The Daddy of the Swinging, Psychedelic Generation:

JACK KEROVAC. I was supposed to post once I reached 150 pages, but I just finished it instead. This book, The Dharma Bums, was wonderful. Overall, I thought it was stellar but it was very difficult to get into at first. The beginning was hard for me to really feel like I was apart of and get in the mindset where I just can't stop reading. BUT I did eventually reach that point in the book and whenever I wasn't reading, I craved it. (like how I jokingly said in the previous post that I suffer withdrawal) That's how I usually am about reading and when I really get into books, though. One aspect of the book that I was fond of, was the fact that the plot wasn't entirely unyielding. The plot is so simple yet he takes his time to get through it. Jack Kerovac portrays himself through the main character and narrator of the book, Ray Smith. He is a young man who decides that traveling and hitch-hiking through the U.S is the only way to go. Ray constantly found himself in nature contemplating life along with his close friend, Japhy Ryder. To me I found it uplifting and the characters in it worked well together. The book takes place in nature most of the time and along the journeys that Ray takes. The plot ended with Ray in a wild fire watch tower up in the top of the mountains, which was a great place for him in the middle of nature and surrounded by nothing but mother earth. The word Dharma in the title refers to Buddhist idea of happiness where happiness is a state of mind. Towards the end Ray starts to reach this Dharma and feel at one with the Earth. He realizes nothing is really what it is and everything is no-thing until we say or are told it is; every thing is empty. It's a hard idea to put into words unless you are open minded and permissive to deep thoughts and Buddhist beliefs. I could connect to this book in a lot of different ways. A lot of it pertains to my Buddhist background and my love for nature. If I could, I'd live the life he did, but now days you can't just hitch a ride to somewhere and hop on trains. Too bad, right? Sounds like the life to me. "The Dharma can't be lost, nothing can be lost on a wellworn path. People have good hearts whether or not they live like Dharma Bums. Compassion is the heart of Buddhism."