American writer Jack Kerouac became the idol of the reading public during his lifetime. His works, decisively breaking with the main principles of literature of the 50s, became for many a real revelation. Of even greater interest was his personal life, where drug use was combined with intense spiritual pursuit. During the life of the writer, critics cool about his works: their confessional style, the method of automatic writing too contrasted with the technique of the classic novel. However, shortly after Kerouacās death, voluminous monographs began to be published under the authorship of leading critics, detailing the creative method of the writer.
Childhood
Jack Kerouac was born March 12, 1922 in the small town of Lowell, Massachusetts, into a family of immigrants from Canada. The future writer had an older brother Jerome, who died at the age of nine. This had a serious impact on Kerouac's entire worldview: he believed that his brother had become his guardian angel, and even dedicated a small novel, āVisions of Gerard,ā published in 1963, to him.
Kerouac's parents were Canadian French, so the family spoke a dialect of Zhual. The future master of words began to learn English only at the age of six when he went to school. Jack's father owned a printing house, which published the newspaper "Searchlight". The boy showed interest in his fatherās activities and learned a lot from him: later he will organize the publishing of a sports bulletin, which he will distribute to his friends.
The printing house was a stable source of income, but Kerouac Sr. was addicted to drinking and betting at the racetrack. In 1936, due to numerous debts, the printing house had to be closed. All the hardships of maintaining the family fell on the shoulders of the mother - a strict woman, a passionate Catholic. Jack for life kept the memory of his mother and obeyed her in almost everything.
Football, literature and war
In high school, Kerouac became famous throughout the city due to his achievements in football. However, his dream was literary work. He was able to enter Columbia University, where for some time he successfully combined literature and sports. But during one of the games he was seriously injured. Playing football gave Kerouac the right to a sports scholarship. Now he was deprived of her. Due to the refusal to extend the scholarship, Jack quarreled with his coach and left the university.
Leaving the university forced Kerouac to seek ways to earn a living. He got a job as a sailor on a merchant ship, and when the United States entered the war with Germany, he volunteered for the Navy. But he didnāt manage to stay there: six months later, Kerouac was commissioned, diagnosed with schizophrenia. It is difficult to say how consistent this was with the truth. Kerouac himself claimed that he was fired from the fleet because he declared his unwillingness to kill.
The first literary experiments
Kerouacās diagnosis was not special. For representatives of earlier literary movements, such as surrealism or Dada, schizophrenia was commonplace. A lot of schizophrenics were in the company of young people, who would subsequently form the core of the hipster movement.
In 1944, Kerouac restored at Columbia University and became a close friend of the future poet Allen Ginsberg and writer William Burroughs.
During his service in the Navy, Kerouac wrote a huge number of not very successful poems and published only in 2011 the novel "Brother is my sea." From that moment, he firmly decides to become a great writer and introduces Ginsberg and Burroughs to this art. Interesting stories tossed him life itself.
Most often, students met at the apartment of their friends Joan Wallmer and Edie Parker. They had a real literary salon, where many people were included. Along with all his comrades, Kerouac tried various drugs. In intoxication, friends talked about many things, but most of all - about literature.
"And the hippos boiled in their pools"
In August 1944, one of the members of the "salon", Lucien Carr, killed his lover and dumped his body in the Gulf of Hudson. Kerouac helped Carr get rid of the weapon of crime. Burroughs was aware of these events, proposing to give up, but after discussing with heavy drinking, the trinity went to the Museum of Modern Art. The next day they were arrested: Carr on charges of murder, Kerouac as an accomplice, and Burroughs for not informing.
The crime of Lucien Carr and the circumstances of the investigation formed the basis of the first serious novel by Kerouac, co-written with Burroughs: "And the hippos boiled in their pools." The writing method was as follows: the authors wrote on behalf of different characters. Burroughs first used the pseudonym William Lee, and Kerouac turned into Mike Rico. During the life of the authors, the novel was not published. In 2005, Lucien Carr died, and only three years later, the work of Kerouac and Burroughs was released.
Marriage
The Carr incident had another consequence for Kerouac. Parents, horrified by his lifestyle, refused to pay a deposit. The required amount was paid by parents of Edie Parker. After her release, Kerouac married her.
Forced marriage did not bring happiness to the newlyweds. Two months was enough for them to understand that such a life was not for them. Kerouac divorced his wife, but could not return to university again. He again finds work in the Navy. During flights, he writes a new work - "Town and City" - where all the participants of their "salon" appear under various pseudonyms. While working on the text, he begins to take the potent drug benzedrine, which has a narcotic effect. As a result, the writerās health was seriously undermined: he got thrombophlebitis.
First success
According to critical reviews, Jack Kerouac in "Town and City" proves to be a very classic writer, not breaking with the traditions of the American novel. But already the next work thundered throughout America, causing completely polar opinions.
In 1957, Jack Kerouac's most famous novel, On the Road, was released. Based largely on the details of the writer's biography, the work abruptly broke with tradition. One method of writing it in automatic writing on a 36-meter-long glued-up paper with continuous use by the author of benzenedrine caused bewilderment of critics, accusations of immorality and persistent rejection in the academic community. But among the young people who referred to themselves as a ābroken generationā, the novel āOn the Roadā by Jack Kerouac gained enormous popularity.
The novel was inspired by one of the writerās friends, Neil Cassidy, bred under the name Dean Moriarty. Cassidy showed an interest in literature, but managed to write only a third of his biography, but was famous for his ability to write letters. One of them consisted of a single sentence, but stretched over 40 pages. After reading a letter to Cassidy, Kerouac realized that he had found his own style: no paragraphs and punctuation, nothing that could stop the thought.
Drugs, Coffee and Buddhism
Truman Capote has a curious review of Jack Kerouac's On the Road: "This is not prose, this is typewriting."
At best, publishers spoke in a similar fashion. Most of them slammed the doors in front of the writer. Kerouac once to spread the effect, once spread his scroll on the floor of the publisherās office, but in response he heard only the demand for careful editing. The inability to let the public get acquainted with his work caused a serious mental crisis in Kerouac. He consumes benzedrine more and more, drinks it with huge doses of strong coffee, and studies Dwight Goddard's Buddhist Bible.
Burroughs frankly ridiculed his friendās hobby both in personal conversations and in his novels, but Kerouac didnāt stop: he was sure that Buddhist ideas of enlightenment could breathe new life into American culture.
Nevertheless, Jack Kerouac managed to publish the book "On the Road", but had to agree to the editing. All scenes of drug use were removed from the text, and Cassidy-Moriarty's homosexuality was retouched. Despite all the edits that outraged the writer, the novel became a cult.
End of an era
In the 60s, the ideas of beatniks turned out to be unclaimed. Society was rapidly politicized. The growing hippie movement anticipated the student, sexual, and psychedelic revolution. And although beatniks could lead all these revolutions, they ran out of steam. Affected by age, too much benzedrine was consumed.
Kerouac took the most conservative position. In particular, he supported the war in Vietnam. But no policy could distract him from literary searches. Passion for Buddhism in full force showed itself in the 1958 novel by Jack Kerouac "The Dharma Tramps." And although the hipster's frenzy was still heard in him, thoughts about life, the abandonment of man, almost about existential loneliness, began to occupy an increasing place.
Recent works
Kerouac made a decisive attempt to free himself from addictions and, together with his friend Lawrence Ferlingetti, went to Big Sur, located on the California coast. However, to merge with nature did not work - three days later, Kerouac leaves Big Sur, but the memories of him resulted in a novel of the same name, published in 1962.
As if anticipating death, the writer is trying to fulfill one of his long-standing desires: to find out something about his ancestors. He goes to France, but this journey does not give any results. The novel Satori in Paris contrasts sharply with On the Road. Instead of adventures with Dean Moriarty, the reader is confronted with the loneliness of a man who is trying in vain to find at least some meaning in his life. Even more sinister are the Angels of Desolation by Jack Kerouac. Being relatively young, the writer turned into a real ruin, which determined the mood of his last works.
Death
In 1966, Kerouac marries Stella Sampas. If his previous two marriages were fleeting, then Stella was delayed until his death. In 1968, they moved to St. Petersburg, where they live relatively calmly, away from student revolutions and minority rights movements. Kerouac does not leave his studies in literature, but at the same time understands that he has nothing to say to the new generation: it is completely different.
October 20, 1969 Kerouac dies. The official version of death was liver cirrhosis, caused by excessive use of alcohol and drugs. According to another version, Kerouac had a fight at a local bar. Numerous cuts were inflicted on him. Blood coagulation disorders did not save the writerās life, although he received several transfusions.
Meaning and memory
Although several generations have passed since the first novels were released, many people still read and love the works of Jack Kerouac. Almost all of his novels were sorted into quotes. For example: āOne cannot understand anything once and for allā (āOn the roadā), āHatred is older than loveā (āMaggie Cassidyā) or āIn this world it is impossible to live, but there is nowhere elseā (āDharma Trampsā).
In 2012, the film adaptation of the novel "On the Road" by Jack Kerouac was released. The film caused polar reviews from critics, which is not surprising: it is too difficult to translate the authorās automatic letter into the language of the movie. However, this shows that the ideas and thoughts of one of the most significant prose writers in the United States remain relevant to this day.