Faithful followers of The Daily Beat will notice in the sidebar that I have now "read" Visions of Cody. I put "read" in quotation marks because I've never read anything like it in my life. Literal comprehension was impossible. Kerouac's style left me reading for the pleasure of reading, for the rhythms and sounds, and not for comprehension in the traditional sense. I won't try to explain it beyond that. Try it and you'll see what I mean.
You'll note that I have moved on to a non-Kerouac book, Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. I have an on-again/off-again fascination with Rand, and since I've never slogged through any of her tomes (I read For the New Intellectual, which contains lengthy sections from several of her books), I decided it was time. Atlas is over 1,000 pages. Wish me luck - it will be the longest book I've ever read.
Very faithful readers will remember that on February 22, I postulated that Kerouac and Rand had an affair. Check that post out for some insanity on my part.
Neither estate has sued me for libel. Yet.*
*I can see the headline now: "Professor Sued By Estates of Jack Kerouac and Ayn Rand." There go sales of The Beat Handbook through the roof. Let's see, shall I go on The Today Show or Good Morning America first? Oops! Sorry - my narcissism just reared its ugly head for a minute. Gag . . . .
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