Friday, March 29, 2019

29th sentence of the 29th book



The 29th book on my Kerouac bookshelf is Jack Kerouac's Visions of Gerard (McGraw-Hill, 1976), and the 29th sentence (in honor of today being the 29th day of the month) is:
Without Gerard what would have happened to Ti Jean? (p. 13)

This is one of Jack's most poignant works, but his sentence structure is such that I doubt you could find 10 people to agree that this is the 28th sentence. Nevertheless, it's close enough for government work plus it's full of meaning. Indeed, without Gerard, would we have the same Kerouac oeuvre? Most assuredly not. Jack's older brother's death at the young age of 9 -- I note that Kerouac doesn't use a pseudonym for his brother's first name in this book -- had a profound influence on him, not the least evidence of which is today's book; however, the theme of death Kerouac frequently embraced in his writing and also his deep religiosity both point to this seminal event from his early life. Hence, today's sentence says a lot.


2 comments:

KerouacJack said...

I can't believe I sat and drank coffee right where KEROUAC wrote this book. That was such an amazing thrill. The little house reeks of KEROUAC in every room...and really, the back porch gives me goosebumps Everytime I go there.

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

You are a lucky man.