was gonna do ON THE ROAD
like 10 or 12 years ago. But it never seems to materialize. He wants to film only in blustery monsoon-like conditions. That sounds cool. I hope that there are all unknown actors involved.
And not Tom Hanks, Demi Moore (as Burroughs) or T. Cruise. Johnny Depp is cool but that is stretchin it. They should keep it unknown and not overblown. Make it like a blank check/b-movie .

I also loved Dharma Bums, Dr Sax, Subterreans.
Jack was misunderstood. Possibly even misunderstood by himself.
Died drunk and confused
Sad and disallusioned

Hate to say I relate.

Catholic Block

I read his selected letters vol 2 awhile back and then started vol 3. But I just read that on occasions, 'cause it's fun that way. I finished Post Office the other week. I have Ham on Rye, but I felt like reading this Bon Scott bio, and I'm really enjoying it.

"All the things I wrote were true because I believed in what I saw..."
If only I could make a list of Kerouac favorites without it looking like:
1. Mexico City Blues / Subterraneans / Tristessa / Satori in Paris / Dharma Bums / Desolation Angels / On the Road / Visions of Cody / Big Sur...

Just too much going on in that old Duluoz legend to seperate any one part from itself. I think, though, that perhaps the most hypnotizing of Kerouac's work would be the "Railroad Earth" section from Lonesome Traveler:
"I go out to the wailbar of all the wildbars--the one and only 3rd and Howard--and drink with the madmen and when I get drunk I GIT..."
Approximate quotation, that one. But I'd say that the Railroad Earth is prose and poetry writing in all of their simultaneous glory synthesized with a spot on manifestation of Kerouac pure dharma dreams of unfiltered compassion for all living things. Yes yes, c'mon. Yes tes, c'mon.

Dylan was big fan of On the Road. In his Chronicles book (which is fantastic. Read it if you haven't) he makes mention of that particular book on numerous occasions among other writers. He was good friends with Ginsberg too.

This day in age with all the make-up tools you can make anyone look like anyone, heck I heard Cate Blanchett is portraying Bob Dylan in a movie, she's a great actress, if anyone can pull off an odd casting decision like that its her. Same goes with Depp, he can pull almost anything, even if he doesn't LOOK right for the part.