Friday, January 4, 2019

Jack Kerouac's The Dharma Bums Chapter 13 in one sentence

Gary Snyder, real-life Japhy Ryder

Your assignment for today was to read Chapter 13 of The Dharma Bums and summarize it in one sentence. Below is my one-sentence summary -- post yours as a comment. I'd also love to see general comments about the chapter, or questions.

The Dharma Bums Chapter 13 in one sentence:
Ray makes love to Princess at his cottage, then Ray and Alvah party with Japhy and Coughlin, they spout Zen nonsense while drinking wine, Japhy describes his vision of how the whole world is full of rucksack wanderers (Dharma Bums) who eschew materialism and stage a Zen Lunatic revolution, they talk about having floating zendos, the Zen talk gets a little more serious, Japhy gives Alvah life advice, the talk turns nonsensical again, Ray and Coughlin almost knock down the cottage wrestling, Morley shows up, Japhy leaves but promises to return in the morning to help Ray buy outdoor gear, Ray wonders about the point of it all, hoping he can find out at last from these Dharma Bums.

Your next assignment is to read The Dharma Bums Chapter 14 and post a one-sentence summary.

1 comment:

Rick Dale, author of The Beat Handbook said...

It takes time to show up because I have to approve them first.