1) In the introducing part of this edition written by Howard Cunnel, he writes: "We've known now for a while now that there is much more to it than this, just as a novel is far more spiritual quest than how-to-be-a-hipster manual". Why do you think Howard feels the need to point this out? How do you think this novel is seen as a spiritual book?
2) Reading this book knowing that Jack Kerouac's father died 10 years before the first time "On The Road" was published, how do you think this event affected Kerouac's writing and life? (considering this is a narrative based on Jack's travels across the United States not being a fictional story)
As one could expect, the conservative media in the US absolutely despised the Beat Generation. In result, they came up with the name "Beatniks" for the "members" of the Beat Generation (an adjective that, as David Wills explains, was a mix between Beat and Sputnik, a reference to Russia and, consequently, communism). A Beatnik could sort of be seen like a hipster, in the sense that this conception meant that the Beat Generation artists were superficial and just as engaged in the new post-war materialistic way of life of Americans as everyone else.
ReplyDeleteWe have come to understand that these artists are part of a counter-culture movement, meaning that the spiritual quest is far more within the Beat Generation ideology than whatever the media implied could ever be.
Having this in mind, seems relevant to underline how Kerouac was interested in the previously mentioned spiritual quest rather than in the hispter way of living.