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I found this book really interesting. It started with Carolyn meeting Neal and ended with his ashes being scattered on Jack's grave.
I think I liked Carolyn better than Joyce though she was definitely a little strange. While her writing was very emotional and insightful there was definitely something or rather sometimes when it felt a little dishonest about it. Sometimes she'd talk at great lengths about her drug experiences and affairs, and then she'd spend ages talking about what a prude and how conservative she was. There seemed to be a lot of internal conflicts.
There were some really interesting things in this book. The most interesting I think was how much pregnancy and children change lives. Carolyn stopped doing anything fun with Neal, except for rare occasions, once the kids were born, and he went and worked his ass off on the railways for years on end. It was interesting to see how normal and poor they were in many ways, struggling to make ends meet. At times it didn't really read like any kind of subculture, and then there were the visits by Jack or Alan and things got strange and interesting for awhile. And then it'd be back to taking the kids back to Ballet.
Carolyn kept talking about how much Neal wanted to please people, and used this as her excuse for his behaviour. Of course she also turned this around and used it as her excuse for starting to sleep with Jack. In many ways it seemed like her feelings for Jack became stronger than her feelings for Neal. But it seemed like because of her kids she couldn't do anything about it.
There was a lot I learned from reading this book. The role of family and kids I think was the most interesting. The 2nd was the way the beats moved into hippies. Something I'd not quite been able to visualise. But the last 3rd of this book was devoted to that and I found it really interesting to see how things changed. It also made me very sad, to see such interesting and talented men throwing away their lives to booze and drugs.
I think the book made an interesting counterpoint to Keraouc's novels. Of course the writing style and insight is nowhere near his, but it's interesting nonetheless. It also made me wish that LuAnne had written something about her experiences, as she seemed to be more of a wild child, but then I guess like Neal she was too busy living life to try and write anything down. I think I have one or two more of Kerouac's books to read, and then I'm going to go back and read the Original Scroll. I have discovered that I really do like the beats.
I think I liked Carolyn better than Joyce though she was definitely a little strange. While her writing was very emotional and insightful there was definitely something or rather sometimes when it felt a little dishonest about it. Sometimes she'd talk at great lengths about her drug experiences and affairs, and then she'd spend ages talking about what a prude and how conservative she was. There seemed to be a lot of internal conflicts.
There were some really interesting things in this book. The most interesting I think was how much pregnancy and children change lives. Carolyn stopped doing anything fun with Neal, except for rare occasions, once the kids were born, and he went and worked his ass off on the railways for years on end. It was interesting to see how normal and poor they were in many ways, struggling to make ends meet. At times it didn't really read like any kind of subculture, and then there were the visits by Jack or Alan and things got strange and interesting for awhile. And then it'd be back to taking the kids back to Ballet.
Carolyn kept talking about how much Neal wanted to please people, and used this as her excuse for his behaviour. Of course she also turned this around and used it as her excuse for starting to sleep with Jack. In many ways it seemed like her feelings for Jack became stronger than her feelings for Neal. But it seemed like because of her kids she couldn't do anything about it.
There was a lot I learned from reading this book. The role of family and kids I think was the most interesting. The 2nd was the way the beats moved into hippies. Something I'd not quite been able to visualise. But the last 3rd of this book was devoted to that and I found it really interesting to see how things changed. It also made me very sad, to see such interesting and talented men throwing away their lives to booze and drugs.
I think the book made an interesting counterpoint to Keraouc's novels. Of course the writing style and insight is nowhere near his, but it's interesting nonetheless. It also made me wish that LuAnne had written something about her experiences, as she seemed to be more of a wild child, but then I guess like Neal she was too busy living life to try and write anything down. I think I have one or two more of Kerouac's books to read, and then I'm going to go back and read the Original Scroll. I have discovered that I really do like the beats.