Saturday, February 24, 2018

At the End of the Road: Jack Kerouac in Mexico by Jorge Garcia-Robles




I just finished At the End of the Road: Jack Kerouac in Mexico by Jorge Garcia-Robles. It's a quick read (130 pages) and I finished it in one sitting.

I found it interesting to read about all of Jack's travels to Mexico back-to-back, and hadn't realized how many times he had actually traveled there. The translation seems less terse and repetitive than the parallel Burroughs book (see http://thedailybeatblog.blogspot.com/2018/02/the-stray-bullet-william-s-burroughs-in.html) I recently posted about, despite it being the same translator.

There's a lot interpretation here -- as opposed to straight biography -- about Jack's motivations and the meaning of Mexico to his life and writing. While I might quibble with some of it, I can see it all making coherent sense. It's a worthwhile read for any Kerouac fan.

Now I have to return it -- along with the Burroughs book -- to Richard. Not sure what I'll read next. I started The Crooked Timber of Humanity by Isaiah Berlin, but it's a collection of essays and not a straight-through read (for me, at least). Heady stuff.

Fellaheen!


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