I spent the last week with two of my friends from the “Beat Generation”, Jack Kerouac, “On The Road” and Allen Ginsberg, “Howl”.
From Wikipedia:
“Author Jack Kerouac introduced the phrase “Beat Generation” in 1948, generalizing from his social circle to characterize the underground, anti-conformist youth gathering in New York at that time”
They employ a writing style known as ’stream of consciousness”. From Wikipedia:
“In literary criticism, “stream of consciousness” is a literary technique that seeks to portray an individuals point of view by giving the written equivalent of the character’s thought processes, either in a loose interior monologue, or in connection to his or her sensory reactions to external occurrences.”
To me that means you feel the thought, you write it down. No days or weeks, or months, searching for the perfect word - first word, best word.
I can recommend to anyone that you go to your local library and get a copy of “One The Road”. After a few paragraphs you will quickly know if you will enjoy the book or hate it.
Howl on the other hand is a much more challenging read because it is a tortured tale with some “obscene” passages that speak to gay love. In the introduction to “Howl” William Carlos Williams wrote:
“Poets are damned but they are not blind, they see with the eyes of angels. This poet sees through and all around the horrors he partakes of in the very intimate details of his poem. He avoids nothing but experiences it to the hilt.”
“Hold back the edges of your gowns, Ladies, we are going through Hell.”
The first and last lines of Howl will give you a view of Ginsberg’s hell:
“I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving, hysterical naked”
“with the absolute heart of the poem of life butchered out of their bodies good to eat a thousand years”
Howl is clearly not for someone who is not prepared for a trip thorough hell.
The other thing about Howl is that it is considered by many to be obscene. Copies of the book were seized by US Customs when they arrived from England. The American publisher was arrested and charged with disseminating obscene literature. The courts however ruled that it was not obscene because it had “redeeming social significance” Howl is still banned from public libraries in some parts of the US.
The only words I consider obscene are those which direct hateful thoughts, or encourage hateful actions, towards another person. For me war is a more obscene word then F—.
Questions:
1. Can you think of a phrase in any book that just jumped off the pages and give you that “oh wow” moment.
2. What is your definition of an obscene word?
3. Should any books be banned from public libraries?
5 comments
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July 14, 2008 at 2:50 pm
Indian Lake Papa
Ed – not trying to be trite but scripture in God’s word such as 1 John 1:9 jumps at me. I usually pray as I read that God will show me something in whatever I am reading that will help me better live for him & others.
Obscene – that is a tough one – I try to be sensitive to those around me. Ed, I think we know when we are being obscene for the most part. Some of the comedians today can be very obscene – and they know it.
Censorship – some books are just filth – they contribute nothing. My thought? Don’t read it and it won’t be published. And – keep it out of the hands of minors.
Just my thoughts bro !
July 14, 2008 at 4:55 pm
edfromct
Papa, the Bible is a great source of inspiration to so many people. I can understand why you and the millions of other people of religious faith chose to spend each day with their holy books.
1 John 1:9 (New International Version)
“9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
The part of the above passage that my eyes go to is “purify us from all unrighteousness”. The word “purify” is such a strong action word.
My perception is that the Bible serves to inspire people when there is an emotional connection, the readers God, between the words and person searching for that inspiration.
I am writing a post about “inspiration”. We all need it, even though our source may be different.
I also agree that most of us known when a word might not be appropriate for the person(s) we are talking to. If the word doesn’t feel right we shouldn’t use it.
I will guess we disagree on which words may be obscene. As you say we all have control over what books we choice to read. Parents do have the responsibility to control, as much as possible, what their children are exposed to.
I think every book that has ever been written should be available in public libraries, within the constraints of funding. I think there should be a public section where the books are out on display. I would also like to see a “private” section where the public has to ask the librarian to get the any book they want to read.. Each community can decide for itself which books are public and which private.
July 15, 2008 at 8:58 pm
alece
you always ask tough questions. sometimes i chew on them and can’t come up with anything to respond with…
you do have me bent on reading “on the road”. it’s been added to my amazon wishlist!
i’ve read (and underlined) many a phrase that captures me. the only one i can think of off the top of my head is “cognitive dissonance”. that seems to describe so well what i feel most of the time.
obscene word? that’s hard to define across the board. so much of it is culturally relevant. how about… if you wouldn’t say it to your grandmother, it’s probably obscene???
book banning — there’s a lot of things out there that i wouldn’t choose to read, but i don’t think books should be banned.
July 15, 2008 at 9:41 pm
edfromct
Hi Alece, I do like to make people think.
Alece, I really like the sound of “cognitive dissonance”. I must admit I did have to look up it’s meaning.
“cognitive dissonance” is an uncomfortable feeling or stress caused by holding two contradictory ideas simultaneously”
I may be lucky in that I have a hard enough time holding one idea at a time in my head.
My guess is this means you are open minded, willing to examine both sides of an issue. I think that is a very good thing, as long as you do get around to making a decision at some point.
“obscene word? that’s hard to define across the board. so much of it is culturally relevant. how about… if you wouldn’t say it to your grandmother, it’s probably obscene???”
That rule might work depending on the vocabulary of your grandmother. I have meet a few grandmothers who could swear like sailors, my sister being one. I have even dated a few
.
July 15, 2008 at 9:50 pm
alece
ha ha! that’s true…