The Subterraneans

Great book, in fair shape.

The book left me sad. A picture book look into the north beach beat scene where it all got its start early 50’s Frisco. Ginsberg, Burroughs, Corso, and Kerouac all there young Raving lunatic writers reaching for eternity fueled by alcohol, drugs, and madness, and then....Love walks away, an innocent victim of neglect from visionary seekers who soared too high.

Well, I love Kerouac, but I only liked this book. It's a stream of consciousness, frenetic paced thing, that I found a bit hard to follow, and at times, tedious to read. Basically, it is the story of Jack's brief romance with "Mardou Fox", a young African-American girl he meets in San Francisco. But Jack seems a bit crazy in here, sort of bi-polar, and definitely alcoholic. Some issues with race. Lots of mother issues too! He basically loves this gal, and wants to figure out how to be rid of her. And his behavior, basically his love of booze and a good time, strain this relationship beyond all measure. I liked it, but it did make me think a bit less of the man behind the typewriter. Still, the end ...SPOILER ALERT!the end is perfect. "And I go home having lost her love. And write this book."

I liked Kerouac as expected. You must take the time to read as it would feel like the preverbal end of a sentence. Feeling unfinished.

I appreciate the importance of the Beats to arts and culture, but I found it hard to get through Kerouac's stream of consciousness prose. I do appreciate the honesty he displays about the way he treated his partner during this time. However, at times I found myself thinking, "Good grief, would you please grow up!" I would recommend this book only for those who are real Kerouac/Beats fan.

An even more compressed melange of bop-soul imagery and romantic assemblage of hip 50s characters than On the Road, The Subterraneans smokes with a desperate fury and good-time fervor rushing to its concupiscent apocalypse with all the bittersweet sensitivity Kerouac can muster. A worthwhile read like a short, burning affair with a forbidden desire...

I was very pleased when this book came in the mail 3 days after placing my order. The book has no writing or signifigant wear on the inside. The only thing I would say that could be less than satisfactory to some would be that it was a different edition than displayed in the picture-fairly old, and the cover was very well worn.

I love this book. I have read it on paper dozens of time (no lie). So I wanted to be able to read it without carrying the book around (my bag is hard on books, especially 2nd-hand thriftshop books, which is all I can afford).The MAJOR PROBLEM with this Kindle edition of the book is the TYPOS!!! I have encountered about 10, and I am only in the first chapter! Of course they are not blatant, they would have passed through a spell-checker because they take the appearance of other words - "bed" for "beard" etc. If I hadn't semi-memorized the book, I would be really confused - but I'm only annoyed (especially after paying $10).