Saturday, August 18, 2007

On the Road: The Original Scroll Reviewed

Thanks to Jeff Meyerson for this link.

On the Road: The Original Scroll - Jack Kerouac - Books - Review - New York Times: "In 1951, Jack Kerouac feverishly pounded out the first draft of “On the Road” in three weeks on a single huge roll of paper. This believe-it-or-not item earns a place on the heroic roster of spontaneous literary combustions — Stendhal writing “The Charterhouse of Parma” in 52 days, for example. It also stands alongside the image of Jackson Pollock — in the series of photographs taken of him by Hans Namuth just a few months before Kerouac’s siege of the typewriter — dripping and flinging and flecking paint on a horizontal canvas, fighting and dancing his work into being. Writing is not usually thought of as excessively physical, which is why some writers feel the need to compensate by racing bulls or whatever, but feeding that 120-foot roll through the typewriter seems like a feat of strength. Most writers merely produce effete works on paper, you might say, but Kerouac went and wrestled with the tree itself."

5 comments:

Ed Gorman said...

Very few novels ever changed me the way On The Road did. I never saw the world the same way after it. I still read it again every few years. For all its wanderlust and irresponsbility it's a gret working class novel.

mybillcrider said...

And it sounds as if the original version might be even better than the one published. Gotta have a look.

Anonymous said...

It sounds fascinating. I knew it would interest you, Bill.

Cap'n Bob said...

Jim Vadeboncoeur and I typed "George," my comic fanzine review zine, on a contnuous roll of paper each month. A typical issue would run 25-30 feet. One of the days I must read ON THE ROAD. I just hope I don't find it dated.

mybillcrider said...

No doubt copies of GEORGE are worth big bucks these days.